Technical Headlamp leveller

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Technical Headlamp leveller

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Dr Death, the MOT man Ahhhh Ahhhh has failed Gerrard in his quest for another year of on-road fun and joy. :(

There's a few minor (I hope!) things... the most serious of which is potentially the headlamp levelling doodah, which doesn't work.

The levellers have never worked since I've had the car but the new style MOT now checks these and wants them to work. Headlamp aim has been okay in the default position so not a problem until now.

I'll check the fuses (anyone know which fuse controls the levellers?) but apart from that, I have no idea how to track down what's wrong.

I expect I'll find no current at the motors end (big round plug), since neither motor works... but which pins in the plug work the motors, so I can check to make sure?

Assuming there's no juice at the plug/pins.... where TF do I look next? :(



Ralf S.
 
Sorry for that, this is annoying. Unfortunately I can't really help finding the culprit, but I will tell my story about the leveler step motor:
- So same situation; mine wasn't working on the right side, and I just disconnected, and eventually took the whole part off and bought a new one (FEBI Bilstein, it was around 14 EUR from eBay). Because of the lack of space and 'first timer leveler fixer' I managed to brake some of the plastic pins / studs / parts which hold the whole step motor on its place. I was struggling a lot with hot glue + superglue and powdered cooking soda combination to recreate some of the bracketing part for that thing. Since then I haven't even took a look at it, because I just don't want that kinda struggling in my life anymore!
Essence of the story: be very careful if you have to take the part off of the headlamp and try not to force it (it's very fiddly and horrible)!
 
I've read the threads about the stepper motors... so the optimist in me hopes that both motors have failed rather than it's a single wiring issue that affects both sides (e.g. in the past my high beams weren't working c/o the Body Control Module...)

But apart from someone said it's fuse F13, which also operates the nearside dipped beam (which is fine, so therefore that fuse must be good).. I dunno where else I would look.


Ralf S.
 
Ralf S.

If it was like mine when they failed, you could hear the motors going just nothing happened (something to do with the track they sit on). So I replaced both of these on mine, it's about £12 per side to replace them.

Try Autodoc, really easy to do yourself, just need to take headlights off the car. Only held onto the headlight with one screw.

https://www.autodoc.co.uk/tyc/1502515
 
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Update: As everyone knows, you can't run an old car without having most of the parts needed to build a new one at the back of your shed... so I had a look and I found a spare headlamp.

I plugged it in to the headlamp connector from the offside headlamp (next to the header tank, since that's accessible and it's just about long enough to be able to reach a headlamp that is resting on the scuttle...) and the good news is that my connector does seem to have "juice". (y)

The spare headlamp made a constant whining noise (mine are totally silent) which looks like it means that its adjuster motor is knackered... but it makes a noise, so my car is obviously trying/capable of powering the motor.

I've ordered two new motors from autodoc (£12 each) so I'll fit them and see if they work. For now I'm assuming/hoping the other connector also has power.. but I didn't check it (connector is somewhere under the scuttle and the battery is in the way).

I removed the motor from the spare headlamp to work out how it fits/without worrying too much if I broke something. It looks like there are two screws holding it in place... then you have to slide the ball joint end out of a plastic runner track on the headlamp. Pulling it looks likely you'll break something.. it slides out. The motor is connected to the headlamp wiring via a mini 3-pin connector.. press the tab and it comes out.

The biggest faff of the whole job will be dropping the bumper to get the headlamps out. I'm really not going to try this job with the headlights in the car... Ahhhh Luckily, I had teh bumper off fairly recently to replace all the bulbs ahead of the winter months, so I know that will be fairly simple - just time consuming.


Ralf S.
 
You don't have to remove the lights to change that motor. I did it with no problem. It is easier than changing a bulb :D
Also motors from Octavia 1 cost me about 6€ each. They are always broken on Stilo, bad design I guess...
 
Ah but.. I bet you have that teeny little 1.6 engine. You can fit a whole rugby team inside the engine compartment.

My JTD has only enough space behind the headlamps to remove the dust covers. It took me 2 hours once to replace the dipped beam bulb (the second hour was to remove the wheel, take the wheel arch liner out and do it from behind... :D )

The motors look like they're fitted to a million other cars, so it's puzzling that they're so weak and so many manufacturers put up with it. I guess they last as long as the 3 year factory warranties... :D

The cheapo ones are made in China, so I'd give those a miss. The inside of the motor has a little electric motor (like in a Scalextric car), some nylon cogs and a tiny circuit board. I dunno what kind of quality you'll get, to buy all those micro-components for €6. I didn't see any brand names I recognised, so I just bought them from Auto-Doc (since I guess they won't sell very poor quality stuff.. or they would get too many returns).

Hopefully they'll last 3-4 years (I hardly ever need to use the adjusters) .. the beast will be 20 years old by then and headlamp adjusters won't be its biggest problem.. :)


Ralf S.
 
I have 1.9 85kW engine. Righ side was easy, left side not so much :D but I managed to change it in few minutes.
I don't know what quality it would be, I only changed it to pass MOT for another 2 years
 
Hopefully my new adjusters will arrive before Saturday so I can fit them and get the car re-tested before the 10-day re-test period runs out. :D

Does anyone know how the actuators actually work? It looks like the spindle should rotate and then screw/unscrew which alters its length and pushes or pulls the reflector... but on my old motor the spindle seemed to be jammed .. it didn't rotate or move in/out.

That could be why it doesn't work of course.. :D but it'll be interesting to know what it's supposed to do.


Ralf S.
 
Does anyone know how the actuators actually work? It looks like the spindle should rotate and then screw/unscrew which alters its length and pushes or pulls the reflector... but on my old motor the spindle seemed to be jammed .. it didn't rotate or move in/out.

If you have normal filament bulb headlamps, the motor turns the outer gear of the white plastic spindle via the metal gear. The outside of the spindle and inside of the outer plastic gear are threaded, so the central part of the spindle moves in or out when the outer gear turns.

If you have original HID headlamps, they use a different motor, as in the bottom picture below.
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I've got the regular iron bulbs headlamps.. :D

I couldn't rotate the spindle on my spare headlamp.. either the white wheel is jammed against something, or the motor is (which would be the "something").

Interesting that your motor numbers are different to the one from my spare headlamp... That's 0-307-853-303.

I have no idea what mumbers the ones in my actual headlamps have... (any idea what the differences might be?). The ones I ordered are 1J0-941-295A which seem to be a match for 0-307-853-304 but also shown as generic "Stilo 2001 - 2006".

Hopefully they're not completely the wrong part.



Ralf S.
 
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I couldn't rotate the spindle on my spare headlamp.

If the spindle is still in the black housing, then you wouldn't be able to rotate it. There's a ridge moulded down the side of the spindle, and a corresponding groove in the housing so the spindle can only move in and out. If it was able to turn, then it would only turn, and not move in and out.

Interesting that your motor numbers are different to the one from my spare headlamp... That's 0-307-853-303.

I have no idea what mumbers the ones in my actual headlamps have... (any idea what the differences might be?). The ones I ordered are 1J0-941-295A which seem to be a match for 0-307-853-304 but also shown as generic "Stilo 2001 - 2006".

The dismantled leveller in my picture above, and another dismantled one I have are both labelled 0-307-853-303, and both came from old headlamps in one of my Stilos. I suspect it's just a part number change.
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If the spindle is still in the black housing, then you wouldn't be able to rotate it. There's a ridge moulded down the side of the spindle, and a corresponding groove in the housing so the spindle can only move in and out. If it was able to turn, then it would only turn, and not move in and out.

.

That makes sense... although now you mention it, I remember it now.

Anyways.. my spare headllamp motor buzzes when it's connected tio my electrics which at least means my electrics are working. My fitted headlamps don't make any sound at all, so I was worried that the connector might be dead, in which case it's a whole different world of doodoo to sort out.

The new motors should arrive on Saturday morning, so I'll see how I get on. :D


As an aside... Dr Death also noted the headlight beam was a bit high. I poked it at the garage door and the o/s looks about 3cm higher than the n/side. It's never been a problem before.. but then I did say the new guy is a bit moody looking :D).

Which of the plastic rods/waiting to snap off controls the light beam's pitch? I presume it's the one on the "outside" of the lamp assembly and screwing it in makes the beam go down a bit? Plenty of WD40 beforehand obviously... :D


Ralf S.
 
As an aside... Dr Death also noted the headlight beam was a bit high. I poked it at the garage door and the o/s looks about 3cm higher than the n/side. It's never been a problem before.

Perhaps one of the beams is higher because the leveller is seized in the high position.

Knowing how easy it is for the plastic adjuster screws to snap, probably better to fit the new levellers before touching the adjuster screws.

Which of the plastic rods/waiting to snap off controls the light beam's pitch? I presume it's the one on the "outside" of the lamp assembly and screwing it in makes the beam go down a bit? Plenty of WD40 beforehand obviously.

Diagram below is from the eLEARN manual, however I've a vague recollection of posting it for for someone several years ago who said 2 and 3 were printed the wrong way round. "Suck it and see" I guess.
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Managed to have a go today. The new motors arrived on time and work nice... :)

The o/side beam was if anything slightly higher... so I tweaked the adjuster to lower it level with the n/side one. The diagram above is correct.. the outer lever (shorter of the two) controls the vertical movement.

Looks a bit saucey now...

Ralf S.
 
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