Headlight shadow on windshield

[Karen]

Just got a 2021 Pallisade Calligraphy and the black shadow on the windshield when driving down a country road at night is so bad that I can honestly say I would not have bought this vehicle if I'd seen this before the purchase. Have seen a few threads saying I can change from Halogen to LED bulbs.....can anyone help me with this?

 

[Alan_F]

Is it possible to show this in a photo that you can post?

 

[bruesjoh04]

Just got a 2021 Pallisade Calligraphy and the black shadow on the windshield when driving down a country road at night is so bad that I can honestly say I would not have bought this vehicle if I'd seen this before the purchase. Have seen a few threads saying I can change from Halogen to LED bulbs.....can anyone help me with this?

You already have full LEDs up front (in fact, all 2021 Palisades do).

You are probably just unfamiliar with the beam pattern and sharp cutoffs. Rest assured that, in actuality, you are seeing far more than you ever would have been seeing in an older car or in one with inferior headlights.

 

[Mickey]

Just got a 2021 Pallisade Calligraphy and the black shadow on the windshield when driving down a country road at night is so bad that I can honestly say I would not have bought this vehicle if I'd seen this before the purchase. Have seen a few threads saying I can change from Halogen to LED bulbs.....can anyone help me with this?

A black shadow on the windshield??? Do you mean there appears to be a darker pattern of light where the headlights are shining, dark on top and bright on the bottom and it goes up and down as the road rises and dips? If so, this type of headlight system is called projector headlights and the older type are reflector. Look it up.

 

[SunKing]

Yea I’m pretty sure all trims now come with LEDs standard for headlights. Not sure why anyone would want to, but I don’t know if you could retrofit halogen bulbs.

 

[Mr. iNCREDIBLE]

not sure what the OP is talking about. But the user name Karen and their first post being a very negative complaint over something trivial and silly has me LQTM

 

[Alan_F]

not sure what the OP is talking about. But the user name Karen and their first post being a very negative complaint over something trivial and silly has me LQTM

It is not unusual for someone to come to a forum the first time specifically to complain about a problem and/or try and find a solution. The problem may be trivial (although maybe more of an issue on unlit back roads), but that doesn't mean the poster is disingenuous. The few times I have driven in the a rural area at night in pitch black with only my headlights to guide me on my Hyundai Genesis, it was a very tough situation.

 

[Jerrylee]

I too have a 21 Calligraphy and was going to post a question about the black spot in the headlights pattern. It may be designed that way but it worries me that I’m missing a part of road that I can’t see at night. The beam pattern is good but maybe a little low and then there’s that spot close to the center line with no light. Any opinions on this? Maybe a bad headlight?

 

[Mr. iNCREDIBLE]

I too have a 21 Calligraphy and was going to post a question about the black spot in the headlights pattern. It may be designed that way but it worries me that I’m missing a part of road that I can’t see at night. The beam pattern is good but maybe a little low and then there’s that spot close to the center line with no light. Any opinions on this? Maybe a bad headlight?

It is designed that way, it is the cutoff to prevent blinding the oncoming traffic.

all manufacturers do this with HID and LED headlights, they all approach it differently, some with a stepped line. ___/—/ type pattern, others with a V stepped pattern. —V— And others with a combination of both, __/—V—.


Hyundai uses the V pattern, my third Hyundai with LEDs that has the same pattern. IMO you aren’t missing anything in the road If you are focusing on your high horizon and not what is in immediately in front of you or the on the light pattern.

Looking at your high horizon would allow you to see whatever is out there before it is right in front of you. Sadly a driving technique that is no longer taught in Drivers Ed.

 

[Jerrylee]

It is designed that way, it is the cutoff to prevent blinding the oncoming traffic.

all manufacturers do this with HID and LED headlights, they all approach it differently, some with a stepped line. ___/—/ type pattern, others with a V stepped pattern. —V— And others with a combination of both, __/—V—.


Hyundai uses the V pattern, my third Hyundai with LEDs that has the same pattern. IMO you aren’t missing anything in the road If you are focusing on your high horizon and not what is in immediately in front of you or the on the light pattern.

Looking at your high horizon would allow you to see whatever is out there before it is right in front of you. Sadly a driving technique that is no longer taught in Drivers Ed.

Thank you. I thought that might be the case but wasn’t sure. I think you are very good at answering people’s questions and very knowledgeable. Thanks again.

 

[Hyundai/Genesis ut]

I too have a 21 Calligraphy and was going to post a question about the black spot in the headlights pattern. It may be designed that way but it worries me that I’m missing a part of road that I can’t see at night. The beam pattern is good but maybe a little low and then there’s that spot close to the center line with no light. Any opinions on this? Maybe a bad headlight?

I adjust d the headlight angle slightly upward. I found with the angle of the lights from the factory was a bit low. The blackened area referred to by some posters is a dip in the light dispersion that is meant to not shine Directly into the cabins of on coming cars. Since our headlights are mounted quite low, as a car approaches it is almost impossible to illuminate an on coming cars driver and passenger, unless the light would be angles up more than 45 degrees. I don car if a car that is a mile away gets my lights shining into their cabin. I angled the lights slightly up. Before everyone chimes in with usual headlight setting blue blurb, I know the light trajectory is supposed to go down over a distance of say 20 feet. I find this absurd since our low beams are
So low on the vehicle. By the time you look out 50 feet there is almost no light on the road.
I really like the fact that the darkened area is way down the road, I am not getting flashed by on coming cars and I can now see
All street signs fully illuminated , say 50 to 100 yards down the road. I’m sure cars that are 200 yards away are getting my headlights directly on them but as the approach the light beam lowers on them and it is acceptable!
With all that said, most headlights dip down on the left and continue low even further to the left.... all the way out to the end on the left. What Hyundai did here is new and the lowered the beam pattern in the area where on coming cars would approach in a two lane country road situation. They also decided they could raise the beam pattern back up after this dip to let’s say light up the ditch on the other side of the road. I find this brilliant and once you get used to it and start enjoying what you can see
To the left. You will enjoy this aspect of your Palisade. It has actually helped me evade an accident more than once. One of these times was with a deer that jumped out!
Ps try a couple of turns on the adjustment screw and take it for a drive. I actually love my headlights the way they are now, I started with the adjustment way up because I was getting a feel for the adjustment and I did get flashed a few time and then I pulled in and lowered rhem while aiming against my garage door! I will also say the if you set both at the same level, one headlights black triangle) negates the others at short distance and only coverage later on down the road. Try this, but don’t aim them too high and run that way. It can be dangerous to blind other drivers, especially on two lane country roads!

 

[Jerrylee]

Thank you.

I adjust d the headlight angle slightly upward. I found with the angle of the lights from the factory was a bit low. The blackened area referred to by some posters is a dip in the light dispersion that is meant to not shine Directly into the cabins of on coming cars. Since our headlights are mounted quite low, as a car approaches it is almost impossible to illuminate an on coming cars driver and passenger, unless the light would be angles up more than 45 degrees. I don car if a car that is a mile away gets my lights shining into their cabin. I angled the lights slightly up. Before everyone chimes in with usual headlight setting blue blurb, I know the light trajectory is supposed to go down over a distance of say 20 feet. I find this absurd since our low beams are
So low on the vehicle. By the time you look out 50 feet there is almost no light on the road.
I really like the fact that the darkened area is way down the road, I am not getting flashed by on coming cars and I can now see
All street signs fully illuminated , say 50 to 100 yards down the road. I’m sure cars that are 200 yards away are getting my headlights directly on them but as the approach the light beam lowers on them and it is acceptable!
With all that said, most headlights dip down on the left and continue low even further to the left.... all the way out to the end on the left. What Hyundai did here is new and the lowered the beam pattern in the area where on coming cars would approach in a two lane country road situation. They also decided they could raise the beam pattern back up after this dip to let’s say light up the ditch on the other side of the road. I find this brilliant and once you get used to it and start enjoying what you can see
To the left. You will enjoy this aspect of your Palisade. It has actually helped me evade an accident more than once. One of these times was with a deer that jumped out!
Ps try a couple of turns on the adjustment screw and take it for a drive. I actually love my headlights the way they are now, I started with the adjustment way up because I was getting a feel for the adjustment and I did get flashed a few time and then I pulled in and lowered rhem while aiming against my garage door! I will also say the if you set both at the same level, one headlights black triangle) negates the others at short distance and only coverage later on down the road. Try this, but don’t aim them too high and run that way. It can be dangerous to blind other drivers, especially on two lane country roads!

 

[awedbychrist]

Just got a 2021 Pallisade Calligraphy and the black shadow on the windshield when driving down a country road at night is so bad that I can honestly say I would not have bought this vehicle if I'd seen this before the purchase. Have seen a few threads saying I can change from Halogen to LED bulbs.....can anyone help me with this?

I'm with you on that as well. You are talking about the dark spot that shows up at the top between where the light from the two headlights meet? I keep thinking that a boar or a bear is running out toward where I am turning. I doubt that changing bulbs will help, but maybe.

 

[Mr. iNCREDIBLE]

I'm with you on that as well. You are talking about the dark spot that shows up at the top between where the light from the two headlights meet? I keep thinking that a boar or a bear is running out toward where I am turning. I doubt that changing bulbs will help, but maybe.

You can’t change the bulbs they are solid state LED units.

 

[elp_jc]

can anyone help me with this?

First of all, there are a few active members here that can be rude, but hope they don't scare you away (you can always ignore them ). At any rate, seems like you could most likely get rid of your issue by a slight upward adjustment of your headlights. Maybe JerryLee can post precise adjustment suggestions, since that wasn't clear what he ended up with at the end (one full turn -as in 360-deg-? Less? And in which direction you need to turn it?). But good luck with that.

 

[Hyundai/Genesis ut]

First of all, there are a few active members here that can be rude, but hope they don't scare you away (you can always ignore them ). At any rate, seems like you could most likely get rid of your issue by a slight upward adjustment of your headlights. Maybe JerryLee can post precise adjustment suggestions, since that wasn't clear what he ended up with at the end (one full turn -as in 360-deg-? Less? And in which direction you need to turn it?). But good luck with that.

I used the adjust them up high enough method. Turn screw a few times clockwise , it behind head light and there is a guide that will guide your Phillips screw driver right into the hole. After you adjust- go for a drive if they are illuminating way down the road and all the street signs, they are probably too high. I found this to be at the maximum height , and you will get flashed by on coming drivers. Now! Open the hood and adjust each counter clockwise a couple(2) turns. Go for a drive and if it’s better but still too high, turn it one more revolution counter clockwise. Using this method, I go way more illumination and I stopped when the beam was almost level going out 100 yard. And the dark area is still in the other lane but atleast 50 yards down the road and it does not hat it’s intended to do. Not blind on coming drivers, but yet, it’s not a huge dark spot on the road. I think Hyundai has it adjusted from factory just the way they got the dot approval! But it’s not optimum! I feel like the headlight illuminate 50% more now and I never get flashed unless I’m coming up over a hole and there is someone coming over the crest of the hill in my direction. Good luck!

 

[awedbychrist]

Hi All, I see that elp_jc suggested adjusting the headlights higher. Does it get rid of the dark shadow area just to adjust them higher? Also, know that it used to be illegal to run one's lights outside of the factory settings, at least in some states, but I don't know if it still is.

 

[elp_jc]

With a vehicle with self-leveling shocks, head aim should be adjusted precisely, since the attitude of the vehicle will remain the same. And I believe ALL Palisades come standard with the 'towing package' that includes that. But at least it's relatively easy to adjust. I rarely drive at night, so will probably leave it alone. But when necessary (like with my motorcycles), I use the adjusting method of a long wall at night, where you can see the beam pattern clearly, so I adjust it to be ever so slightly sloping down, and never an issue. But I guess on the Pali, you can just have the beam pattern almost straight, since the headlights are so low. And readjust if needed.

 

[SunKing]

With a vehicle with self-leveling shocks, head aim should be adjusted precisely, since the attitude of the vehicle will remain the same. And I believe ALL Palisades come standard with the 'towing package' that includes that. But at least it's relatively easy to adjust. I rarely drive at night, so will probably leave it alone. But when necessary (like with my motorcycles), I use the adjusting method of a long wall at night, where you can see the beam pattern clearly, so I adjust it to be ever so slightly sloping down, and never an issue. But I guess on the Pali, you can just have the beam pattern almost straight, since the headlights are so low. And readjust if needed.

To be clear, the self leveling shocks are only on the rear. They are only really doing anything if you have a very heavy load like towing something. They’re just designed to keep the rear height level with the front.

 

[saxman242]

Does it get rid of the dark shadow area just to adjust them higher?

No, it does not. It's a byproduct of the cutoff in the light. The only thing you're going to achieve by adjusting the lights up is moving the entire pattern up and throwing more glare into oncoming traffic.