Headlight fault - is this an MOT failure?

[danlightbulb]

Hi all,

I have adaptive front headlights on my Mondeo which have failed so the headlights do not move left to right and are stuck in one position. There is a warning on the dash and a fault code for this.

All the lights work though still, dipped, main, indicators, cornering lamps, sidelights all function normally.

Its just the dash warning and the lack of swivel (stuck in one position).

Is this an MOT fail?

Thanks

 

[danlightbulb]

you mean they don't physically turn right/left to light up bends earlier ?

I thought mot now had a installed electrical equipment for important systems, giving waring lights on dash had to be fixed clause
... unless you have a non-digital dash and could remove a tell-tale warning bulb, that is

They light up, as normal, but don't turn left or right with the steering any more due to a fault. They aren't pointing straight ahead either as I think the swivel motors have got stuck off centre.

And there is an associated warning on the digital dashboard saying front light malfunction.

 

[danlightbulb]

as said ..im pretty sure that any warning light or message there off will produce a fail. on the mondeo outside possibillity check the fuses otherwise you will need to physically check the units, maybe the motors have siezed but unlucky if both have, could be wire off the motors outside possibility.

Ive already been trying to fix it for 2 days. The headlight had water ingress and the swivel motor is heavily corroded. Ive tried to source the part but it doesn't seem to be available. Trying breakers yards too but no luck so far.

Ive tried to reset the fault codes in forscan, do a calibration. Error is still there. It might be possible to deactivate the adaptive lights in Forscan but I'd still need to centre the swivel motors to a neutral position which they at the moment simply will not budge.

New headlights are £250 a side, not OEM. OEM are closer to £500 a side.

 

[danlightbulb]

you've probably seen this .. so maybe just soldering (lead free) some new bits of cable is needed.

https://www.fordownersclub.com/foru...-adaptive-headlight-problems/page/2/#comments

I've had the headlights off the car and the small swivel motor out of both sides. This was it before I cleaned it up:



I cleaned the exterior as best I could but couldn't get inside it and it still doesn't work. I wanted to try and drive the motor outside of the car with a 12V supply but I cant figure out the wiring. There is a printed circuit board housed inside that plastic back section.

If I could manually move the headlights to be pointing forward, I could then code out the adaptive lights fault and it would be fine. Problem is I cant get the motors to turn at all, so the lights are pointing off to the side currently.

I was hoping for more advice on the talk ford forums but they are pretty dead these days it seems.

I could buy a replacement motor from China but whilst it looks identical it has an ever so slightly different model/code on the unit so I don't know if it would work plus its a month to get here so I might have failed MOT by then.

 

[danlightbulb]

Headlights not correctly aligned is an MOT failure - and it sounds like yours are pointing the wrong way?

If there is a warning lamp on the dashboard then that will be a minor at best, and probablly a failure.

Have you tried looking for replacement motors on ebay?

The swivel motors allow the headlights to point left or right with the steering though don't they. So this range must be within legal limits. Mine are stuck pointing left rather than straight ahead.

The motors don't seem to be available, Ive tried various searches including the make and model code. Ive found them on Aliexpress but slightly different variant code so don't know if they would work. It is a Visteon ELB 403 motor but this circled part of the code is slightly different to mine:



I could code out the dash warning as I have Forscan.

I have now ordered a whole replacement headlight from an ebay breaker for £85. Still expensive, if that doesn't work Im into new unit territory at nearly £500.

 

[danlightbulb]

with the unusual armature and ball end coupling looks like a stepper motor that must wind in and out nylon coupling
if you have access free them up forcibly so you can wind them to an appropriate point manually - some thread around shaft.
a more easily adjustable (?) back of shaft is not visible beneath end plastic cover ... or drill through to access it.

I cant risk breaking it at the moment as without that piece I have no way of holding the swivelling light mechanism steady in the light unit.

If this replacement headlight unit works, I'll try to disassemble the broken motor.

 

[danlightbulb]

Ive had an idea - if new (used) headlight doesn't fix the issue I can remove the swivel motors from both lights and use some stiff wire inside the light to hold the unit in one position, anchoring it on the mounts for the swivel motor.

 

[danlightbulb]

If they're pointing slightly left or right, ask the tester to adjust to within specs. You can adjust the beam pattern L&R (on most cars) as well as up and down manually.
It'll only take a few seconds.
If i was testing it, that's what i'd do, but not all testers are that helpful.

Wont work on this. The whole internal projector lens swivels freely across probably a 30 degree angle at least, via the swivel motor, there is no other adjustment. Up/down is also via a level adjustment motor.

 

[danlightbulb]

MOT tester here - will try and clear a few things up...

• The warning for the active headlight fault is not a fail.
• The active headlights do not need to work, however the self levelling system does need to work (ie. if weight is put on the back end of the car, the headlight aim should lower).
• If your headlights are stuck to the left, as long as the beam 'kick-up' is still visible on the beam setter it's a pass, providing that the vertical aim is also within spec. But both of these should be adjustable to make it pass as it allows for a huge amount of adjustment to the left before the kick-up disappears.

Thanks for this. I dont think I have auto leveling headlights (there is a manual dial adjustment in the car, auto leveling I think came with xenon option which these aren't).

Yup.
OP can you post a pic of the rear of the lamps to see where the hex adjustment screws are.
If they're there and i've no reason to think that they're not, then it's the easiest/cheapest solution.
If you try and anchor the internal part of the lamp, how will you know it's within spec?

There may be some adjustment screws inside, but the swivel motor makes the whole lens mechanism move a considerable amount to the right and left. If the motor is removed, the whole unit is free to just waft about inside with nothing to hold it.



See where its labelled AFS (H7)? That whole circular lens is free to move left and right within that oval shaped aperture. The motor pushes and pulls it on a pivot from the rear, without the motor it just swings freely on that pivot.

Have you tried shooting wd40 down the shaft? Might be able to free it or even take the motors apart, clean them and put it back together?

Yeah I did, wouldn't budge. But I took out the other side motor as well (to swap them over, trying to fault find), and that one wouldn't manually turn either.

The motor's metal outer casing looks crimped on in some way, if I tried to take it apart fully I might have broken it and then would have completely messed my lights up.

tbh if you have replacement lights coming from ebay and they are the same unit i think thats your problem solved. i would be wondering how the water got into the unit and by the looks of that motor its been doing it for a long time.
maybe the cover not fitted correctly?
ive popped out and looked at mine and can only assume maybe a cracked casing or leaking around the lens seal? did the lights condensate up ?

Its been condensating up for a while. A couple of years ago I had the units off the car and tried to put sealant along the interface between the clear plastic lens front and the back black plastic rear. I noticed that it had been done before too on both lights. It went away for a while but then came back and although I knew there was water in the lights I hadn't envisaged it doing this kind of damage otherwise I would have tried to reseal it again sooner.

 

[danlightbulb]

Spare part headlight (used off the bay) arrived and fitted today at a cost of £85 and seems to be working.

Rant time- little motors like those in my headlight should be available off the shelf. What a waste of money and plastic to have to replace the whole unit. Also why not make the front and rear part separable so that the seal can be replaced if it deteriorates.

Will have to keep a close eye on this new unit to see if too has any condensation issues developing.

I might try and separate the lens from this old unit now and apply a new seal, and then I'll have a spare if I need it.

 

[danlightbulb]

So close.

The headlights are now going through their left to right swivel test procedure on start up, and all appears fine. The motors move left to right. No dash warning.

After 30 seconds to a minute driving, up pops the dash warning again.

Will have to connect to the car tomorrow to see what the error code is, hopefully a reset or a calibration will sort it. If not, then I have no idea what the problem can be because the swivel motors are now moving perfectly.

 

[danlightbulb]

Hi all. Connected to the car this morning using Forscan. There are DTC codes stores in the headlamp control module (HCM):

===HCM DTC B1D68:64-6C===
Code: B1D68 - Left Headlamp Swiveling Feedback Sensor
Additional Fault Symptom:
- Signal Plausibility Failure

I reset the codes, went for a drive, and again after about a minute or two it reappeared.

I've tried forcing the start up procedure and the same fault - signal implausibility - appears.

I tried running the calibration procedure, but actually I don't think this did anything.

Then I tried going into the body control module (BCM) to access the central configuration. But, Forscan wanted me to upload a secondary boot loader to the car first. I don't know what this is so I cancelled the operation, so as yet I've not been able to access the central configuration to see what options there are for disabling the adaptive headlights.


Signal implausibility suggests to me that the signal coming from the swivel motor is somehow out of expected range. But..the lights work and swivel, and there doesn't seem to be any calibration procedure specifically for the swivel motor and sensor.

Im a bit stuck now with what to do next.

 

[danlightbulb]

Are the two l/R motors interchangeable - if so might indicate if its a fault with just left one ?
is there other electronics in the bulb case, or connectors you can inspect ?
e: or, sorry, maybe you just didn't copy bothe messages here

They are interchangeable, and I already played about with switching them over to determine if it was the motor at fault on the old headlight. Switching them over moved the fault to the right, so that is when I bought the complete used headlight unit.

The new (used) headlight unit was internally inspected when I recieved it. It was dry and clean, no signs of water ingress, no corrosion internally and all the connectors and wiring looked fine.

When I fitted this to the car, everything worked. Swivels and leveling motors work both sides, all the bulbs work.

Upon the starting the car the unit does a self test, crisscrossing the beams. No errors at this point. It is only after driving along for a few minutes that the signal fault pops up again on the dash. It self clears on each restart but then comes back.

I think the headlight units themselves are working fine, but this problem with the intermittent/out of range signal must now be sitting somewhere else.

 

[danlightbulb]

Im thinking perhaps I need to now investigate the connector itself. Its one of these:



When I pulled the old unit off the car the face of the connector was green with corrosion. The pins all looked intact after I cleaned it all up, but its possible moisture caused some damage inside it.

I dont know how I can take apart the current connector though to check each of the wires inside.

 

[danlightbulb]

may have missed the idea looks like you have a connector?

Only the one that is on the car itself, I haven't bought a new one yet - that picture was from the bay but they are only cheap.

I suppose I need to try and de-pin the current connector one by one and see if the pins/wiring is damaged inside.

 

[danlightbulb]

Possibly good news.

Dont want to speak too soon but... just been out for 15 minute drive around and didn't get the dash warning. Swivel lights were fully functional.

Only thing Ive done extra is that I hadn't driven the car since I ran the calibration diagnostic on the car earlier today. Even though it didn't appear to do much on the surface, perhaps it does something underneath and now the signals are calibrated.

Here's hoping. Will see how it goes for a few days.

BTW this is my beam pattern - all look ok for MOT?

 

[danlightbulb]

Yup.
OP can you post a pic of the rear of the lamps to see where the hex adjustment screws are.
If they're there and i've no reason to think that they're not, then it's the easiest/cheapest solution.
If you try and anchor the internal part of the lamp, how will you know it's within spec?

Hi there.

I thought I'd let you know I found the large hex screw adjusters. They were on the outside of the rear housing, and they are large hex screw adjusters that drive a rod which goes inside the light. I couldn't see what you meant because I was looking inside the light cavity.

There are two hex adjusters on the outside of the light. The left right adjuster does nothing - its not connected to anything inside the light itself - presumably because I have the adaptive lights. However the up/down adjuster is connected through the internal up/down leveling motor so there is some adjustment there on top of what the internal level motor does.