Hi everyone,

I hope someone here can help. I have a 55 plate l&k octavia, I think it has auto lights also known as light assist but I can't seem to get them to work. I have the lights turned to what appears to be the auto/tunnel position (which has a green light on).

Is there a way to test if it is working or damaged or am I being totally stupid and in fact the car doesn't have auto lights!

Any help would be great

Thanks

The sensor is on the windscreen behind the rear view mirror, with the car running if you cover it from outside the lights should come on,

Is there a way to test if it is working or damaged or am I being totally stupid and in fact the car doesn't have auto lights!

As it's an L&K and has a tunnel position on the light switch.....you definitely have auto lights.

The very easiest way to tell is to turn it to auto in the dark. The lights should come on right away. Covering the sensor will turn them on too.....but bear in mind the ignition should needs to be on or engine started for either of these methods to work.

Edited 19 May, 201313 yr by booke23

Thanks for your reply. 100%. Not working, the maxi dot says that both my front beams are not working however they are! Could this effect the auto lights???

Thanks

Sounds like there is a fault somewhere, I would get the car scanned with VCDS as a starting point.

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Yeah I will, ill let you know what they say, could be just a case of telling the ecu that the bulbs are in, or it's a loose connection somewhere. I wonder if the bulb out warning is connected to the auto lights now working. In theory the car thinks the front lights don't work!

Thanks for your reply. 100%. Not working, the maxi dot says that both my front beams are not working however they are! Could this effect the auto lights???

It doesn't have after market H7 xenon bulbs fitted does it?

Not that I know of, this car wasn't fitted with xenons, I think it was only the 2007 onwards that had then standard. Does anybody know anyone locally in Worthing west sussex with vag software who can help me?

Not that I know of, this car wasn't fitted with xenons, I think it was only the 2007 onwards that had then standard.

You're quite right....factory Xenons were an option before 2007, but not standard........the presence of a headlight level adjuster next to the headlight switch will confirm that the car did not have factory Xenons.

I was just thinking that a previous owner might have retro fitted cheap H7 Xenon bulbs and ballasts, which are known to cause issues with the blown bulb warning system. I agree that a VCDS scan is the next step.

just spoke to the previous owner, they are the original lights. He had had no previous problems with the lights. They have the levelling switch so not xenons. The ecu was re conditioned and re programmed but not sure if this would make any difference to the auto lights.

just spoke to the previous owner, they are the original lights. He had had no previous problems with the lights. They have the levelling switch so not xenons. The ecu was re conditioned and re programmed but not sure if this would make any difference to the auto lights.

Having to "recondition" the ECU sounds like quite serious problem I would want to know a bit more about that.

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Yeah, all I know is that it was sent off and sent back, the car was beeping and would not allow the car to start. It was fixed so that's all I know. It cost £480 to repair. I just hope it's not a recurring problem.

I just wonder if there was an underlying fault which caused a problem with the ECU, which could now be manifesting in another way. Hopefully VCDS will shed some light on things.

Not that I know of, this car wasn't fitted with xenons, I think it was only the 2007 onwards that had then standard. Does anybody know anyone locally in Worthing west sussex with vag software who can help me?

Am up in Redhill if that's any help.

Thanks for coming back to me, that's a bit too far away, :(

The rain sensors and auto dim functions work. The coming home lights do not work, but the side spot lights under the mirrors do. I agree that the wiring is ok as the lights do work. I wonder if when the ecu was sent away it changed some settings? Will plugging it in tell me what's wrong?

I also do no have the options on the maxi dot to change any of this

The auto dim mirror is completely separate from the rain/light sensor.

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The coming home lights do not work,

I also do no have the options on the maxi dot to change any of this

So you have no option in maxidot to adjust the coming home lights? If this is the case Mike may well be on to something re coding. A 2005 L&K should definitely have a maxidot option to enable and adjust the coming home lights.

Right, so that sorts the coming home lights etc. do you think that a) the auto lights have been disabled and this is connected to the c/h lights not working? And if the rain sensor works then this suggests that all should be ok with the dusk sensor for the lights?

Obviously this is all academic until I plug the car in!

Thanks

Tom

The auto dim mirror is completely separate from the rain/light sensor.

Not quite. The auto mirror takes an input from the forward light sensor......so it knows it's actually dark, and does not activate the auto dimming during the day.

No it doesn't, I thought this but there is a forward facing sensor on the passenger side of the mirror.

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Right, so that sorts the coming home lights etc. do you think that a) the auto lights have been disabled and this is connected to the c/h lights not working? And if the rain sensor works then this suggests that all should be ok with the dusk sensor for the lights?

Sounds like the light one is working ok, as you say the puddle lights are working.

Plugging in and getting any codes if definitely the way to go, I think, otherwise it's all just speculation, especially given that the ECU isn't the original one. Could easily be that, as Mike says, it's not been coded correctly. Possibly just had the coding copied from another (lower spec'd) Octy.

There isn't option on my maxi dot only lights and vision which has only comfort settings, this seems To do nothing at all! There is no convienience option either. I assume a software update or the in locking of this functionality is possible?

If the ECU has been mis-coded then certain options won't appear.

For example:

Almost none of the Skodas have been been coded to automatically close the windows if it's raining, and the car has been locked. Once the correct coding has been done, the option appears in MaxiDot.

Also:

Footwell lighting isn't an option at all, but you can retro-fit, code it and it appears in MaxiDot.

Do you think this could be a reason why the auto lights don't work? Would this be connected to the ecu not being coded correctly?