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Superb Xenon Issue


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Good morning - Has anyone else had issues with the Xenons on the Superb?  In particular I am talking about self levelling...  When I start my Sportline, the engine preheats and the Xenons do there start up jig but then the engine cranks and disturbs the jig and they stay pointing at the ground... I have it booked in at the dealer on Friday but I fear they wont pick up on the issue.  I guess if no one else has the same problem then maybe there is a fault?

 

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Well I have only had the car since 1/11 so hard to say - I thought it was snow on the headlights when it first happened but it seems to happen regardless... I guess I will see what the dealer says on Friday!! Thanks for your response :)

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Lots of people are experiencing this, after 4 attempts to diagnose and resolve this on my Superb, a software update was ordered from the factory. Still waiting to see if it has worked. 

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Thanks Bridge - what is the best workaround for the issue you have found? I haven’t tested yet but was thinking ignition without break pedal to level lights and then start engine? 

 

Hope it doesn’t take more than one visit to the dealers to sort :-/ I will mention this software update to them!

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There was no work around for me, I always use the lights in auto mode, the garage suggested I try the manual setting. I was not impressed with this and insisted on a fix. I got my car in February and it has been at the garage for 5 weeks since then. It appears that Skoda continue to ship cars with a known fault. Your garage will not be able to diagnose a fault unless it happens there, insist on the software update. Having said that, your car is so new, it may already be running the updated software.

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It is always better to start your car with the majority of the consumables switched off.  Starting draws significant current and will cause a volt drop that will upset computer modules.  You don’t need your lights on at the point of starting the car.

 

This is not unique to Škoda and is a fact of life with electronics in most if not all cars.  There is nothing to be gained - and unlikely to be a fix - by switching things on before the engine is running.

 

You can make electronics more resilient to this effect, but that adds cost and complexity and will put the car price up.  It will also go against the manufacturers accountants view of the whole life costs and profits for any given model.

 

I have had a number of BMWs and Škodas over the years with ever increasing levels of electronic control and monitoring systems and all have suffered from this in one form or another.  The advice from both Dealers and Owner Forums is to start the engine and then turn things on.  You should also pause between turning the ignition on and let all of the systems and warning lights fully cycle before cranking the engine.  The eff3cts are more likely to be more apparent in cold weather.

 

The advice from your Dealer to start the car and then turn things on is very sound advice and whilst you may not want to accept it, is the correct advice from an engineering stand point.

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I disagree from an engineering standpoint.  The engineering stand point should take into account the knowledge and expectations of the end user.  If the sophisticated electronics can't handle the voltage sag during cranking - they shouldn't be enabled at all until the engine is running.  90% of users will have zero clue about any of this and just expect their car to work.  Not be like Apollo 13 where they selectively switch off systems to baby the system online.

 

From an old school mechanical sympathy point of view - I agree with your work around.

Edited by dg360
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I will interject here in that the issues lies with poor design which proves to be not so robust. Almost in my opinion, an example of a system developed to quickly to meet a commercial demand (target). It then suffers problems over time often requiring software updates being released in order to provide a fix. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, FelisBengalensis said:

It is always better to start your car with the majority of the consumables switched off.  Starting draws significant current and will cause a volt drop that will upset computer modules.  You don’t need your lights on at the point of starting the car.

 

This is not unique to Škoda and is a fact of life with electronics in most if not all cars.  There is nothing to be gained - and unlikely to be a fix - by switching things on before the engine is running.

 

You can make electronics more resilient to this effect, but that adds cost and complexity and will put the car price up.  It will also go against the manufacturers accountants view of the whole life costs and profits for any given model.

 

I have had a number of BMWs and Škodas over the years with ever increasing levels of electronic control and monitoring systems and all have suffered from this in one form or another.  The advice from both Dealers and Owner Forums is to start the engine and then turn things on.  You should also pause between turning the ignition on and let all of the systems and warning lights fully cycle before cranking the engine.  The eff3cts are more likely to be more apparent in cold weather.

 

The advice from your Dealer to start the car and then turn things on is very sound advice and whilst you may not want to accept it, is the correct advice from an engineering stand point.

I can find no fault i your logic, however as a technology and mechanical moron, I would expect that Skoda would understand their responsibility’s to their customers better . If given the option of auto lights, then that option should work faultlessly. There is a serious safety issue here. I have driven in urban areas and have not known that I have only 10 feet of visibility, should I have left an urban area and have gone into total darkness with a car closely following, it is quite possible that an accident could occur. 

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It does, but within the limitations of the system (all the car electronics combined together).  Simply by either letting the system finish its cycle before cranking, or turning the auto light function on once the engine is running should solve the problem.  

 

My S3 does it too, but only if I place heavy electrical loads on the system at the wrong moment during computer boot up.  I let everything cycle first.  My X6 is just the same and so is our 2005 3-series.  Both have Xenon auto lights.

 

BMWs have a nasty habit of throwing spurious warnings about suspension failure, or emergency transmission mode if you catch them at the wrong point during boot up.  The fix for them is key in, turn to pos 1, pause......., crank.

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5 hours ago, FelisBengalensis said:

It is always better to start your car with the majority of the consumables switched off.  Starting draws significant current and will cause a volt drop that will upset computer modules.  You don’t need your lights on at the point of starting the car.

 

+1

when i start up, i make sure my lights are in the OFF position, as well as the A/C.

just before i turn the car off, my A/C is turned off. 

 

 

40 minutes ago, rtj70 said:

The car will go through the routine of levelling the HID lights if they are on or off when you start the car. You only notice if you have the lights on of course.

 

true, the levelling servos go through their "dance" routine, but with the headlights in the OFF position, the ballasts won't spike up thousands of volts to fire up the xenons during ignition.

Edited by JR RS
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I have had Xenons on the last four cars including this Superb. So that's ten years of cars with Xenons. Always leave lights on auto and climate control on. Three of the four cars have been VW group.

 

Never had a problem and I do a lot of short journeys too.

 

I think the other poster has an issue with their car.

Edited by rtj70
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1 hour ago, FelisBengalensis said:

It does, but within the limitations of the system (all the car electronics combined together).  Simply by either letting the system finish its cycle before cranking, or turning the auto light function on once the engine is running should solve the problem.  

 

My S3 does it too, but only if I place heavy electrical loads on the system at the wrong moment during computer boot up.  I let everything cycle first.  My X6 is just the same and so is our 2005 3-series.  Both have Xenon auto lights.

 

BMWs have a nasty habit of throwing spurious warnings about suspension failure, or emergency transmission mode if you catch them at the wrong point during boot up.  The fix for them is key in, turn to pos 1, pause......., crank.

 

Surely it can't be as simple as catching at the wrong moment? There is a simple fix for this that VAG, BMW etc would have solved quickly.  Just make the last thing thing on the checklist = enable starting. 

So you'd get in turn the key, needle sweep, headlight dance, check this, check that, Maxidot says ready to start and enables starting. Any early attempt would be met with a message to say it wasn't ready.

They could make it into a feature. If it displayed a kind of preflight checklist to show all of the stuff that was being checked it could be done in a "cool" way.

 

My guess is that it just gets overlooked in testing. Their testers have a huh, that's funny moment. They turn the ignition off and back on and it's gone and they carry with test case they were working on. The weirdness will be impossible recreate on demand so gets glossed over in the push to get it out the door by senior folks. 

(I work in software testing)

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I think the main issue is the engine preheating due to the cold weather... On a warmer day, the engine starts more quickly and usually before the headlights do their leveling dance... 

 

Last night, when I pressed the ignition without the break pedal, they level correctly and then I started the engine - this seems to be a workaround (when I remember)

 

I am not even sure if its worth the time of taking it to the dealers on Friday now as it seems to be an issue on a larger scale.  Maybe a letter to Skoda UK?

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I doubt its overlooked. 

 

Maybe there is insufficient time in development prior to production to fully debug systems. There is typically a commercial deadline to meet for the end product and sometimes systems are not totally robust when that dealine arrives.

Hence the rollout of software updates and tech bulletins during the products life.

 

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I have had this several times, usually start with lights off so that is not the cause.

 

Yesterday I remembered to save the dashcam footage of before and after resetting . . . 

 

Will have check to see what it shows and to find time to go in and show the dealer.

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I had this exact same issue last night with my Sportline. However, I only  noticed when I left the flood-lit village road and entered a dark country lane.... only then did I realise I could only see about 10' in front of the car. Even with full-beam on this was only extended to about 25'. I had to pull over, and kill the engine/ignition and restart the car. The lights then auto-leveled correctly.

 

I always use the 'auto' setting for the lights, even when starting. I only engage the clutch, then press the ignition button.

 

 

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I'm also one for turning off all electrical load before turning the engine off, and not turning anything on until the engine is running.

 

When starting the car on a morning I often let the heating and ventilation system go through its checks before starting the engine.

 

Its good practice, some of us have a degree of mechanical and electrical sympathy, others less so.

 

There is no right or wrong but Skoda should be testing their systems under the most arduous conditions.

 

We know that this isn't always the case though, so a bit of give and take is required.

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On 13/12/2017 at 15:04, andyj2 said:

I had this exact same issue last night with my Sportline. However, I only  noticed when I left the flood-lit village road and entered a dark country lane.... only then did I realise I could only see about 10' in front of the car. Even with full-beam on this was only extended to about 25'. I had to pull over, and kill the engine/ignition and restart the car. The lights then auto-leveled correctly.

 

I always use the 'auto' setting for the lights, even when starting. I only engage the clutch, then press the ignition button.

 

 

 

I had exactly this for the first time a few days ago.  Not experienced it again in the last few days!

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Well talk about 5hi7 luck!  No issues to date and driving up the A1 at dusk I noticed my lights were pretty crap, as it got darker I seen that there was no lights bouncing off the car in front or road signs, they were pointing straight down.  I stopped at the next services and stopped/started the car and waited for the headlights to do their dance.  Sorted.  

 

I can't help but feel it may be temperature related.  If my software was at fault, it would have been at fault from day one but this is the first time I've used my car in sub-zero temps.  Just a thought. 

 

EDIT: For reference I always wait for a few seconds between pressing the KESSY button, watching the lights level and then starting engine.  I don't just hit the clutch and start the car up from the get-go. 

Edited by penguin17
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