Auto Leveling Issues
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Auto Leveling Issues
Whats going on? New to the forum. Have on 09 B8 a4 3.2L which I am a big fan of sitting on RS4 wheels. Just had in the shop this weekend for a new water pump and thermostat. When i got it back i noticed at night that the head lights are pointing like 15-20 feet in front of my car. I was doing some reading and red about these leveling sensors. How would i know which one is bad. I don't have Vagcom. I am very handy when it comes to cars, been around them all my life as well as worked in a body shop for 3 years. any info would help as i am new to these self leveling head lights. Came from an G37S. But i don't want to adjust the headlights at the adjustment screws if one of these sensors has gone bad. Any info or advice would be helpful. Thanks.
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From: Georgia
Well, unfortunately, diagnostics on the electronics in these cars normally starts with "what are the DTCs and what does the live data say", ie, you need VCDS or such. In this instance, I would say do you have DTCs, and then what do the live values for the front and rear levels report as you get in and out of the car, bounce the front and rear end, etc. Do they look normal, do they move slightly in response to body tilt. And then rerunning the headlamp level basic setting would be the next thing to see if it just needs a "reprogramming" of home position.
I guess you could go old school and just unscrew the leveling sensor arm from the control arm and move it up and down slightly to see if the headlamps move. Don't loosen the sensor at the bracket or you'll have to rerun the adaptation (ie, VCDS again). Do you see the DRLs move up/down when starting the car? They should move up/down the adjustment range before settling on "level" at start up.
There's also the question of do you have halogen or HID. It sounds like you have HID as you're wondering about the auto-leveling system, but you don't explicitly state it. The halogens have a manual leveling system (**** on dash) iirc, not the auto-leveling system of the HIDs.
I guess you could go old school and just unscrew the leveling sensor arm from the control arm and move it up and down slightly to see if the headlamps move. Don't loosen the sensor at the bracket or you'll have to rerun the adaptation (ie, VCDS again). Do you see the DRLs move up/down when starting the car? They should move up/down the adjustment range before settling on "level" at start up.
There's also the question of do you have halogen or HID. It sounds like you have HID as you're wondering about the auto-leveling system, but you don't explicitly state it. The halogens have a manual leveling system (**** on dash) iirc, not the auto-leveling system of the HIDs.
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Yes i do have HIDS. What do you mean by DTC? i just dont want to manually adjust the head lights and then find out a sensor went bad replace the sensor and my lights are now pointing straight up.
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From: Georgia
DTC = diagnostic trouble code, ie "codes". Again, without a tool like VCDS, you can't know what it says is wrong nor test nor adjust anything. All you can do at this time is physical tests. Move the level sensor arm manually and see if the headlights respond as expected, and adjust the static headlight tilt with the adjustment screw.
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Just stopped at the shop who installed my water pump. He scanned the car and he has no fault codes. Any other info you guys can give? should i try and look at the level sensors on the control arms? also does the rear drivers side control arm also have a sensor? any help would be grateful.
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What’s up guys. So turns out it is my rear drivers side sensor that is bad. I seen them on ECS for 195. N found off amazon for 35. Any ways. My question if anyone can help. Does it make a difference if one is for active suspension and the other isn’t. All that I found off eBay or amazon are without active suspension. N I believe my car has that. If it is the Dynamic auto normal or individual options on my center console. Please lmk thanks.
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From: Georgia
If you have adaptive suspension, then you should have level sensors on all four corners. And your shocks will have plugs on them. That's PR code 1BL.
Otherwise, you'll just have them on the left side, as that's all the HID auto-leveling system needs. That would be PR code 1BA (standard) or 1BE (sport).
As we see here, https://nemigaparts.com/cat_spares/e...q/636u/941250/, the part number for the rear level sensor is different for 1BL vs 1BA/1BE.
309F for left rear for 1BA/1BE, 309D for left rear for 1BL, 310C for right rear for 1BL. Is there anything actually different between 309F and 309D? No idea.
Otherwise, you'll just have them on the left side, as that's all the HID auto-leveling system needs. That would be PR code 1BA (standard) or 1BE (sport).
As we see here, https://nemigaparts.com/cat_spares/e...q/636u/941250/, the part number for the rear level sensor is different for 1BL vs 1BA/1BE.
309F for left rear for 1BA/1BE, 309D for left rear for 1BL, 310C for right rear for 1BL. Is there anything actually different between 309F and 309D? No idea.
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Thanks so you don't know either if it makes a difference. if anyone else can help that be greatly helpful. I want to try and purchase this and see if it works but at the same time I don't. Any info would be helpful.
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Thread Starter
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So I keep finding the part number 8K0941309E where I think I need 8K0941309D. Because D is for the one with active suspension which I think my car has. Would anyone be able to let me know if the part number with the E would work. Thanks. I can get the E one foe like $40 offline and would love to be able to use that one if it fits and works.
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You apparently have the ADS controls so chances are high that you have adaptive suspension, but ADS is added as soon as one of the options that "needs" ADS is added, like Dynamic Steering.