Can anyone help me identify this part? VW AG 045 907 282 A RB6

 

And could it be affecting the brightness level of the low beam lights? The hight beam is fantastic though. Same bulb. Only one for both levels.

 

It is a Fabia Combi 2008 Greenline 1.4 L3 Diesel with projector headlamps.

 

The low beam is quite weak. I bought the car used. And they were almost null. I changed the bulbs for better ones from OSRAM. And it helped. But not even close to good.

 

When you are driving at night. And a car comes close to yours from the back. And you can notice the shadow of your own car in front of you? Something is definitely wrong.

 

Need your help.

Glow plug relay

The low beam on that year/model uses a solenoid operated cut off shutter that flips down and chops the top off the high beam. Therefore dip is always going to be around 50% of high beam brightness. Poor idea that was scrapped in the 2010 facelift when a two bulb system was adopted.

Two tweaks you can try, firstly adjust the height/direction of the headlights using the two nylon allen keyed adjusters on each headlamp - one adjusts up/down the other left/right. Point your car at a wall in the evening to help you see the position of the dipped beam. The factory seems to set the dipped beam far too low. If you lift the pattern a fair bit, you can then experiment with the electric level adjuster ( next to the dash brightness adjuster) to determine the optimum position while you are actually driving. At the same time check there is also a distinct "flip up" at the left side of the dipped beam and its not just cut off straight. If its a flat cutoff with no flip up at the left, then check the lights have not been set to tourist (continental) setting, there is a little lever near the bulb itself that alters the shutter pattern.

The other tweak, which is NOT recommended as you can easily end up breaking your headlamp. I found the brightest part of the beam (hotspot) was cut off in dip because the bulb was set a little too high and I persuaded (i.e. bent) the holder to point the bulb down just a bit and the hotspot then appeared in the dip pattern and made a big difference.

I did feel though that I could very easily have broken the headlamp so I cant recommend you do this.

Having said all that remember it is a poor design that gives at best 50% of a good design.

Edited 6 November, 20169 yr by xman

OT but the 2 bulb crap lighting never lasted long before going back to a rubbish 1 bulb set up.

OT but the 2 bulb crap lighting never lasted long before going back to a rubbish 1 bulb set up.

Dont know what youre talking about, I have one of the last mk2 fabias made and that has 2 h7 bulbs per side. One h7 bulb in a projector setup gives the dip with no shutter so full brightness and another h7 in a reflector for main beam. Much better than the single h7 shutter system used in my 2009 fabia. Base models on pre facelift used a h4 (two filament) bulb in a reflector setup which I suspect was actually better that the fancy shutter system on level 2 or higher models.

Dont know what youre talking about, I have one of the last mk2 fabias made and that has 2 h7 bulbs per side. One h7 bulb in a projector setup gives the dip with no shutter so full brightness and another h7 in a reflector for main beam. Much better than the single h7 shutter system used in my 2009 fabia. Base models on pre facelift used a h4 (two filament) bulb in a reflector setup which I suspect was actually better that the fancy shutter system on level 2 or higher models.

The base model on the facelift also had a single H4 bulb reflector headlight.

the first Mk2 Fabia vRS got Clear Glass and 2 bulbs and so so dipped beam,

then Skoda in a Stylee move fitted 'Hip' dark tint lights and a crap 1 bulb set up.

The low beam on that year/model uses a solenoid operated cut off shutter that flips down and chops the top off the high beam. Therefore dip is always going to be around 50% of high beam brightness. Poor idea that was scrapped in the 2010 facelift when a two bulb system was adopted.

Two tweaks you can try, firstly adjust the height/direction of the headlights using the two nylon allen keyed adjusters on each headlamp - one adjusts up/down the other left/right. Point your car at a wall in the evening to help you see the position of the dipped beam. The factory seems to set the dipped beam far too low. If you lift the pattern a fair bit, you can then experiment with the electric level adjuster ( next to the dash brightness adjuster) to determine the optimum position while you are actually driving. At the same time check there is also a distinct "flip up" at the left side of the dipped beam and its not just cut off straight. If its a flat cutoff with no flip up at the left, then check the lights have not been set to tourist (continental) setting, there is a little lever near the bulb itself that alters the shutter pattern.

The other tweak, which is NOT recommended as you can easily end up breaking your headlamp. I found the brightest part of the beam (hotspot) was cut off in dip because the bulb was set a little too high and I persuaded (i.e. bent) the holder to point the bulb down just a bit and the hotspot then appeared in the dip pattern and made a big difference.

I did feel though that I could very easily have broken the headlamp so I cant recommend you do this.

Having said all that remember it is a poor design that gives at best 50% of a good design.

 

Thanks for the tweaks tips. I had no idea it was possible to do that.

 

I have only one H7 for Low and High beams on my greenline 2008 combi.

 

I just ordered three sets of light bulbs that should be better than the ones I have.

 

1. Bosch Gigalight Plus 120 Xenongas

2. Osram Night Breaker Laser Halogen

3. Philips X-tremeVision +100%

 

All 12v 55w.

 

I will try them out. And keep the ones I think are better for the roads I drive at night.

 

If the brightest are still too weak, I will try your tweaks.

 

If someone explains how I can put pictures in here, I can gladly take some A-B comparison pictures for anyone interested.

 

Thanks again.

Has anyone actually changed the (pre-facelift) one bulb h7 shutter headlamp set up for the similar aged base model h4 version ?

That would be expensive as it would involve not only new complete headlamp units, but new wiring looms and possibly fusebox alterations.

That would be expensive as it would involve not only new complete headlamp units, but new wiring looms and possibly fusebox alterations.

 

The headlamps on this car are dangerous, there has to be an easier solution - I don't want to butcher looms or fit HIDS. 

 

100w H7 Xenon bulbs are apparently too hot, is there anything else out there??

If they have been dangerous that will have been for 7 or 8 years.

How often has the front end been rebuilt in that time from crashing into things?

The headlamps on this car are dangerous, there has to be an easier solution - I don't want to butcher looms or fit HIDS. 

 

100w H7 Xenon bulbs are apparently too hot, is there anything else out there??

 

I have to agree. They are dangerous.

 

When your eyes adapt to the amount of light these headlights give and another car in front of you or behind you has brighter lights than yours -which is actually any other-, you go a bit crazy trying to avoid being blinded by the others.

 

If you add extremely dark roads with lots and lots of curves plus other cars with much brighter headlights than yours, you can easily make dangerous mistakes trying to see the road in front of you with your own weak headlights.

 

Dangerous low beam levels of light. Agreed.

 

And those who doubt it, make a side by side comparison with any other type of auto in your garage or neighborhood.

You had best get the best light set up as you both can then.

 

Touch wood i only crash them in daylight so can not blame the poor lights.

From my experience, and confirmed by other threads I've read, I think you'll find your lights are simply set too low. Using a 6mm hex allen key, its easy to lift the beams and if necessary also move them together to the centre line of travel. Makes a significant difference.

From my experience, and confirmed by other threads I've read, I think you'll find your lights are simply set too low. Using a 6mm hex allen key, its easy to lift the beams and if necessary also move them together to the centre line of travel. Makes a significant difference.

 

You are right on that one.

 

I have OSRAMs Cool Blue installed. Which are already much brighter than stock lights.

 

And following your advice, I tweaked and aligned them to the best of my understanding after watching many videos on YouTube.

 

And it really helped. They had been already tampered with before I aligned them -I bought it used-. And the drivers side lamp was pointing towards the passengers side -reducing my forward night time view on my side-.

 

So I chose a nice wall as reference and aligned them.

 

I now have a nice compromise. It is still less light than almost any other car on the street that I come across with.

 

But, now I am much more comfortable driving at night. I can see more of the streets in front of me. And I don't blind the other cars in front of me.

 

These headlamps make it quite easy to align both beams because of the shadows they project on a wall. After that, I only took care that the recommended 1% drop was set. And then, that the beams pointed straight forward.

 

It did help. A lot.

 

Now I am waiting to test the other pairs of headlights that I ordered.

 

I will update when I do.

 

Thank you again.

Edited 9 November, 20169 yr by fgplayerx

I bought a code reader.

 

I have not received my sets of headlamps yet.

 

And the diagnostics tool found 4 codes:

- 53273 KWP2000 - DTC definition not found! Please refer to vehicle service manual.

- 00579 KWP2000 - P0243 Turbo/Super Charger Wastegate Solenoid (A):Open/Short Circuit to Ground

- 00819 KWP1281 - High Pressure Sensor (G65)

- 01598 KWP1281 - Drive Battery Voltage

 

Could one of these codes or faults be causing a lower level of lights on the lower beams?

Edited 14 November, 20169 yr by fgplayerx

Check your battery voltage when the engine is running (approx 1500 rpm) It should be 14.3 volts. Anything significantly lower than 14 volts indicates a faulty alternator or wiring or even a failing battery and yes that will affect the brightness of your bulbs.

But I think 01598 code just means your battery is tired or needs charging as there is a big voltage dip when starting.

00819 means your a/c isnt working because of low gas.

00579 means you are going into limp mode due to a turbo solenoid/wiring fault

Edited 14 November, 20169 yr by xman

Lights on my Mk2 estate were not brilliant, but with proper adjustment they worked ok for most folks. Changing bulbs on the Mk2 to brighter ones is a must if you do lots of long distance night time driving on unlit roads though. Thankfully, the lights on the new Mk3's are much better. 

Edited 15 November, 20169 yr by Estate Man

Check your battery voltage when the engine is running (approx 1500 rpm) It should be 14.3 volts. Anything significantly lower than 14 volts indicates a faulty alternator or wiring or even a failing battery and yes that will affect the brightness of your bulbs.

But I think 01598 code just means your battery is tired or needs charging as there is a big voltage dip when starting.

00819 means your a/c isnt working because of low gas.

00579 means you are going into limp mode due to a turbo solenoid/wiring fault

 

Ok. I checked my battery / alternator using a multimeter.

 

After my usual morning drive which lasts 45 minutes, I checked the voltages directly on the battery terminals.

 

So,

 

-Motor off.

Eerything off.

Key off.

12.72v

 

-Motor running idle.

High beam lights on.

Everything thing else off.

14.25v

 

-Motor running idle.

High beam lights on.

A/C with fan on maximum.

Radio normal volume.

Hazard lights on.

Interior lights on.

13.98v to 14.09v

 

-Motor running aprox 1600 rpm.

High beam lights on.

Everathing else off.

14.29v

 

-Motor running aprox 1600 rpm.

High beam lights on.

A/C with fan on maximum.

Radio normal volume.

Hazard lights on.

Interior lights on.

14.16v to 14.21v

 

And, four hours after, battery level with everything off, 12.55v.

 

I'm trying out the Bosch Gigalight 120 for a couple of days. I'll keep posting.

From my experience, and confirmed by other threads I've read, I think you'll find your lights are simply set too low. Using a 6mm hex allen key, its easy to lift the beams and if necessary also move them together to the centre line of travel. Makes a significant difference.

 

I am marking this solved.

 

First, because my first question was solved since the start.

 

And second, because I surprised myself driving at night not thinking about the low light levels on my car.

 

Must do #1: Brighter than stock headlights. HIDs or not. I am using Bosch halogens.

Must do #2: Proper aligment. I let a professional with experience in projector headlamps align the lights. And iit made a great difference for the better.

 

I am still not 100% satisfied. I'll admit that I am around 85% satisfied with the lights now.

 

But the important thing is that I started to not think about them after proper alignment.

 

Thanks to eveyone who took their time to lend me some advice.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/418520-would-new-headlamp-units-help-with-low-beam-output

 

I see you are still trying to sort out your cars lighting by the various posts since this one. (4 or so asking much the same.)

You had best try a newer car to see what the lights are like on that because you must have spent a small fortune already with no success.

Edited 2 December, 20169 yr by Offski

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/418520-would-new-headlamp-units-help-with-low-beam-output

I see you are still trying to sort out your cars lighting by the various posts since this one. (4 or so asking much the same.)

You had best try a newer car to see what the lights are like on that because you must have spent a small fortune already with no success.

Haven't spent that much really. If I do decide to change cars in the next weeks, I'll steer away from projector headlights altogether. It would be a shame because I just changed the timing belt, pump and main belt. And I really like the practicality of the car. But I just can't get enough output from the low beam. My wife has a C3 Picasso with normal reflecting lights. No problems there when I'm driving at night. Even when I'm blinded by another car in front of me. But my Fabia is another story.

fgplayerx

Please try and keep the cross posting across sections to one section only that fits the bill. You will get better responses and really saves our search engine pulling the very same topics for anyone who may go looking.

 

Thanks.

fgplayerx

Please try and keep the cross posting across sections to one section only that fits the bill. You will get better responses and really saves our search engine pulling the very same topics for anyone who may go looking.

Thanks.

Will do. Thanks.