I thought my driver side low beam headlight wasn't as bright as my passenger one, turns out its not leveling like all the other lights. Its pointing pretty far down. I could manually adjust it but then it wouldn't match the other one all the time. My question is what to do I need to do to fix this, is it just a motor on the back of the assembly that possibly went bad or am I looking at a bad sensor?

 

wat year is your sc? mines a 92 and the lights aren't automatic.

 

You have to adjust the position of the light itself. There's a level on top of the housing, it should only take minor adjustment to get right. Put two new bulbs in, pull up to a garage or dark wall at night so you can see exactly how far they are off, and adjust it like so. You should just wiggle it and tighten a screw or two...

 

Be sure to check outside lens for flush against hood, bumper, and fender. If the light was removed at some point it is really easy to misalign it causing an issue. Usually however it makes it point straight up and can be adjusted from there. If that happened it sounds like that's what happened and the light was adjusted for the wrong alignment.

Ive pulled my lights off a few dozen times or more.

 

None of the SC400s from any year have auto-leveling headlights so I'm not sure why your drivers side headlamp keeps losing its alignment other than maybe the plastic nut that the alignment bolt screws into is stripped and allows the projector to fall out of alignment over time.
Only cars with the factory equipped HID's ever had auto leveling lights and ours never had hid's standard or even as an option.

 

is it possible the bulb is NOT seated correctly in its socket?

 

the bulb being crooked wouldn't do much since it's a projector beam and there's a little plastic piece that aims the light, so i doubt it. theres a black 8mm nut u need to adjust. i think it's tighten to go up and loosen to go down. it's really easy with a socket wrench. i adjusted mine a couple days ago cz it was pointing straight at the ground.

 

Welcome to CL, Your thread has been moved to the maintenance section.
please use the proper sub forum in the future.
actually the bulb sitting crooked does affect how it reflects around in the housing.
I would double check that and then aim the light manually.

Park on a level ground next to a wall and try and match it with the one thats right, with the drivers side being a little lower than the other side as to not blind oncoming traffic. the passenger side is also a little higher to help read road signs. once you get both right you will be able to drive normally again at night.

 

make sure u park pretty far away because if you're too close to the wall they will look like they're level. at least 20-30 feet away

 

^^ sounds like you have done it a few times =)

 

yes, and i'll need to do it again cz i'll be resealing my headlights soon. they're foggy

 

Its a '93, first year for the auto headlights. The headlights have never been removed to my knowledge. Ive actually never replaced the drivers bulb. We have had the car since late '06 and its never blown out. @Dougspeed maybe I have the terminology wrong but there are levelers next to the lights and the do level the lights if I'm not mistaken.

 

Lexus/Soarer Headlight Adjustment.

Main Headlight – Adjustments

Turn top screw clockwise :- to move light >>> Up
Turn top screw anticlockwise :- to move light >>> Down
Turn bottom screw clockwise :- to move light >>> Left
Turn bottom screw anticlockwise :- to move light >>> Right


High Beam Spotlights – To shift to left or right

Turn top screw to clockwise :- to move light >>> Right
Turn top screw to anticlockwise :- to move light >>> Left
Turn bottom screw clockwise :- to move light >>> Up
Turn bottom screw anticlockwise :- to move light >>> Down

id link some pictures but im sure you can figure it out -

 

They turn on automatically, that is it. they do not move by themselves unless your car is possessed. Yes they put levels on there to help someone who is adjusting them adjust them.
If they were self leveling headlights, they would not need to show you the level now would they?

 

Ok I just spent the last 20mins turning that top screw/bolt. I have that level matching the passenger one. The light still doesnt look as good as the passenger one, better but not what it should be. Im thinking its time for a bulb replacement. Any suggestions?