On low beam the headlights seem to have a cut off line about 40 feet head of the vehicle, on the drivers side. This seems like a “shade or hood” on the bulb. The lights do not illuminate things enough to see safely ahead, when driving faster than about 30 mph.
The dealer says that these lights are not adjustable. True or not?
If so, would changing them to the new blue dot bulbs, help?
Thanks for any advice!
You’re not the only one with this problem:
http://www.aboutautomobile.com/Complaint/2006/Hyundai/Azera/Headlight
Seems Hyundai didn’t do a very good job designing the headlights on this car.
It’s not the bulbs, it’s the reflectors, and there is not much you can do about it.
Different bulbs will still cast the same pattern on the road. Save your money.
those blue ‘HID’ bulbs are just normal bulbs painted blue to give it that HID look. These are almost as bad in night time, especially in the rain, as having no lights at all.
They’re probably adjustable but it won’t help a problem like this nor will a bulb change. Car makers do screw up on things all the time and the headlights on your vehicle are apparently one of those screwups.
The Lincoln Mark VIII cars like I have were also prone to crummy headlights except for the last models which used the HIDs.
Before I repaired my Mark that car could be parked about 2-3 lengths behind another vehicle at night while in the driveway and I could not read the license plate on the car in front of me. They’re that bad.
If possible you might consider adding a pair of properly adjusted driving lamps to the front of the car. These could be tied in with a relay/switch and you could operate the low beams with or without those driving lamps.
Other than that you may be out of luck short of a mandated Recall and a Recall will probably only happen if the Feds are deluged with complaints. Even then any Recall could be years off.
Good suggestion on the driving lights. I recommend the PIAA 1100-X. They’re easy to install and they light up. .well. .Everything.
Thanks guys…even for the sad news about the headlights on this vehicle. I will drive at night with the fog lights on …they help a bit. Thank Goodness I do very little night driving, tho…
J. Ries
Its possible that the cut off on the thrown light is caused by a blocker plate inside the headlight lens, just in front of the bulb. This was the case on my motorcycle, a Ducati 848.
The solution for the Ducati was to remove the bulb from the headlight lens, then slip in a Phillips head screwdriver, and remove the two screws that held the blocker plate in place. You then used a magnetic pick up tool to remove the screws and the blocker plate.
Once the bulb was put back in place, you then had acceptable light thrown down the road in front of the motorcycle, which would then allow you to see something on the road, instead of having a great view of your front tire, or the tree tops you were driving between on the road.
It’s possible there might be a similar blocker plate inside the headlights on your car.
BC.
It’s more likely that the reflector was poorly designed and isn’t sending the light where it needs to go. If it were as simple as a blocker plate, someone would have posted that solution by now on the websites that complain about these lights.
This might be one of the few times where getting those dumb aftermarket headlights like the kids put on their Civics would make sense. Unfortunately, I doubt there’s a very robust aftermarket for this particular car.
Well, speaking from an enthusiasts standpoint, I’m sure the number of Ducati enthusiasts who are willing to tear their bikes apart to find a simple solution to something like a headlight issue far exceeds the number of Hyundai Azera enthusiasts.
Well, there is a forum dedicated to the car, and there is a thread about adjusting the aim of the headlights:
http://www.azeraforum.com/showthread.php?tid=155
Close to the bottom of that first page.
One more tidbit from this forum:
Aaaaaand, finally…
Recalls
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID:
08E021000
Mfg’s Report Date:
FEB 13, 2008
Component:
EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS
Potential Number Of Units Affected:
4085
Summary:
HYUNDAI-KIA IS RECALLING 4,085 REPLACEMENT HEADLAMP ASSEMBLIES SOLD FOR USE ON 2006-2008 SONATA AND AZERA VEHICLES. THESE HEADLAMP ASSEMBLIES MAY NOT HAVE BEEN ALIGNED PROPERLY AND FAIL TO CONFORM TO THE PHOTOMETRIC REQUIREMENTS OF FEDERAL MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY STANDARD NO. 108, LAMPS, REFLECTIVE DEVICES, AND ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT.
Consequence:
IMPROPER AIMING OF THE HEADLAMP MAY RESULT IN POOR VISIBILITY POSSIBLY RESULTING IN A VEHICLE CRASH.
Remedy:
HYUNDAI-KIA DEALERS HAVE BEEN NOTIFIED AND INSTRUCTED TO RETURN THEIR SUPPLY TO HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA. NONE OF THE HEADLAMPS WERE SOLD AS RETAIL. AS A RESULT, AN OWNER NOTIFICATION LETTER WILL NOT BE ISSUED.
Notes:
HYUNDAI-KIA RECALL CAMPAIGN 080. CUSTOMERS MAY CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION’S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY: 1-800-424-9153); OR GO TO HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV.
So there you go.
There might have been a recall on those headlights.
BC.