Thinking your car headlights to be in good shape just by seeing them turning on as and when you switch them on can be a mistake of yours’ and may put your car’s headlight health at a stake if continued for a long time.
The performance of the headlights can be surely improved if you know what maintenance task of a headlight takes and what you need to perform.
You would know how to inspect the headlights and how to adjust them from the tips followed below and help yourself to ensure that they are properly functioning when you set on the road at night or during foggy weathers.
1. Keep them clean – Not only the lenses, i.e. the plastic covering on the headlights but also the reflecting surface around the bulbs which reflects and expands the lights should be crystal clear.
Check if these are clean enough or you see too much scratches, fogginess, yellowing .
If you find so then make sure to clean(if cleanable) or replace them.
If you find all of it to be clean then apply an UV protection film on the exterior of the lenses. This would prevent the UV rays from damaging the lenses over time causing them to turn yellow or foggy .
If you find out that the headlights are truly gone blur then use a headlight restoration kit . The how to-s are written in the instruction manual which comes with the kit .Simply follow those and you can see visible improvements.
2. Replace the bulbs – If you see that the lenses and reflectors are all okay and clear but still the light is dim, this may be an issue of the bulbs . The bulbs naturally dim over time and need replacement after few years.
If you are someone who drives more at night than morning then choosing a long-life bulb can help as it would last you 3 times more than other standard bulbs.
3. Adjust the bulbs – Check if the bulbs are perfectly aligned and centered correctly . Make sure that they are pointing towards road.
With time, as the vehicle travels through different types of roads ,the light bulbs get misaligned and end up pointing either too high or too low or sometimes off to a particular side.
This in turn can cause you danger as they can mislead other drivers approaching your car from front when you are on road and make them hit you in worst case .
Some cars now a days have built in bubble levelers which are located at the sides and top of the headlights. If the bubbles in the levelers are not centered you would know that the headlights might need to adjusting and leveling.
If possible, check them by yourself or take professional help to adjust them as soon as possible.