Bought a mk1 Octavia 04 plate L & K 1.9 tdi (130 6-speed) for the mrs to do the school run/commute.

She went over to Manchester airport and when she returned she complained about how poor the headlights were. I'm thinking thats strange as they are xenons so they should be much better than standard lights. Anyway we have been on holiday so didnt have the chance to check them out myself. I took it for a drive down some country lanes and I have to say the beams only light up about 6 foot in front of the car. Its pretty bad when driving on any road without street lights. I can see ehy she struggled driving back on the snake pass at 2am :( I dont wouldnt be happy to live with the car with such poor lights.

Ive taken it to the local Skoda dealer to have it checked and they say everything is working correctly and the beams are set at the right level, ballast working correctly etc etc.

So my question is.......... Is this normal for the mk1 Octavia?

And if not how can it be sorted?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Contact 2skodafamily m8, his l&k has xenons.

Might be due to the bulbs needing changing, as like normal bulbs they do dim over time

i had this. Turned out to be a stuck levelling motor. The lights should both auto level when you turn the ignition on.

Level sensors is another possible cause. Also the light units themselves do dim over time. If the levelling is working ok then try a set of new units. (what's the correct term, as they aren't "bulbs" as such?)

i had this. Turned out to be a stuck levelling motor. The lights should both auto level when you turn the ignition on.

Level sensors is another possible cause. Also the light units themselves do dim over time. If the levelling is working ok then try a set of new units. (what's the correct term, as they aren't "bulbs" as such?)

Cheers for the reply.

I think its more likely somethng to do with the leveling rather than the "units" but the dealer says everything is ok.

When you had the problem with the stuck motor did it throw up any fault codes? I've scanned it with VCDS and no fault codes are coming up :wonder:

didnt scan it. I just noticed that it wasn't moving so I got a second hand motor from someone on here. Fitted it and hey presto working headlights.

Do your own testing, don't trust the dealer!

I bet theres no way i'm going to get hold of a second hand motor :S

Where abouts is the motor located?

I will try and get hold of a part number and get some quotes.

you have to remove the headlamp and open it up. I will have some pictures of it somewhere.

It's easy to see if its working though. Either wait till its properly dark, turn the headlights on, THEN the ignition, and you should see both lights go up and down (or maybe down then up) before settling. If its not dark, you will need someone to switch the ignition on while you kneel in front of the light. The lens moves visibly while settling.

Trust me, make sure its not working before you start taking the lights apart!

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate your input.

Is there a motor in each unit?

I will check the motor out tonight. I guess getting hold of a new motor is like trying to get hens teeth

You might be lucky. IIRC last year retail was about £55. Stick an ad in the Wanted section?

Or maybe Bond007 at TPS can help?

This is the motor:-

Is there a motor in each unit?

yes. each h/l works independently but uses the same level sensors. (one front, one back.)

Part number is 1U0 941 295B.

Thanks a lot for that mate. Is a great help

The more I think about it the more i'm sure they didnt move before levelling out when I turned them on. I will double check tonight.

It they dont move I will go with the levelling motors first as the lights seem to be bright enough they just dont shine far enough.

Is it a diy job? Ive never had xenons before and I assumed you had to take them to a dealer to get a new bulb etc. I dont want to open them up and then cause more problems :no:

This topic has some useful info in there as well.

I checked to see if the lights "moved" when turning the ignition on and it seems that they do. So i'm guessing the motors are alright.

I suppose by logic the next part to check would be the ballast or the communication between the ballast and the headlight.

One quick question - Can the headlights on mk1 be coded somehow? Can I use VCDS?

I seem to recall someone saying that there is a vcds coding for the level position, ie how you determine what "level" is. You might also be able to see with vcds if the level sensors are both working.

This might be useful:

http://www.pimpmyskoda.co.uk/RemovingHeadlight.htm

Thanks Rob,

It is very useful and I already have a copy printed out

When I find out what the problem is I will update the post for anyone who might need it in the future.

Updated thread for future reference.

This problem was sorted by the dealer in the end.

Got the car back yesterday and tested it last night. Defo improvement and for now I would say all is back to normal and lights are working correctly.

The dealer re-set and re-aligned the lights and checked defualt settings when the car is restarted. All seems to be working well and after testing it on unlit country roads last night the headlights are working as per normal and you can see the road in front of you without any problems.

It wasnt the motors in the headlights. Dealer couldnt find any problems and after some discussion we decided on re-setting everything and this seems to have solved the problem.

I got the bulbs replaced on our early 2004 car - bought from PowerBulbs then paid the dealer to change them over. Made a noticeable difference.