Hella H4 headlight replacement, alignment improvement

[Nut124]

I had been unhappy with night time vision and light alignment for a long time but had done nothing about it other than going slow and trying to watch for deer.

I googled LED conversions but decided to try Hella H4 for now. These are supposed to be brighter than the original sealed beams.

While at it, I determined that my light assys were lacking in terms of adjustability of alignment. They have the factory up/down screw at 12noon, the left/right screw at 8pm or so and a spring pulling back at 4pm or so but no way to adjust installed height where the spring is.

I wonder if my setup was missing a stud or something near the 4pm location that could have yielded similar results combined with the two factory screws?

I had to cut a relief into the retaining ring for a new adjustment screw at 4pm. I used a 4mm fine machine screw with the head turned down for clearance. I adjusted as well as I could in the garage. We'll see when the weather improves.

This should give me full control of alignment with a 3-point adjustment.

The Hella H4s seem brighter.

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Nut, sounds like you fixed the problem with adjustment, but something doesn't quite seem right with your original setup. Here's how the headlights are on my cars. Going from the inside outwards:

There is a headlight bucket that is attached to the body with 3 (maybe 4) screws that inevitably rust. The bucket doesn't move. The wiring for the headlights enters this bucket through a rubber grommet/boot, and it also has a tab welded inside for the spring attachment.

There is next a headlight "saddle", which holds the underside of the headlight. This saddle pivots on two adjustment screws, one at 12 Noon and one at 9 o'clock, and the spring attached to this provides the tension to hold it all together. The 9 o'clock screw controls right to left aiming, and the 12 Noon screw controls up and down aiming.

Next is the headlight lamp (bulb) itself. It is held against the "saddle" by a chrome bezel with 3 screws. These screws also inevitably rust...

And of course, an outside chrome ring to surround the headlight and make it look nice, but it's purely decorative.

Is that what you have (or had)? Note that you can aim the headlights left and right and up and down, but you can't physically move the headlight lamp relative to the body (that part is fixed).

-Bryan

[dinghyguy]

H4 helps, but the biggest improvement is to install a relay system to take power direct tot he headlights from the starter or alternator and use the switch assembly only to trip the relays......HUGE difference.

cheers
dinghyguy

[Nut124]

Bryan, yes, that is what I had. However, I felt like my lights were pointing too far to the left.

The problem is that the 3rd support point under the spring is undefined. I wonder if there was or should be a stud or some sort there to allow a 3-point adjustment by holding the saddle off the bucket.

As it was, the spring would pull the 4pm position all the way in, or where the little 3mm(?) retaining screws holding the glass would bottom out. The factory adjustment screws only work if the assy, what Bryan calls the saddle, is not all the way in - needs something to hold the 4pm position off the inner bucket.

Anyway, works now.

Yes, I will do the relay conversion next.

Here are some other ideas:

LED conversion that looks vintage: $$$
https://vintagecarleds.com/

https://www.grote.com/white-light/forwa ... s/90941-5/

[Nut124]

H4 helps, but the biggest improvement is to install a relay system to take power direct tot he headlights from the starter or alternator and use the switch assembly only to trip the relays......HUGE difference.

cheers
dinghyguy

I see u are in Canada. What is a good place to buy the relays or kit here in the US?

[DieselSpider]

Be mindful that the H4 are not street legal for Automobile use in the USA so in a car you are supposed to use the HELLA HB2/9003 Vision Plus instead which are SAE and DOT approved.

HELLA also has the following caveat on their website regarding the HB2 Vision Plus lamps - "Be sure to check your local laws for any additional requirements."

See:
http://www.myhellalights.com/index.php/ ... headlamps/

[18Fiatsandcounting]

The problem is that the 3rd support point under the spring is undefined. I wonder if there was or should be a stud or some sort there to allow a 3-point adjustment by holding the saddle off the bucket.

As it was, the spring would pull the 4pm position all the way in, or where the little 3mm(?) retaining screws holding the glass would bottom out. The factory adjustment screws only work if the assy, what Bryan calls the saddle, is not all the way in - needs something to hold the 4pm position off the inner bucket.

OK, thanks, I now understand what you mean. If I recall, my headlights (standard 7", Sylvania, I think) had some "nubs" on the back side of the glass that allowed the headlight to pivot on these. Maybe not all headlights have these, or perhaps not in the right places.

Alignment is pretty straightforward, and maybe you already know this. On a level surface, position the car 16 feet from a blank wall (or a large piece of cardboard). Put two marks on the wall (cardboard) that are the same height above the floor as the center of the headlights are above the ground, and directly in front of the car. I use string and my eyesight for this, making sure the marks are separated horizontally the same distance as the headlight center-to-center distance on the car. Turn on the headlights (low beam). Adjust so that the center of the beam on each light is about 3 or 4 inches below the marks on the wall/cardboard, and 3 or 4 inches to the right of the marks. I forget the exact measurements, but it's in most Fiat repair manuals. Once the low beams are adjusted, the high beams should also be right as those are fixed inside the headlight and you can't change low-beam relative to high beam.

-Bryan

[Nut124]

Hello Diesel, thanks for the info. I think if my car ever was subjected to a DOT inspection, I might have problems bigger than the lights. I googled and studied the DOT vs EU standard. The DOT headlight standard dates back to the 60's and requires that low beams send a portion of the low beam up in order to illuminate overhead signs. The EU lights do not do this and send more light to the road and when properly adjusted, bother on coming traffic less than DOT lights due to crisp cut-off. The EU lights are legal in bikes in the US.

Bryan, the nubs on the back side of the glass are what properly index the sealed beam into the saddle. Thanks for the info on the alignment. I will wait for warmer weather. In the garage, I used a ruler to roughly set the elevation so that at 6ft the beam went down 1" or so.

[18Fiatsandcounting]

Bryan, the nubs on the back side of the glass are what properly index the sealed beam into the saddle. Thanks for the info on the alignment. I will wait for warmer weather. In the garage, I used a ruler to roughly set the elevation so that at 6ft the beam went down 1" or so.

Yes, now that I think about it, you're right about those nubs. Goes to show you what happens to my memory when I haven't worked on something for a long time. And yes, a 1" drop every 6 feet sounds about right, as that would be almost 3" for 16 feet. And the low beams should aim slightly to the right of the car of course. Unless you're in a country where you drive on the left side of the road, in which case they would aim slightly left.

-Bryan

[SteinOnkel]

H4 helps, but the biggest improvement is to install a relay system to take power direct tot he headlights from the starter or alternator and use the switch assembly only to trip the relays......HUGE difference.

cheers
dinghyguy

I see u are in Canada. What is a good place to buy the relays or kit here in the US?

Do not buy the "Hella" kit from Amazon. It's counterfeit. The relays suck and they are not easy to replace, because they have different connectors.

[SteinOnkel]

Hello Diesel, thanks for the info. I think if my car ever was subjected to a DOT inspection, I might have problems bigger than the lights. I googled and studied the DOT vs EU standard. The DOT headlight standard dates back to the 60's and requires that low beams send a portion of the low beam up in order to illuminate overhead signs. The EU lights do not do this and send more light to the road and when properly adjusted, bother on coming traffic less than DOT lights due to crisp cut-off. The EU lights are legal in bikes in the US.

Bryan, the nubs on the back side of the glass are what properly index the sealed beam into the saddle. Thanks for the info on the alignment. I will wait for warmer weather. In the garage, I used a ruler to roughly set the elevation so that at 6ft the beam went down 1" or so.

Your car is exempt from all this based on age, afaik. My eu-only VW is. And it has factory H4.

[dinghyguy]

I bought a relay kit from vicks a few years ago. I traced the circuit and modified my diagram to show the relays
For the next fiat I just bought relays and fuse blocks and followed my diagram
So far I have helped 4 other fiat guys here in vancouver using the same diagram....

Cheers
Dinghyguy

[Nut124]

Dingy, did you use relays on each side or had L/R in the same relay? Where did you mount them?

I'm thinking of using two relays per side, in the engine compartment. Less new wiring that way.

[RRoller123]

There is less wiring that way, as long as the power source is easily located. I did one relay for HI and one for LO beams, mounted relays on fender wall, driver's side. But it takes a lot of wire to send it over to the other side.

[dinghyguy]

yea, thats what i did also. I got some bullet connectors and made the relay kit a plug and play into the existing fiat connectors. The only new connection was for the power. I used two fuse holders and fuses one for low and one for high beam and a two relays for high and low beam. that way if one fuse blows you still have light. I too mounted them on the drivers side engine bay, i used some of the random studs left over from the pollution control stuff which is long gone.

cheers
dinghyguy