How-To: Adjusting the headlights

[Guinea Pig]

There are a lot of threads on how to aim the headlights but many have contradictory information, so I decided to find out for myself how they work. Hopefully, this guide will be the final say on this topic.

[EDIT] What model years does this apply to?
I've been notified that the 05 and up models have a different setup, so this applies only to 2003 and 2004 models.

What adjustments are possible?
Low beams: Vertical and horizontal aiming
High beams: Vertical and horizontal aiming
Integrated fogs: Vertical aiming only

Is it possible to adjust the lights with the car fully assembled?
Yes, but it is a bit difficult. See picture 4 for more details.

Anything to be careful of?
Be careful when turning the adjusters; they are reputed to be fragile and easily breakable. The adjusters may be dirty and slightly difficult to turn, but if doesn’t want to turn then don’t force it.


Picture 1

This is the back of the driver’s side light assembly. There are five adjusters; A, B, C and D are adjusted using a 6mm Hex key. Adjuster E uses a 7mm Hex key.

A:
Adjusts the vertical aiming of both the low and high beams.

B:
Adjusts the horizontal aiming of the low beam only.

C:
Adjusts the vertical aiming of the low beam only.

D:
Adjusts the horizontal aiming of the high beam only.

E:
Adjusts the vertical aiming of the integrated fog light only.

Adjustment order:
1. Turn off all lights and remove the low beam fuses to isolate the fog lights and high beams.
2. Turn on the high beams only.
3. Adjust A to set the high beam at the desired height. This will affect the low beam’s aim too but that will be corrected later.
4. Adjust D to set the left – right position of the high beam.
5. Turn off the high beams and turn on the integrated fogs.
6. Adjust E to set the integrated fogs at the desired height.
7. Turn off all lights and replace the low beam fuses.
8. Turn on the low beams only.
9. Adjust C to set the low beam at the desired height.
10. Adjust B to set the left-right position of the low beam.
11. You may have to adjust C again if B required a lot of adjustment.

This is basically all you need to know. Look at picture 4 to see how adjustments can be made easier. If you want to know how the lights are actually adjusted from the inside continue on.


Picture 2

This is the front of the driver’s side light assembly. The same adjustment points from the previous picture are indicated along with some other points.

High beam and low beam:
- Adjuster A pushes a brace (highlighted in purple) that is connected to the low beam and high beam assemblies. The brace connects to the low beam assembly at point 1 and to the high beam assembly at point 2. All connections use a ball joint. Point 2 in turn is another brace that connects to the high beam reflector at points 3 and 4. So as adjuster A is turned, it pushes the shared brace forward or backward. The brace then pushes the bottom inner corner of the high beam and low beam assemblies forward or backward providing the vertical adjustment.

Low beam:
- The low beam is anchored by adjusters B, C and moveable point 1 (adjuster A).

High beam:
- The high beam is anchored by adjuster D, fixed point 5, and moveable point 2 (adjuster A).

Integrated fog light:
- The integrated fog light is anchored by adjuster E and fixed point 6. Because it only has two anchoring points which are aligned vertically, the fog lights can only be aimed vertically and not horizontally.


Picture 3

This is a clearer shot of the brace (highlighted in purple) that adjuster A moves. You can see how it connects to the low beam assembly at point 1 and the high beam brace at point 2.


Picture 4

Attached to an adjuster on each headlight assembly is a white plastic clip like that in the picture. Typically, it is located on adjuster A. This clip allows you to turn the 6mm adjusters at 90 degrees from their standard angle. Keep in mind that it reverses the rotation of the adjuster. That is, if you need to turn the adjuster clockwise, you will need to turn counter-clockwise when using the clip.

Remove the clip and grind down the two raised tabs located on the inside arms (the clip in the picture has had its tabs already removed). This will prevent the clip from attaching too securely to the adjuster. Next, attach a long piece of thread or dental floss to the clip. This safety cord will save you when you drop it around the light housings and believe me you will. It also serves to help remove the clip from tough to reach adjusters like B which is located deep in the fender.

Without this modified clip, turning adjuster B would otherwise be impossible. Also important is to use Hex keys with ball-ends to give you some play with the angles.




I hope that this helps. Please let me know via PM if you find any errors or have any questions. Thanks!

[HowyKaos]

what year is this headlight assembly off of? it doesnt seem to match my 05 model's headlight adjustments...

[Guinea Pig]

It's an 04 with integrated fogs. I'd be surpised if there were any changes from 03 to 05 but it's possible.

[Mazda Gremlyn]

Nice post, I'm going to go ahead an pin this for now. If it doesn't match the 05, the someone with and 05 find out how to do it and post up another how-to on here and I'll conglomerate them all in the first post.

[twowheelin]

Outstanding write up man!! Thanks.

[truman]

Excellant writeup- these assemblies are rather complicated at first to comprehend. The tip about the removable adjuster is priceless. I have been living with my headlights being too low since the HID conversion. Now I think I have them just right, thanks to some insight.

[Granada]

Hopefully you guys can help me out with this...
I went for my inspection last week and everything was fine except for my passenger side low beam, it was pointing blindingly high. The mech at the garage tried to fix it but the entire low beam housing was loose inside the the headlight assembly and when he went to adjust the light by turning the screw there was no top to it.
What I would really like to know is how loose does the low beam sit normally? I bought the car new and have never done any work on the headlights so I have no idea what caused this. It's going in to the garage soon for an oil change and I'll have them look at it then but I like to do my best at not looking like a moron when I go in with the car.
I hope this makes sense and unfortunately I'm at work so I can't get any pictrues.
Thanks
Justin

[Granada]

So the guy at the inspection station was an idiot. Turns out the beam just needed a simple adjustment. A few turns of the adjustment knob and I'm all set.

[Slade]

My light pattern passes the wall test, but I've noticed that the bulb in my driver-side lowbeam sits a little lower in the housing.
If I stand about 6' back and move my eye-level below the Mazda emblem, the driver-side lowbeam "brightens" a few inches before the passenger side.
Basically, the bulb on the driver side is visible before the passenger side.
Anyone else experience this?

[Slade]

Passenger-side needed to be lifted via adjustment 'A'.