Club 80-90 Forums

Hi all,

Few things left to get through MOT, one annoying thing is the headlamp position driver side. MOT guy keeps banging on about the side lamp but I cant see anything wrong. Looking at the pics is there anything visibly wrong with lights?

What is the wording on the refusal?

those pictures really dont tell much.... is the side light on? or is that the reflected ambient light or camera light?
if the light is on and it really is blue, its fail. anything other than pure white is illegal afaik

The lights arent on. I wanted to show the pattern on the front of the lights. Are they correct for each side?

Mocki wrote:those pictures really dont tell much.... is the side light on? or is that the reflected ambient light or camera light?
if the light is on and it really is blue, its fail. anything other than pure white is illegal afaik

Guess you'll just have to ask the MOT guy?

Maybe he doesn't like the state of the reflector.

Your drivers'-side lamp needs rotating anticlockwise... maybe that's what he said rather than 'side-lamp'?

Having said that, I can't even see a side-light bulb in there! Maybe that's it?

I wondered that. It does look offset which would make the beam and 'kick' out of spec and therefore a fail. I wonder if the glass lens has been taken off at some point and glued back out of kilter?

You should be able to see if theres a problem on a dark country lane:

https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/VW ... Adjustment" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I've added pics to this page to show where the light should fall on the road - mainly for anyone trying to set them up correctly. A garage wall is ok but no substitute for out on the road. As the headlight is on the drivers side, it has the potential to affect oncoming drivers so if its not right, it'll get a fail. Both lights count, but that side is significant.

I suspect chris7ian is right, and it just needs rotating slightly. You should be able to check that on dipped it looks thus:



I always check/set my headlight aim in this way with the beginning of the left 'kick' at the kerb edge and the right 'kick' in line with the centre of the road and a dark area over on the right where oncoming traffic will be. They always pass.

All the official technical measurements and the beam setting gadget at the garage aim to produce a beam pattern like the above pic but you can do it yourself if you use this as a guide. If the headlight is indeed twisted slightly, the right kick will be lower and the horizontal line of the headlight will slope upwards towards opposite curb.

CovKid wrote:If the headlight is indeed twisted slightly, the right kick will be lower and the horizontal line of the headlight will slope upwards towards opposite curb.

I think you have your left/right confused, but for the rest of it I agree - with the headlamp cantered over like it appears to be, the left kick-up viewed from the drivers' seat will be lower while the flat part of the beam that should be horizontal (on the right) will slope up (much as a lhd lamp would) and therefore dazzle oncoming traffic... I suspect this will be the reason for the MOT fail




The red line shows the vertical as defined by your lamp
The green shows true vertical where your lamp should align
The white line is a vertical guide as defined by your seam to which the lamp should be parallel

No confusion on left/right. This is as viewed from the drivers seat. Your left eye might be viewed as your right by other people but it nevertheless remains your left eye.

Tried to capture problem you can see the right lamp is pitched a little higher and seems more focussed

https://plus.google.com/109270054735991 ... S8bBBGuQzo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://plus.google.com/109270054735991 ... gZNhvqpth2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

CovKid wrote:No confusion on left/right. This is as viewed from the drivers seat. Your left eye might be viewed as your right by other people but it nevertheless remains your left eye.

agreed, but you said the right kick-up will be lower... the kick-up is on the left

burnzdog wrote:Tried to capture problem you can see the right lamp is pitched a little higher and seems more focussed

https://plus.google.com/109270054735991 ... S8bBBGuQzo" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

https://plus.google.com/109270054735991 ... gZNhvqpth2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You need to work on your photography generally! but from what I can make out it appears to be as CovKid and I have said - should be an easy fix