Getting lights focussed

dellas1979

Can anyone advise me on the best thing to do. I have an NCT next Wednesday at 20.15 in Limerick.

I am unsure that some parts of the car will pass it, but I will not be doing a pre-test before NCT (rather fix what needs to be fixed to pass car on second test).

I was told that it has a good chance of passing (regularly serviced etc) but that the lights need to get focussed.

So, 1. Does it take a lot of time to get them focussed? i.e will I need to take a day off work? 2. Is it expensive just to get the lights focussed? Does any garage do this?

Thanks

scotia

As far as i know you can't "focus" your headlights, you can align them and that is part of the nct, if you google headlamp alignment you should be able to find what your looking for.they must be a certain height from the ground and be "staring" straight ahead, no left headlamp pointing at the trees at the side of the road.
1. 15/30 mins depending on adjustment required and access to adjustment screws
2. Not sure how much they would charge but if you ring around i'm sure they would give you ballpark figures for headlamp alignment.

Mailman

The Haynes Manuals used to give instructions on how to set your headlight alignment but the one for my car doesn't.
Was a simple process of driving up to a wall on level ground with a tape measure and measuring where the beam was shone and adjusting accordingly.

Garages around my way charge €25 to €35 for the job which only takes then a minute or two.

This is a big annoyance for me as the NCT test centre has the car on the machine and can check the alignment and correct alignment in a second but instead they fail you and force you to get ridden for the cost of alignment and then charge for a re-test. It is the one greatest component of the test which leaves me with the impression that the NCT is a TAX to generate revenue rather than a check to ensure that cars are road-worthy.

johnny_adidas

well they do tell you to make sure that they are aligned before the test so its your own fault if you need a retest just for that

Mailman

johnny_adidas wrote: »

well they do tell you to make sure that they are aligned before the test so its your own fault if you need a retest just for that

getting your light alignment checked before every NCT means the cost of the test to the punter is closer to 80 quid every time even though it would take seconds for them to adjust alignment while they are checking alignment.

johnny_adidas

do it yourself if you're that tight, its not that hard. 80 quid every 2 years, that'll surely break the bank, wont it. still saves you having to do the test, then get lights aligned and the price of a retest on top. alternate dimension sounds about right

Mailman

....or adopt the spendthrift's attitude and wonder why the debt collector has come knocking. Sure it's only money. Easy come, easy go. You are no stranger to the bargains alerts forum so I assume you can see for yourself that being charged 25 to 35 euro for headlight alignment is not good value.

Seth Brundle

johnny_adidas wrote: »

do it yourself if you're that tight, its not that hard. 80 quid every 2 years, that'll surely break the bank, wont it. still saves you having to do the test, then get lights aligned and the price of a retest on top. alternate dimension sounds about right

The only time that I paid for mine to be professionally done, they failed! It turned out that they weren't done at all!
So don't be so quick to assume that someone who believes they may do a better jub using DIY is tight!

johnny_adidas

Of course, I also try to do as many service items/check myself as i possibly can as i know they are done and done right. Aligned my own lights last time for the nct. Should you pay to get them aligned and they are not, then thats something to take up with who took your money for the service.

by making the reference to being tight, i was making pointing out that someone is complaining about spending money on getting lights aligned but is also complaining about needing a retest if it fails for misaligned lights. this can obviously be done cheaper by yourself (which you may get wrong anyway). Also you mention everytime which makes it sound like its a weekly process, its a test once every 2 years.

I fail to see what relevance my browsing trends have on this and i dont really have anything further to help the OP out so i would suggest any further correspondence on this be taken off thread

Mailman

When you look out the window from the waiting room in the NCT test centre and see the staff with the car at the alignment test rig with screwdriver in hand and then failing the car for light alignment when they could have turned a screw less than 180 degrees to bring it back in to alignment that is maddening.
I've had a car with only 8000 miles on it fail an NCT because of very marginally high head light alignment. Saw that it was only a fraction over on the mechanic's test device and he "kindly" only charge me a tenner less alignment charge.
Money making racket.

Mailman

johnny_adidas wrote: »

I fail to see what relevance my browsing trends have on this and i dont really have anything further to help the OP out so i would suggest any further correspondence on this be taken off thread

Rich from you! You dragged it off-topic to begin with and in no way addressed the posters query.
Both myself and Scotia replied on topic to begin with.

Seth Brundle

Mailman wrote: »

When you look out the window from the waiting room in the NCT test centre and see the staff with the car at the alignment test rig with screwdriver in hand and then failing the car for light alignment when they could have turned a screw less than 180 degrees to bring it back in to alignment that is maddening.

They are not allowed to adjust the car! I'm glad that they don't go tinkering with the car. Can you imagine the outcry from people here suggesting that the tester deliberately adjusted something so that it failed?

Mailman wrote: »

I've had a car with only 8000 miles on it fail an NCT because of very marginally high head light alignment. Saw that it was only a fraction over on the mechanic's test device and he "kindly" only charge me a tenner less alignment charge.

2,000 miles per year?

Mailman

kbannon wrote: »

2,000 miles per year?

Don't know how much per year but 8K when I bought it. Kept in a dark dry shed on carpet for it's entire life before I bought it.