Ours is an 07 with xenons (built approx March 2007), and they dance everytime the engine is started.

I did meet someone who had a golf GTI special edition that didnt dance and it was cured they said using VCDS.

Cheers for all the replies guys, I'm gonna take the car out and over some steep speed humps, I know these are enough for the xenon's to adjust, if the xenon's on the vRS don't self level I'll be back on the phone to Skoda UK.

if u have afs or afs2, the lights will go to the extreme down, to the extreme outsides, to the extreme insides, to the middle, then back up to normal.

essentially non-afs xenons only do self leveling (down/up).

afs xenons do self-levelling(down/up)and bending/dynamic 'levelling'(left/right) too.

u need to have the headlights in the 'lowbeam' or 'auto' (should b dark enough to trigger the light sensor) position, before ignition, to see the start up self-diagnosis headlight dance.

if the xenons don't dance, it might b an aftermarket with no self-levelling sensors installed.

if the sensors r faulty, the default position is all the way down.

Edited 25 October, 201114 yr by JR RS

See that's the weird bit.

They are factory fitted. Skoda UK confirmed this and is backed up by the headlight washers and the lack of the manual adjuster next to the headlight switch, so:

Factory fitted? - check

Should they then self level? - Yes, check.

Do I have AFS or AFS II? - As my newer pre-facelift Scout only dances up and down - No, neither cars have AFS - check.

Are the xenon's pointing down (default faulty position)? - No, adjusted perfectly, just passed MOT - check.

Am I sure it is dark when turning on the xenon's to witness the lack of any type of movement? - Yes, check.

Does the vRS have auto/tunnel lights? - No, but it has a light sensor as it does have auto wipers - check.

So, as they aren't pointing down in their lowest setting this would suggest that they are not faulty?

Despite this they are not self leveling when the nose or back end is pitched up or down.

Had it not been for the fact my Scout with identical xenon's does the dance and can be seen to self level over bumps I would have accepted the same lights on the vRS work fine and forgotten about them long ago

You have non AFS ;

On my 06 plate octavia vRS my xenons go up and down every time the ignition is turned on but it happens quickly. AT night you have to start car and immediately turn on lights to see the up/down adjustment. HTH?

Just found this, maybe of help http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/216864-lights-not-moving/

Thanks gadgetman, the link suggests the leveling feature on the Octavia is fused. I'll go take a look!

On my 06 plate octavia vRS my xenons go up and down every time the ignition is turned on but it happens quickly. AT night you have to start car and immediately turn on lights to see the up/down adjustment. HTH?

Result, although it pained me to do it I turned the headlights on this morning before starting the engine. I then was able to notice the self leveling calibration - so they are working.

I therefore assume that after starting the engine previously I wasn't able to turn the headlights on quick enough to notice the calibration.

This still is a little strange though, as on the Scout they calibrate when the headlights are turned on (so I see it every time), on the vRS they appear to be calibrating when the engine is started rather than when the lights are turned on, hence I was missing it.

Either way I am now happy to know that they are self leveling. Thanks to everyone for their help

Result, although it pained me to do it I turned the headlights on this morning before starting the engine. I then was able to notice the self leveling calibration - so they are working.

I therefore assume that after starting the engine previously I wasn't able to turn the headlights on quick enough to notice the calibration.

This still is a little strange though, as on the Scout they calibrate when the headlights are turned on (so I see it every time), on the vRS they appear to be calibrating when the engine is started rather than when the lights are turned on, hence I was missing it.

Either way I am now happy to know that they are self leveling. Thanks to everyone for their help

good to hear all is well afterall.

as mentioned previously, u need to have the headlights in the on position ('low-beam' or 'auto') before turning on the ignition, to see the 'dance'.

its normal/expected for the calibration to take place on ignition on, not headlight on.

wat ur scout is doing is strange indeed.

even if you switch to second stage on the ignition no engine you should hear them move i do in mine everytime its probably about the only thing that works so far although the lights need realigned but grudge paying £56 for 20 mins work.

Result, although it pained me to do it I turned the headlights on this morning before starting the engine. I then was able to notice the self leveling calibration - so they are working.

I therefore assume that after starting the engine previously I wasn't able to turn the headlights on quick enough to notice the calibration.

This still is a little strange though, as on the Scout they calibrate when the headlights are turned on (so I see it every time), on the vRS they appear to be calibrating when the engine is started rather than when the lights are turned on, hence I was missing it.

Either way I am now happy to know that they are self leveling. Thanks to everyone for their help

Like i said, mine do it as soon as you turn the ignition on and you can hear them moving before you even start the engine.

I guess I'd convinced myself that the xenon's on the vRS should perform in the same way as they do on the Scout (with them both being pre-FL so essentially the same headlights) but when they didn't I was sure that there was a problem.

Although I am glad that they are 'dancing' as they are supposed to when the ignition is turned on it doesn't explain why on the Scout they dance when the headlights are turned on. I wonder if they too dance with the ignition and then dance again when the lights are turned on?

The Scout is 12 months newer so perhaps some slight modifications were made on later pre-FL xenon equipped Octavia's?

Not aware of any car manufacturer who's lights dance when the lights are turned on, only at ignition.

Have you had the scout scanned for faults?

No, but it is serviced at Skoda so unless they scan for faults during a routine service then they won't have noticed.

I don't think the Scout's xenon's are faulty as it's done it since new.

Either way they definately dance each and every time the headlights are turned on, which of course is different to the vRS which only seems to do it when the ignition is turned on...

Ross would know for sure...

Not aware of any car manufacturer who's lights dance when the lights are turned on, only at ignition.

Have you had the scout scanned for faults?

+1.

other cars i've seen with factory fitted xenons do the dance on ignition, not when the headlights r switched on.

maybe the scout is different.

can another scout owner confirm if their car demonstrates the same behaviour?

+1.

other cars i've seen with factory fitted xenons do the dance on ignition, not when the headlights r switched on.

maybe the scout is different.

can another scout owner confirm if their car demonstrates the same behaviour?

I have only ever noticed the dance on my scout when its started up with the lights on (Lights always left in auto), however I will give it ago tonight (Starting car with lights of and giving it a few minutes before switching lights on to see if they dance).

I would be very surprised if they dance whilst driving as this could be distracting or blinding to other drivers.

I also have to say that whilst driving I notice the lights constantly adjusting themselves all the time, especially on bumpy roads or speed bumps.

I should state that I only notice the dance when I turn the headlights on when the car is stationary on my drive.

I've never noticed them dance as I've turned my headlights on (or if they turn on in auto mode) when moving.

As above I would be very surprised if they danced when on the move as this could be potentially dangerous, however if they did it may confirm that I have a fault...

I should also state that I never leave my lights in auto, so when I turn them on when stationary I turn the switch manually, first to auto, if the headlights don't turn on (but I want them on), I then either select side or dipped headlights.

I also never turn my lights on straight away, after starting the engine I tend to turn on the climate, radio, fasten seatbelt etc. first. This allows me to discount the fact that me turning on the headlights is coincidental with the dance that should occur as the ignition is turned on. After trying on the vRS to get the xenon’s to light up so that I could witness the dance was enough of a challenge!

Edited 2 November, 201114 yr by silver1011

[my first post..]

The auto-leveling headlights My OctaviaII L&K (or Laura as it is called in India) started misbehaving and stopped doing the up-down dance on startup. This started after I took it to the shop to get lower arm bushes replaced.

VAS showed up a fault (200.134 I think). After multiple trips and sessions with VAS, it was diagnoses as actuator failure and solution was to replace the entire headlamp unit!

I took the car back home, opened up the lamp unit, removed the actuator (looks like a stepper motor) and figured something inside was not right. I put my multimeter to use and found one set of contacts (has 5) had continuity and one set did not.

I removed the unit from the housing (took some dexterity) and opened it up (needed some narrow and strong nosepliers). The actuator is really two coils and the moving arm has a couple of polarised magnets in it.

One of the contacts (a tyco idc-type connector) seems to have worked itself loose and caused a open circuit and prevented the up-down dance.

Well, I redid the contacts and put it back together and it works as new. Had to go back to the shop to get the fault erased (looking to get myself a VCDS setup). Working fine since then.

Cheers

-Naren

Wow, you are very brave to open up a xenon headlight unit in the first place, to then diagnose and fix the fault yourself is very impressive!

Did you take any pictures of the actuator so that we can all see what it involes?

Wow, you are very brave to open up a xenon headlight unit in the first place, to then diagnose and fix the fault yourself is very impressive!

Did you take any pictures of the actuator so that we can all see what it involes?

I did not think of taking pictures when tinkering with it.

I'll try and get some uploaded now that I know how the thing works...