# Xenon Headlights stuck in down position !!



## fent16 (Jun 24, 2007)

Earlier today, I was driving home from lunch when I hit a large dip in the road. I was driving along at about 35mph (and didn't notice the DIP sign) and bottomed the front of my 3.2L in the dip. I didn't notice any problems shortly after and didn't think much about it. Once it was dark, I started driving my girlfriend to dinner at our fav Mexican restaurant. I noticed that I couldnt see more than 3 feet in front of the car. Apparently my adaptive headlights are stuck in the "down facing" position. When I start the car and the headlights perform their alignment "dance", they no longer drop downwards and then out (left and right). They simply swing left/right and then stop. Any thoughts ?


_Modified by fent16 at 6:29 AM 12-3-2007_


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## WolfsburgerMitFries (Jul 4, 2005)

*Re: Xenon Headlights stuck in down position !! (fent16)*

There's gotta be a TSB for that.


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## mark_d_drake (Aug 17, 2006)

*Re: Xenon Headlights stuck in down position !! (fent16)*

Ouch... 
Sorry to hear this. I think that will need dealer attention...
Let us know how it goes, I supect the rest of the 3,2 / Tech package owners will be interested to find out what happened and how to fix it...


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## solarflare (Mar 28, 2007)

*Re: Xenon Headlights stuck in down position !! (fent16)*

There are level sensors, one in the front and one in the rear, for the Bi-xenon adaptive system. Perhaps one of these sensors was damaged when the car bottomed out?


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## fent16 (Jun 24, 2007)

*Re: Xenon Headlights stuck in down position !! (solarflare)*

I just dropped it off at my local dealership. Once I hear back I'll let you guys know.


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## fent16 (Jun 24, 2007)

*Re: Xenon Headlights stuck in down position !! (fent16)*

I just spoke with the service manager. Apparently he spent the last 4 hours troubleshooting the leveling sensors on the car. He said that "your car seemed to forget which way was up !". In other words the sensor needed to be placed in learn mode again. Once this took place, the lights auto-aligned themselves during the test drive. I will leave to pick it up in a few hours. Once its safely back in my garage and I've tested it myself, I'll call it a successful trip to the dealer


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## fent16 (Jun 24, 2007)

*Re: Xenon Headlights stuck in down position !! (fent16)*

I just picked it up, and all is well again







I'm still interested to know why the sensor needed to be calibrated again after hitting a large divot in the road !


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## just4fun (Oct 29, 2006)

*Re: Xenon Headlights stuck in down position !! (fent16)*

Good to hear all is well again.
Kevin


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## flubber (Sep 12, 2005)

*Re: Xenon Headlights stuck in down position !! (fent16)*


_Quote, originally posted by *fent16* »_I just picked it up, and all is well again







I'm still interested to know why the sensor needed to be calibrated again after hitting a large divot in the road !

Did the dealer indicate if the calibration is something you could do yourself, or does it require special equipment?


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## fent16 (Jun 24, 2007)

*Re: Xenon Headlights stuck in down position !! (flubber)*


_Quote, originally posted by *flubber* »_
Did the dealer indicate if the calibration is something you could do yourself, or does it require special equipment?

He didnt indicate that it could be done without the use of a VAG-COM. I'm fairly confident that if I had the cable and software, I could have fixed it myself.


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## wndctyboy (Mar 27, 2006)

*Re: Xenon Headlights stuck in down position !! (fent16)*








I had the same thing happen to me but on my Passat. After a trip on some country roads after a quick stop I had the same symptom, the lights were stuck down could hardly see anything in the front, so I did a manual lift of the head lights with a hex key because I was 300 miles away from home. As soon as I arrived home after a quick scan with the vag-com the code said something AFS System Error(something like that), I did an adaptation process and both head lights start dancing for like a minute or more start moving up and down left and right, it was quite funny, after that I did another scan for that module, no codes anymore and I had to manual readjust the headlights again with the hex key. No problems since, and I'm glad it saved me a trip to the dealer. http://****************.com/smile/emthup.gif


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