Self Levelling Headlight adjuster problem?

[ScoobyR1]

Hello Folks

As the title suggests I have a problem with my self levelling xenon headlight auto control. When I was changing out my wheel arch, I noticed that the level sensor linkage was detached and looking decidedly the worse for wear. It's obviously taken a fairly healthy knock in the past which had bent the level sensor support bracket and also had done for the control arm!

What I need to know is how the self levelling control function works?
The fact the arm has detached, would this mean that the headlights WONT cycle through their movement on start up?
If the headlights should still cycle on start up ( By start up, I mean turning on the headlights ) regardless of the arm being connected then could it be the level sensor which is spaffed?
Can I make the headlights move by manually moving the arm on the level sensor switch itself ? If I can this will at least show that the headlamp motors are functional.
Would a diagnostic be able to pinpoint precisely what is NOT functioning - Headlamp motors or Level switch? I have put a diagnostic on it of late which showed no errors whatsoever, if the motors or switch were goosed then I'm assuming these would show as faults?

As Usual TIA

 

[rally-chris]

If the linkage to the level sensor is goosed then thanks highly likely to be the cause of any problem you have with the headlight levelling system - it’s possible that the sensor itself is fine but is giving a signal that is out of the expected range because it is not connected to the suspension. I suggest you fix the linkage to the sensor and then worry about the rest of the system if there is still an issue.

Chris

 

[MACK]

The headlights still go through their start up cycle, this establishes the start and stop position of its range of movement, before going back to starts position based on the manual adjust screws positioning (if that makes sense!). The two leveling sensor don't actually come into this, they only comes into play when on the move to adjust the lights to account for bumps in the road etc to stop you blinding on coming traffic.

When my front leveling sensor was down my headlights still cycled with the on switch as normal. They do flag a code when internally faulty. Mine was picked up in both INPA and ISTA, I also seem to remember even Carly, which I've found to be pretty terrible when it comes to fault codes, picked it up.

 

[ScoobyR1]

If the linkage to the level sensor is goosed then thanks highly likely to be the cause of any problem you have with the headlight levelling system - it’s possible that the sensor itself is fine but is giving a signal that is out of the expected range because it is not connected to the suspension. I suggest you fix the linkage to the sensor and then worry about the rest of the system if there is still an issue.

Chris

Thanks for that Chris,
I have a new linkage ready to fit, I just wanted to do the job 'right first time' with minimum additional parts. If I could figure out that the level swich was also needing replace, it would save me revisiting the work later on.
I'll let you know how I get on.
Cheers

 

[ScoobyR1]

The headlights still go through their start up cycle, this establishes the start and stop position of its range of movement, before going back to starts position based on the manual adjust screws positioning (if that makes sense!). The two leveling sensor don't actually come into this, they only comes into play when on the move to adjust the lights to account for bumps in the road etc to stop you blinding on coming traffic.

When my front leveling sensor was down my headlights still cycled with the on switch as normal. They do flag a code when internally faulty. Mine was picked up in both INPA and ISTA, I also seem to remember even Carly, which I've found to be pretty terrible when it comes to fault codes, picked it up.

Thanks Mack,

I'm kind of hoping that isn't the case here as I'm thinking it would be picked up as a fault code when I ran a diagnostic on it a few weeks ago when I first noticed it. Also it would be very unlikely that both headlight adjustment motors would go awry at the same time ? Not sure what time/complexity/expense would be involved should it be an actual headlight motor, which is why I'm hopeful it's just the linkage.

Thanks againg for your input and I'll let you know how I get on.

 

[MACK]

The headlights still go through their start up cycle, this establishes the start and stop position of its range of movement, before going back to starts position based on the manual adjust screws positioning (if that makes sense!). The two leveling sensor don't actually come into this, they only comes into play when on the move to adjust the lights to account for bumps in the road etc to stop you blinding on coming traffic.

When my front leveling sensor was down my headlights still cycled with the on switch as normal. They do flag a code when internally faulty. Mine was picked up in both INPA and ISTA, I also seem to remember even Carly, which I've found to be pretty terrible when it comes to fault codes, picked it up.

Thanks Mack,

I'm kind of hoping that isn't the case here as I'm thinking it would be picked up as a fault code when I ran a diagnostic on it a few weeks ago when I first noticed it. Also it would be very unlikely that both headlight adjustment motors would go awry at the same time ? Not sure what time/complexity/expense would be involved should it be an actual headlight motor, which is why I'm hopeful it's just the linkage.

Thanks againg for your input and I'll let you know how I get on.

Good luck with it. just so you know should it come to it, the motor in the headlight isn't mega bucks, around £25 IIRC. Its just the hassle of taking the headlight out to replace the motor, although you may be able to be from the access panel in the wheel arch. Swapping the motor itself is fairly easy