We just picked up a 2002 SC 430 and I have a question about the headlights. The drivers side bulb was burned out and I had a Lexus certified shop replace it. The low beams are pretty much pointed straight down with the light hitting about six feet in front of the car. The highs seem to be aimed correctly but are fairly weak. The shop said the lights were at the limits of the adjusters and didn't help much. They suggested I take it to a body shop and see if they could align them or replace them.
Anyone have any suggestions here or heard of this? It does not have the articulated lights. We'll check it after dark tonight to see if it helped any but the car is not really safe to drive at night until we can solve this.

 

Are the self levelers working? They point down initially and then come back up.

 

Evidently, they are not.
Is there a way to tell if it has them and a way to test them.

 

The headlights aim adjustment is on your owner manual, page 248. See if you can adjust them by yourself. I wouldn’t trust the shop.

 

I don’t think the SC does that. There is nothing in the owner manual suggests that either. The headlights system is automatically adjusted according to the load in the vehicle. There is AFS, if this function engaged, the headlights move left or right when the vehicle turns. The AFS button locates below the fuel and trunk switches.

 

The headlights changed from '05 to '06. My wife has an '06 and every time the car is started with the headlights on auto in a dark environment like a garage or at night you can see the headlights self levelers adjust. Also in '06 models is the Intelligent Adaptive Front Lighting System (I-AFS), which swivels the High-Intensity Discharge (HID) headlamps through up to 15 degrees, helping to illuminate a bend as the driver steers into it. From experience when adjusting the headlight direction, up or down, it takes A LOT of turns to move them either direction. Attached from a 2006 repair manual shows how to properly adjust SC headlamps that may be of some benefit.

 

Mine is an 06. I did not know the earlier models did not have the self leveling feature.

 

Mine is an 02 and has the self leveling headlights, but I am in the UK, maybe different in Europe.

 

The 2002-2005 does a down and back up when you turn the key on...it’s a self test of the headlight leveling system.
its just not as complex as the 2006-2010.
if you look in the drivers side, front/rear wheel wells, you will see the leveling units.