Driver side projector unfocused, blurry cut-off line

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Old 09-11-2012 | 10:18 PM
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Driver side projector unfocused, blurry cut-off line

This happened suddenly one night when I noticed my driver side beam is not as intense as the passenger side and the cut off line is not very distintif. I thought maybe the bulb has reached its life's end. I swapped in brand new Morrimoto 5000K bulbs. They still need to burn in to reach its peak but its visible the problem is else where. Any ideas why ?
Note: the morrimoto is only in the driver side, passenger side is still oem


Old 09-11-2012 | 11:05 PM
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you need to be at least 25 feet from the wall to see the full sharpness of the projector. also make sure you bulb is properly seated. there have been some reports of morimotos with bulbs out of alignment so the return wire is not properly placed and can cause a blurry cutoff line.
Old 09-12-2012 | 07:47 AM
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The blurry cutoff line was there before I swapped in the morimoto bulb. Not only the cutoff is not sharp but light output and hotspot is not as intense as the right side.
Old 09-12-2012 | 09:00 AM
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its because you cannot have a navtool. LoL
Old 09-12-2012 | 10:23 AM
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Screw the navtool, I'll velcro a iPad over the nav screen
Old 09-12-2012 | 01:15 PM
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take a cereal box or a metal washer (something thin ) and make a bulb spacer and space the bulb back and see if that helps with the sharpness.
Old 09-12-2012 | 03:32 PM
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Originally Posted by M T L T L
Screw the navtool, I'll velcro a iPad over the nav screen
hahahaha
Old 09-12-2012 | 04:55 PM
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What you see are different focal points for the two beams, which is intentional. The illumination pattern is asymmetrical so that the drivers side beam will not blind approaching traffic. If both beams were focus to project exactly the same (and appear so on you picture) then both beams would be synched to shine too close (reducing downroad illumination) or too far (blinding approaching traffic).
Attached Thumbnails Driver side projector unfocused, blurry cut-off line-220px-low_beam_light_pattern_for_right-hand_traffic_svg.png  
Old 09-12-2012 | 06:29 PM
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I think I failed to mention that both beams were identical in intensity and distintiveness of the cutoff line was the same a month ago. It's just recently that I noticed the left side has gone dimmer n blurry. After swapping in new morimoto bulb, problem still exists so this leds me to think that either the bulb is not sitting or alligned properly inside the projector bowl or some other optical malfunction.
Old 09-12-2012 | 09:37 PM
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Optical malfunction for sure. Go visit your optometrist.


Old 09-12-2012 | 09:38 PM
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Tampa that illustration could also be that the passenger side beam usually sits higher than the driver side beam. and that illustration seams to fit more for Halogen lighting rather than HID lighting.

the chrome of the bowl could have started to tarnish.

Here is how the light output should appear evenly lit on both sides. passenger side slightly higher than the driver side

Old 09-13-2012 | 09:57 AM
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is your headlight lense cloudy or scratched?
Old 09-13-2012 | 10:31 AM
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post pics man!!
Old 09-13-2012 | 11:20 AM
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maybe the ballast is not putting out enough juice?
Old 09-13-2012 | 01:10 PM
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Ballast are either on or off there is no dimmer for them. so when they start to fail they will not fire, they will not dim
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Old 09-13-2012 | 04:46 PM
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Originally Posted by L's TL
is your headlight lense cloudy or scratched?
Yes, they're hazed n cloudy but both about the same

Originally Posted by HEAVY_RL
post pics man!!
Here we go, iPhone pics...















Both lights are equaly hazy n cloudy. I doubt this can be the cause.
Old 09-13-2012 | 04:57 PM
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.
.
.
I just found some old shot from last spring... here the lights look clean. There are about 6 months old.








Last edited by M T L T L; 09-13-2012 at 05:02 PM.
Old 09-13-2012 | 05:13 PM
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thats a huge issue right there.. you need to restore those headlights. they will make your cutoff very blurry in that shape.

Think of it like a pair of sunglasses that are dusty or smudged with finger prints everything you see is just not clear. same thing goes for headlights.
Old 09-13-2012 | 05:18 PM
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^
I hope its just that. I'll do that with a window tint next week.
Old 09-13-2012 | 08:49 PM
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Not a garage queen I suppose?
Old 09-13-2012 | 09:48 PM
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^
Not at all... hopefully I'll put a ceiling over her within the next 2 years if I still have her.
Old 09-13-2012 | 11:06 PM
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Supposedly the UV rays are the culprit. I'm glad I can have mine covered at home and work. Legend #1's clear coat took a beating from the Texas sun and it was hard to watch.
Old 09-20-2012 | 07:32 PM
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Ok, the lights are done. They came out really good. Both sides are housing morimoto 5K bulbs. Im really impressed with them, specially for the price.
These are very good alternative for pricey oems.
The blured cutoff line is much less prominent now but a trained eye can see a difference between both beams. Driver side is still a little bit less sharper than passenger side n also a little bit dimmer.

Here are some some beamshots infront of white walls, the duplicates are HDR versions I uploaded also so u can better see the beam difference.

















Old 09-20-2012 | 11:06 PM
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still looks like your too close to the wall. 25-30 ft from the wall should yield the best results for sharpness. if you want to make it sharper and increase light output you can do a clear lens swap.

Stock


Clear lens
Old 02-28-2013 | 07:55 PM
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Carbon do u have a detailed documentation of ur headlight project ? I'm tempted to do a LS460R projector retrofit. In the meantime, what specific tool I can use to adjust aim of the projectors ?
Old 03-05-2013 | 09:23 PM
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No sorry I do not have much on my build. I have some new designs I'm working on for spring time I hope to get more pictures of the process I get in the zone and completely forget pictures.

The ls460 is far too large for our housings cannot go much bigger than the OEM projector.
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