charcoalwan

took the delivery of the 2013 RDX 2weeks ago . decided to take it for a road trip , out of my 3000kms gas milage was great (way better than my 08) , ok back to the topic.
i was getting flashed 5 out of 10 on the highway ... even trucks, when it rains the focusing was so far off that i cant even see the lines on the road, its just nightmare to drive it but i had no choice to finish the road trip then go back to the dealership to get them to look at it.
dropped the car off at the dealership and tell them all this is happening .. ( low beam is aiming as high as high beam , focus is out ...... yade yada ) the problem is actually bad enough that if u are on the sub highways ... angry drivers keep their highbeams at you . told the service manager that 1 day i might get killed by blinding them or they blind me bad enough that i run over the other lane and kill them .
called the service dept today and they said they have tested it with other rdxs and since we all aim the same height they are not going to do anything...i am trying to get more response from drivers/owners and proof it to acura canada to have them do something about it .
your feedback is needed !!! thank you

weather

charcoalwan....I am also Canadian and I must say that I can't say I have experienced what you are describing at all. I get the occasional "flashing" but mostly because these are HID and some people think you have your high beams on....otherwise, it seems to be working well and gives me the same light output as my TL.

charcoalwan

just to fill u in abit more of myself . i own 5 cars at the moment,
2013 X3, 2013 RDX,2011 E93 M3 2011 MDX , 2010 GLK350
all my cars/suv have projector HIDs and yes occasional i get the flicked/flashed thats normal but this RDX is a nightmare. i am gonna take the car back from the dealership , have it lined up with the mdx or the x3 and take pictures to show them how much this is off. just cuz i do work/live out of town and i go on the highway 2-3 times a week its so important to make sure its safe for both myself and incomings.

GRDX

How about they actually check them for alignment the way it is instructed in the official Acura 2013 RDX repair and service manual?

CerberusKy

iTrader: (1)

Road Trip... did you have a bunch of luggage in the back? If so, this will cause the angle of the car to change, such that your lights will be pointing higher... and annoying the crap out of other motorists. Does it happen when it is only you in the car?

GRDX

From Page 229 of the Owners Manual.

The headlight aim is set by the factory, and does not
need to be adjusted. However, if you regularly carry
heavy items in the cargo area or tow a trailer, have
the aiming readjusted at a dealer or by a qualified

technician.


From Page 122 of the Owners Manual.

If you sense that
the level of the headlights is abnormal, have the

vehicle inspected by a dealer.

charcoalwan

From what they said , they've checked with other RDX's on the lot and its the said height/aligned , people from service man you never know,
example in this case, when i went in to report the problem ,right from the start they try to blame me for adjusting the beams .. so there you go

charcoalwan

My roadtrips are usually last min thing .. just a backpack if u call that luggage,
and of cuz your point is 100% right, 1 of the reason i have the MDX is that i own a pizza store and most of grocery shopping are full truck load and i only do it during the day cuz the self leveling dont work the way i wanted it to.

weather

Mmmm Pizza....now I am hungry! Do you deliver and have discounts for Acurazine members

charcoalwan

hahha i am in a small town ,, even if the pizzas are free .. will cost u more just to drive here

charcoalwan

that remind me the old days when i had my 02 RSX and in a car club , i had a grp of them comes in and have my pizza, i never wanted to charge them anything but the problem is ... i dont really know them .hahahah

alevra

I too, am being flashed all the time by on coming cars when I have my headlights on low. Never had this issue with the HID on my Lexus 330. This cant be right. will be calling the dealer in the am, but i am not optimistic.

charcoalwan

i still havnt had time to revisit the dealership about this ,i have took a video of 2 in coming cars flashed at me but too bad due to crappy iphone it wouldnt really show they flashed ,, now i just drive my other cars at night until acura will do something about it . i wish i can tell them in the face , would u be happy to pay 830/mth and cant drive it at night

weather

I must say that I too have recently noticed a higher than normal "flashing"....not the naked kind! At first, as I sated earlier, it wasn't too bad but I am starting to notice that its quite frequent comapred to my TL. I am not overly concerned but I am sure the oncoming traffic may not share my opinion.

charcoalwan

i am or was concerned because i have to get on 1lane highway if i drive that car back to the city.. really dont like the flashing every 8 out of 10 cars

juice13

Any update on your situation?

We installed the Acura OE hitch and I now think the extra poundage hanging off the rear has tilted the slope of the headlights a bit too high. I love the cutoff (got used to it with our old '07 TSX) but I think it's higher and further down the road with the RDX.

Load up the trunk and put the hitch bike rack and we're going to get some disgruntled drivers.

Has anyone tried manually adjusting the low beams? There has to be a screw in there somewhere...

It's nice having the fancy auto-aiming lights in the BMW but I know they aren't going to last the life of the car.

votnet

I think maybe this is the screw to adjust the headlights (first picture). I haven't tried yet, but marking "U / D" (up / down) makes me think this bolt is used to adjust the headlight. Also I think the second picture shows the adjustment "wheel" itself from inside.

What do you think, anyone tried adjusting these?

Thanks.

votnet

Yep, tested this today. I used this site for instruction about correct aim - http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars...repair/1347221 (not sure what bubble level in Honda and Acura they are talking about).

It is the screw/wheel in second picture that needs to be adjusted. Before adjustment, my low-beam cut off was about 2 inches above the center of the lens mark. And based on the instructions, it should be about 2 inches below. No wonder I got flashed. I have adjusted the wheel turning it clockwise until the cut off was a bit below center of the lens mark.

Did a test drive, and for me - I didn't noticed much difference in terms of visibility, maybe just a bit. Will see if flashing will stop .

juice13

Great thread.

I just reached down and tweaked each side down about a quarter turn. Cutoff is definitely lower now and usually hits the top of the trunk of average sedans instead of their rear view mirrors.

I think the poor aiming was exacerbated by the installation of the trailer hitch (more weight in rear).

I will also tweak it even lower if we go on long trips with the hitch haul loaded down or the bikes on the back.

It's super easy to just reach down with your hand and turn it.

Rodb

I'm getting flashed a lot too. I can't find the adjustment "wheel". Where is it and what does it look like?

weather

Try and avoid coming too close to people in trench coats

Lanman

I like your sense of humor.

votnet

There is a picture attached several posts above (second picture). There is a similar wheel on the other side.

Link to the picture:
https://acurazine.com/forums/attachm...5&d=1345947964

Rodb

Cranked about a half turn and my last night road trip nobody flashed me.

myserver57

Just wanted to say thanks for the information in this thread. I was flashed a few times just driving normally last night, too. I've adjusted mine now (hopefully enough but not too much...).

tomasacura

My new 2013 RDX /tech package was blinding oncoming traffic. An Acura repair guy showed me how to do the adjustment. There are two holes on each side by the lights (see previous pictures).
There is an inscribed "circle" annotated U and D. Up and down. The circle is right near a hole. There is a second "circle" annotated R and L. Right and left. There is similarly a nearby hole. The up/down adjustment is made with a phillips head screwdriver positioned down through the U/D hole. The screw driver actually operates a little geared mechanism down below, which you easily see. I watched the beam lower as the screw driver was turned.

This was pretty unscientific. We lowered the beam maybe 2 inches and I will test drive to test. No dipping lights at me and I am good.

An "adjustment wheel" has been mentioned in other posts. There is no wheel that I could see. Maybe non tech package has the wheel.

juice13

The "wheel" = geared mechanism at bottom of adjustment hole.

I went and bought a long Philips screwdriver just for this adjustment. I stuck it down the hole, looked at it again, pulled out the screwdriver and just turned the wheel gear doodad with my fingers.

I_Like_Scotch

From a recent test drive review on autos.ca:

"For the driver, the standard HID headlights are brilliant, both literally and figuratively. They’re aimed too high, however, and couldn’t have been anything less than blinding for oncoming drivers, or those who got a rearview mirror full at night."

I have been flashed by oncoming traffic as well.

Steven Jeffries

Same thing with my New 2013 RDX 25% of oncoming traffic is flashing me as if I have the brights on. Thanks for this thread. I'm going to attempt the adjustments tomorrow.

1Greywolf

My problem is with the fog lights. In my old Honda it illuminated the side of the road and in front of the car (about 2-3 feet). My 2013 RDX seems to illuminate only to the side and a foot in front of my car. Took it to the dealer they said it was according to spec. and they could not be adjusted. It's how they come from the factory.

Has anyone had similar problems? And have you found a way to adjust them?

thanks

GRDX

The fog lights are adjustable up and down. Refer to page 11 of the accessory fog light installation:

How to Aim the Fog Lights

Release the inner fender.

Adjust the fog light:
• To adjust, turn the aim adjustment screw in or out until the correct aim is obtained.
• Adjust the aim according to local laws and regulations.

Install the clips and bolts to secure the inner fenders.

denizen77

This is quite odd, I have been noticing this issue with mine too, but I am trying to understand why.

Do any of your have problems with the rear shocks? I know some owners are saying their rear shocks are noisy (leaking?) which might affect the rear ride height and make the front of the car point up more.

ottoman101

I actually haven't been flashed at myself (yet), but I did noticed this problem on another 2013 RDX that was driving behind me last night. It was blindng me from my driverside mirror. It wasn't quite night time yet, more like dusk, and it caught my atttention from a distance so it's really bad. I also noticed that only one of the headlights was aimed high, not both. It seems like a manufacturing error.

GRDX

Low beam HID's aiming are cut off at the top with the right side intentionally set slightly higher than the left.

RDXinNETX

GRDX appreciate the solid info re. the rt. side default settings, I can speculate why but that is pointless, can you confirm the factual reason for this?

weather

^^^ I know you have ask GRDX to explain but I'll provide the explanation that was given to me...the right is set a bit higher so that the driver side don't blind oncoming traffic as much. That being said, with the RDX, it appears both sides are still a bit set too high.

matt7869

I have been having the same issues and living in the country, the dark roads were especially bad with the flashing. The dealer checked the lights and they were in spec. I requested them to lower and they did by 2 turns. They seem to be a lot better- and the lights are still bright. Maybe the specs are off?

BuaidhNoBas

Thanks for the info! I will try this soon.

13_RDXER

After reading this helpful thread, lowered my beams by adjusting the "wheel" one full turn.

Note to those who do this, you should mark your wheel with a permanent marker before adjusting to use as a reference point as to number of turns completed.

Also tape your wall when observing and comparing the beam height adjustment before and after.

davisinla

I know I'm resurrecting a rather old thread, but I thought I'd add that I had the same problem on my 2014 Tech, and found the same solution. I was getting flashed all the, found the adjustment to lower the driver-side light, and I don't think I've been flashed since.