Xenon Issue

LSPIII · 27 Oct 2008 at 19:22

Evenin' gurus.

Before you think it, this is not *another* thread on whether to add xenons to my car! I have a 2001 Audi S3 which comes with Xenon lights as standard. However I have an issue...

Obviously Xenons are self-levelling, but every now and then my levelling goes a little... off piste... The drivers side is always fine, however the passenger side often finds itself pointing a long way down. It's about half and half as to whether it levels at the correct height or whether it gets a case of impotence.

Anyone got any ideas or am I looking at having to take it in to the "shop"?

Begbie · 27 Oct 2008 at 19:23

Assuming it uses a motor, that would be my first port of call.

LSPIII · 27 Oct 2008 at 19:25

The motor isn't failing though. I can see the motor actually wind it down when the car starts up. It starts at the right height and then winds down when the xenons are turned on.

LeperousDust · 28 Oct 2008 at 00:54

You mean like below?

If so thats how theyre meant to work to help stop blinding on coming drivers

deko · 28 Oct 2008 at 01:09

LeperousDust said:
You mean like below?

If so thats how theyre meant to work to help stop blinding on coming drivers

thats the wrong way round. thats an LHD car driving on the right side of the road. its the OP's passenger side ones thats doing it, so the side that is beside the kerb and not the middle of the road.

LeperousDust · 28 Oct 2008 at 08:24

deko said:
thats the wrong way round. thats an LHD car driving on the right side of the road. its the OP's passenger side ones thats doing it, so the side that is beside the kerb and not the middle of the road.

Ok I'm aware i stole the wrong image but the same still applies for RHD vehicles too

Just the opposite way around funnily enough!

deko · 28 Oct 2008 at 08:30

LeperousDust said:
Ok I'm aware i stole the wrong image but the same still applies for RHD vehicles too Just the opposite way around funnily enough!

yeah it applies the other way, but the OP is having the opposite problem (IE its the passenger side thats going down, not the drivers side.)

LSPIII · 28 Oct 2008 at 08:56

deko said:
yeah it applies the other way, but the OP is having the opposite problem (IE its the passenger side thats going down, not the drivers side.)

Indeed, it is my passenger side headlight that is experiencing droopage. I am aware on how the beam is supposed to sit, ie lower on the driver side. Half the time it works perfectly. It's just the other half of the time when it drops.

Quick and nasty Paint demo. The top image is how it is supposed to be and the bottom shows roughly how it ends up sometimes.

I googled to see if anyone had experienced it as well, but only got one result, and nobody ever responded to him (in Brazil). Anyone got any ideas?

Firestar_3x · 28 Oct 2008 at 09:04

When you start the car both lights come up to the correct level?

Have you kept the car parked on the drive with the lights on and engine running to see if one of the lights drops?

I'm not sure if the lights share the same level sensor or not, if not i'd suspect this, otherwise i'd say its a slackness in the motor mechanism causing the light to drop over time.

LSPIII · 28 Oct 2008 at 09:10

Firestar_3x said:
When you start the car both lights come up to the correct level?

Have you kept the car parked on the drive with the lights on and engine running to see if one of the lights drops?

I'm not sure if the lights share the same level sensor or not, if not i'd suspect this, otherwise i'd say its a slackness in the motor mechanism causing the light to drop over time.

It doesn't drop over time. It's like it sets itself to the lower level. When the lights are turned off they reset to 0 if you like. When the lights get switced on the motors then adjust using the levelling mechanism. It is at this point that it "drops". I guess using the word drop is not quite right, it doesn't drop as much as it is wound down by the motor.

Firestar_3x · 28 Oct 2008 at 09:15

In that case you need to figure if the lights share a leveling sensor or have one per unit.

Just had a quick look in google and for the VW HID units its advertised at level sensors implying more than one.

Take a look at this :

http://74.202.243.253/auto-leveling_Install.doc

VW Part Number Qty. Part Description
4B0 907 503 2 Self-levelling susp.sensor

I know its not your car but the system will be similar if not the same.