Self levelling headlights.

[gordon stephenson]

Hope you clever people will know the answer, Where does my Touareg get the initial level setting from? My drivers side headlight on main beam is far too high, despite nothing ever being said at MOT time, I know where the adjustment screw are, But I don't know if the level reading is contained in the light unit,

 

[Ubique]

The initial level is set by calibration. If one headlight isn't changing height (you can check by jacking up the car) then it's most likely a problem with a motor or position sensor within the light unit.

 

[hotponyshoes]

The true self leveling touraeg lights have the settings stored in the headlight controller (mounted underside of the light)
If you have those fitted the lights will do a little dance when you turn the car on.
Park against a wall to see it if you are on your own.
If the dance is working and the beam is still a bit low then use the manual adjustment screw to set it.

 

[Robert Weaver]

Does this help?
https://www.golfmk7.com/forums/index.php?threads/auto-leveling-headlights-how-do-they-work.319929/

 

[badabec]

In 1967 the Citroen DS had self levelling headlamps using a Bowden cable from the rear anti-roll bar plus a damper to stop any jiggling.
In 1967 they also had swivelling headlamps using a steel wire from the steering relay.

Who needs stepper motors and computers when you can use a 'piece of string'? (Citroen unfortunately these days)

 

[pedrobedro]

main beam is far too high, despite nothing ever being said at MOT time,

Main beam was not tested for aim only dip.

 

[Ubique]

Citroen / PSA have been and continue to be ahead of the pack in a lot of technology developments, it's just a shame that the engineering and build quality of the vehicle bodies is so comparatively poor. I've seen 50+ year old Peugeot vans hacking around North Africa, the bodies and suspension were patched up over the years but the powertrain & drivetrain were still going strong with little & poor maintenance. I expect them to follow the Renault blueprint and sell / licence their core technology to others, Vauxhall is a prime contender for their expansion in UK

 

[gordon stephenson]

The true self leveling touraeg lights have the settings stored in the headlight controller (mounted underside of the light)
If you have those fitted the lights will do a little dance when you turn the car on.
Park against a wall to see it if you are on your own.
If the dance is working and the beam is still a bit low then use the manual adjustment screw to set it.

Yes the lights do an up and down movement when turned on, but the drivers side is too high on main beam while driving at night. I believe one of the beams is to be set very slightly lower than the other when doing the setting against a wall etc, but I don't know by how much. Also I cant find any marks on lens covers to show me the hight of the light from the floor,

 

[m_c]

I've got no idea with the specifics of Touareg headlights, but generally the manual headlight adjusters, adjust the whole lamp, so if the dipped beam is pointing the correct way and with the correct beam pattern, I'd be checking the main beam bulb is fitted correctly.

However, I'm aware VAG do have some quite complex headlights, so each bulb may have separate adjusters, but I'd still start with the basics.

 

[Ubique]

What lamps does it use? halogen or Xenon / LED? if halogen, are they fitted correctly?

 

[gordon stephenson]

I really have no idea what type of lamps it uses, I will try to find out tomorrow, Thank you.

 

[gordon stephenson]

The true self leveling touraeg lights have the settings stored in the headlight controller (mounted underside of the light)
If you have those fitted the lights will do a little dance when you turn the car on.
Park against a wall to see it if you are on your own.
If the dance is working and the beam is still a bit low then use the manual adjustment screw to set it.

So do I understand correctly If the levelling "brain" is separate to the headlight, I can adjust manually?

 

[hotponyshoes]

If it's got self leveling headlights then they will be xenon. (Hid) for the dipped beam and a separate halogen for the main.
(Depending on the year?)
The main beam is the inner one so if the dipped beam is OK then pop the light out and check the main beam bulb is seated properly

 

[hotponyshoes]

So do I understand correctly If the levelling "brain" is separate to the headlight, I can adjust manually?

Sort of.
As far as I know, there are 3 types of headlight on the toureg.
They all look the same externally.
Halogen that are pure manual adjustment with no self leveling.
Then, 2 types of xenon with self leveling.
One type uses the outside xenon bulbs for dipped and then also turns on the inner halogen as well for main beam.

The other type has a shutter that moves (called bi-xenon) and uses the outer xenon bulb for both dip & main. The inner halogen bulb is only used for 'flash to pass' so from that you should be able to work out what type you have fitted. Yours will be one of the 2 xenon types if it does the dance.

The self-levling calibration is stored in the unit bolted to the headlight itself but only (I think) works on the dipped beam.

Is this a recent problem or has it always been like that?

 

[hotponyshoes]

If you look in the handbook (or by the spare wheel) there is a sticker with a load of 3 letter codes.
Put them into this website and it will tell you what type of headlights you have fitted.
Along with every other option the car has got!

VW Group Option Codes Decoder

 

[gordon stephenson]

The high main beam on drivers side has always been present, I thought that it should have been picked up at MOT time.

 

[hotponyshoes]

I don't think I have ever had main beam checked at mot. They normally run the machine accross both headlights when dipped and then just check main comes on.

 

[hotponyshoes]

Unless you have had the car from new, check the options list and make sure it has the lights that it left the factory with.
Xenons are a common retrofit upgrade and somebody might have put some LHD ones in without adjusting them fully.

 

[jsf55]

A possibility is a lamp might have been changed and not seated properly, my golf plus had new headlamps fitted with both dipped bulbs in upside down, luckily my tester spotted it straight away.

 

[hotponyshoes]

A possibility is a lamp might have been changed and not seated properly, my golf plus had new headlamps fitted with both dipped bulbs in upside down, luckily my tester spotted it straight away.

My guess would be the bulb out of place.
It's easy to pop the whole headlight out and have a proper look at it.
Have a look on utube for touareg headlight removal