How to Adjust 1997 Ford Escort Headlights

If the headlights on your Ford Escort are not correctly adjusted, you risk reduced road vision and can even blind oncoming drivers. In many cases, driving with poorly adjusted headlights is almost as bad as driving without them. The alignment process is very simple and only requires a 4 mm wrench. The 1997 Escort's headlight assemblies have two brass tabs at their rear, one for the vertical alignment of the headlight and the other for the horizontal alignment. The alignment process takes no more than 10 minutes to do.

Things You'll Need

• 4 mm wrench

Instructions

1. Park your vehicle approximately 15 feet in front of a garage door.

2. Turn on the Escort's headlights and lift the hood.

3. Use a 4 mm wrench to adjust the brass tabs at the back of the headlamp assembly. The tab closest to the middle of the Escort is for the horizontal alignment, and the outer tab is for the vertical alignment.

4. Adjust the headlights until the small level above the headlamp assembly is perfectly even.

5. Test the headlights on the blank wall. The beams should hit the middle portion of the wall. Any higher and you may blind other drivers. Any lower and your road vision will be diminished. Once the adjustments have been made, close the hood.

References

• "1997 Ford Escort Owner's Guide"; Ford Motor Company; 1996