Can the OBDEleven adjust 245 LED headlights?

[245GT]

As titled, everytime I take my 245 out in the dark, I find myself shouting at the headlights as they only give about 2 car lengths of cats eyes before complete darkness and it ain't fun on unlit roads. Found it especially frustrating at the national speed limit belting up and down the A3 south of Guildford to Portsmouth like I did on Saturday night!

 

A semi local dealership says they'll diagnose and adjust if required under warranty (only 8 months old) but it'll take a few hours...!?!

I don't trust anyone with my car so would rather invest in an OBDeleven and do it myself if the unit can adjust the beam.

 

Local VW dealer confirmed it's a software adjustment, no physical adjustment of the LED lights is possible.

 

I'd previously tried loosening the headlamp mounts and clamping up with a bit more angle but it's exactly the same.....

[gRoberts]

I may be confusing the LED Headlights with my Bi-Xenon lights that I have in my MY18 SE Sport, but they are self-levelling, which means any manual adjustment will be useless (i.e. you could put a lot of weight in the boot and it'll probably be the same.)

 

http://www.ross-tech.com/vag-com/cars/xenonalignment.html

 

OBDEleven doesn't have an App for this but you can use the Pro version to modify the settings based on the instructions above. 

[245GT]

It's quite possible the LED lamp has a form of self levelling hence the lack of difference trying to force a bit more upward angle......

 

You are correct in the Bi-Xenon and LED units being different, know the OBD will resolve the Xenon level, hoping one of the Facelift LED/245 owners have been p*seed off enough to try the OBD with success...

 

Thanks,

Darren.

[gRoberts]

6 minutes ago, 245GT said:

It's quite possible the LED lamp has a form of self levelling hence the lack of difference trying to force a bit more upward angle......

 

You are correct in the Bi-Xenon and LED units being different, know the OBD will resolve the Xenon level, hoping one of the Facelift LED/245 owners have been p*seed off enough to try the OBD with success...

 

Thanks,

Darren.

 

When starting up with the lights on, do they move around and level out, or just turn on like halogen lights?

 

Could be worth looking at this thread - 

 

[245GT]

They are static, no movement on start up.

Looked at that thread last week hence mentioning that VW confirmed there is no manual adjustment for the LED headlamps.

 

They are only adjustable via computer calibration/interface.... Bloody 'advancements in technology'....

 

In fairness they are great lights, just need to point at the right angle to work properly!

 

A mechanic friend suggested if the beamsetter is too close to the headlamp when calibrated, it'll mess the angle up and be too low.

He said make sure there is a decent distance between headlamp and unit to ensure the angle is right when they reset....

[Jaco2k]

That sucks! LEDs on the Leon adjust like normal lights - mine too were low, even after I complained twice to the dealer and they said they did them...

...I took matters into my own hands, did it myself by eye and now they have the same spread I had with the Octavia xenon's, with great brightness.

I did not even need to reset the flat position - just turn the screw up.

I guess it is cause of guys like me, or even worse, guys that adjust them too high, that you cannot do it anymore by hand and only software.

...as Archer would say "and that is why we cannot have nice things"

 

---edit--

In case you are curious, and for reference, these are my cars headlights after I adjusted them:

 

 

Edited 5 November, 2018 by Jaco2k

[SC03OTT]

1 hour ago, 245GT said:

They are static, no movement on start up.

Looked at that thread last week hence mentioning that VW confirmed there is no manual adjustment for the LED headlamps.

 

They are only adjustable via computer calibration/interface.... Bloody 'advancements in technology'....

 

In fairness they are great lights, just need to point at the right angle to work properly!

 

A mechanic friend suggested if the beamsetter is too close to the headlamp when calibrated, it'll mess the angle up and be too low.

He said make sure there is a decent distance between headlamp and unit to ensure the angle is right when they reset....

 

Um, my LEDs self adjust (test) on startup. If yours don’t, then you’re half way to possibly solving your problem. 

Edited 5 November, 2018 by SC03OTT

[245GT]

23 minutes ago, Jaco2k said:

guess it is cause of guys like me, or even worse, guys that adjust them too high, that you cannot do it anymore by hand and only software

 

On top of that, nowadays it's less 'mechanic' more 'technician' just to justify extortionate rates to do things like change a light bulb out of warranty......

 

Citygate Skoda just got back to me after I questioned why it'd take a few hours to check and adjust (or as they said, diagnose and calibrate.......'technician' remember!).

I said I'd wait with the car if they book it in asap, they said:

 

 

"I will advise you that if you choose to wait, you may find yourself waiting for the rest of the day. The reason being as because we will need to apply to Skoda UK as this is a possible warranty job, and authorisation may take some time before we can carry out the work"

 

WTF!

 

Please someone, confirm the OBDEleven will allow LED adjustment so I can do it myself.....

[245GT]

2 minutes ago, SC03OTT said:

 

Um, my LEDs self adjust (test) on startup. If yours don’t, then you’re half way to possibly solving your problem. 

Auto or choose headlight?

I've always used auto (still new) so maybe there is a difference?

[245GT]

7 minutes ago, SC03OTT said:

 

Um, my LEDs self adjust (test) on startup. If yours don’t, then you’re half way to possibly solving your problem. 

 

Yep, you are right, they do self adjust.

Just went out, switched to full on then started the car to see the beam raise up then settle to 'too low' again....

[langers2k]

The garage is talking rubbish.

 

Even self levelling headlights will have adjustment screws...

 

In short, the factory method to set the headlight level is:

- have the car on level ground

- have no luggage etc in the car

- add ballast depending on fuel level

- start the basic settings to learn the new level

- the headlights will go to their 'home' position

- use the manual adjustment screws along with a beam alignment tool to set the beam position

- complete the basic settings

 

You can see the two white manual adjustment screws on the rear of this headlight: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/352326838286

[245GT]

It's the 'learn' part I need to get into.

Tried an Alan key on the white points but feel like they 'free-spin' without making any difference to the beam.

[langers2k]

The learning procedure won't help if the adjusters aren't working...

 

I assume you've got the headlights on against a wall or garage and you've tried turning them 2-3 turns in one direction before coming back?

 

It's possible that one or two could be broken but I'd be surprised if all four were on such a new car.

[nutey]

On 05/11/2018 at 16:52, 245GT said:

 

Yep, you are right, they do self adjust.

Just went out, switched to full on then started the car to see the beam raise up then settle to 'too low' again....

It could be an issue with the level sensors - I had this on a Renault Megane and the system defaults to dropping the beam really low to avoid dazzling anyone as it can't sense whether the car is level or not. I'm not sure on the setup on the latest Octavia but usually one sensor on each axle and quite often the arms linking the sensor to the suspension arm can pop off or break. Might be worth having a nose underneath to see if you can see anything...

I've not been too impressed with the dipped range on my LED Headlights either, though maybe not as bad as yours, so I was going to see whether a manual adjustment is possible as I've done that successfully on previous VAG cars.

[wg100]

[Cakemonster]

28 minutes ago, wg100 said:

 

Nice to know they can be adjusted - I've just had my first dark, unlit lane drive and I have to say, they're fantastic, I guess I was lucky

[Felvo]

I’m gunna be a fly on the wall here, I’d love to know how to adjust mine too. Max speed in Aus is 110 which doesn’t quite meet the speed to enable highway mode on the lights which is 120km/h/70mph, I’d like to lower that threshold to make the most of the headlamps.

[ccosmin]

yes, that would be useful to lower that speed threshold.

[Felvo]

I've done a little video..

 

City mode is where both my static cornering lights come on when i'm going under 55km/h and the main beam is lowered, when i'm going back over the bridge toward the end you'll see my headlights dip down and the static cornering lights switch on together

Country mode is where the main beam raises slightly and the static cornering lights are inactive

Highway mode is where the main beam raises again ever so slightly over country mode over 120km/h (or 115km/h if you're my dashcam)

 

Don't mind my a**hole attitude blasting that subaru that left his light bar on too long and killed my eyes...

 

For some reason my cornering lights don't react to my steering position or my indicator.. they're just on...

 

In country mode (I suppose that what you call speeds above 55km/h?) the visibility is actually really bad.. and I think the black spot is created by my right headlight being too low causing a staggered cutoff.

 

** Where it says "TITLE TEXT HERE" I was meant to write... Country mode reverting to City mode at the bridge

 

 

Edited 8 November, 2018 by Felvo

[SC03OTT]

2 hours ago, Felvo said:

I've done a little video..

 

City mode is where both my static cornering lights come on when i'm going under 55km/h and the main beam is lowered, when i'm going back over the bridge toward the end you'll see my headlights dip down and the static cornering lights switch on together

Country mode is where the main beam raises slightly and the static cornering lights are inactive

Highway mode is where the main beam raises again ever so slightly over country mode over 120km/h (or 115km/h if you're my dashcam)

 

Don't mind my a**hole attitude blasting that subaru that left his light bar on too long and killed my eyes...

 

For some reason my cornering lights don't react to my steering position or my indicator.. they're just on...

 

In country mode (I suppose that what you call speeds above 55km/h?) the visibility is actually really bad.. and I think the black spot is created by my right headlight being too low causing a staggered cutoff.

 

** Where it says "TITLE TEXT HERE" I was meant to write... Country mode reverting to City mode at the bridge

 

 

 

Did you activate the cornering fogs yourself?

[Felvo]

7 hours ago, SC03OTT said:

 

Did you activate the cornering fogs yourself?

My fogs don’t activate on cornering. 

[SC03OTT]

14 minutes ago, Felvo said:

My fogs don’t activate on cornering. 

 

I mean, did you change the car settings using VCDS or similar to activate the function yourself. 

 

Edit: wait.  You’re just talking about the lights built into the cluster, not cornering fog lights?

Edited 8 November, 2018 by SC03OTT

[Felvo]

2 minutes ago, SC03OTT said:

 

I mean, did you change the car settings using VCDS or similar to activate the function yourself. 

Nope.

 

Something to note, I don’t have an RS. My octy has a tech pack which includes led headlamps. My fogs are yellow halogens. My static cornering lights are inside my headlamp housing, I’ll take a photo for you.

 

[Felvo]

5 minutes ago, SC03OTT said:

 

I mean, did you change the car settings using VCDS or similar to activate the function yourself. 

 

Edit: wait.  You’re just talking about the lights built into the cluster, not cornering fog lights?

My static cornering lights are in there

[mumphie]

I don't think they're officially cornering lights - just part of the AFS adaptive headlight setup. It modifies the beam to suit road conditions. In this case, it widens the beam pattern by turning on some extra LEDs. The fog lamp cornering lights are specific to turning maneuvers