2010 Skoda Superb V6 4x4 Adaptive Headlights

[PeteDaly]

Hello fellow Superb owners,

I am struggling to work out if the adaptive headlights on my Superb are working correctly. The Zenon lights seem to work fine. They do their little dance when I start the car and turn when the car turns and switch from wide to narrow beam when the speed changes. If I push the indicator stalk forward the blue main beam light comes on but the "beam" is directly in front of the car. There is little or no illumination "down the road". Also, if I leave the headlights on full, I never get flashed by oncoming motorists. I have read on this forum that the headlights are self levelling and if there is a fault the default position is down. Is there an easy way to check if the self levelling function is working? Do the halogen bulbs have two filaments - high and low? Could it be that I simply have to replace the bulb because the main beam filament has burnt out? Any assistance gratefully received

[DEL80Y]

Look at this post 
You will most likely need to change the main bulbs as they loose power over the years 

To check the self levelling you can get under the car and check that the level sensors are ok as they are prone to filing



Also this post

 

[ethel]

Hiya Pete,

 

The bulb replacement option is definitely worth a go as indicated above, but additionally, there is the possibility that the dip/main beam mechanical shutters inside the Xenon units aren't operating correctly and thus aren't permitting the full output to be projected.

 

If they are working correctly, the shift from dipped to full beam at night is marked and very obvious with an almost instantaneous transition.

 

The amount of light thrown down a dark, unlit country road such as we have around here on full beam is remarkably full and effective. I appreciate that you are based in town but maybe see if you can find a dark bit of road somewhere and see if the whole thing lights up like day - if not, I would suspect that you are only getting the illumination from the supplementary (single filament) halogen full-beam units mounted inboard of the main Xenon ones, or as Del8oy suggests above, the Xenon bulbs need replaced.

 

Have you had any error messages come up on the Maxidot display in the instrument cluster at all, perhaps relating to AFS failure? Given that the alignment dance is happening as it should and that the beam pattern is changing as you drive I'm guessing possibly not..

All the best,

 

Dave.

Edited 1 February, 2022 by ethel

[Nackuk]

I can confirm that my main beam was very bright, but dipped beam was appalling when I changed mine..

 

difference is amazing on dipped lights now 😁

Edited 1 February, 2022 by Nackuk

[PeteDaly]

On 29/01/2022 at 12:22, DEL80Y said:

Look at this post 
You will most likely need to change the main bulbs as they loose power over the years 

To check the self levelling you can get under the car and check that the level sensors are ok as they are prone to filing



Also this post

 

Thanks for the advice Del8oy. I'm pretty sure that it is a self leveling issue. I will take a wheel off and check the sensors first

[PeteDaly]

Thanks for the response ethel. I plan to replace the bulbs in due course but there is an underlying issue that I want to get to the bottom of first. Your description of the light's power is totally different from what I am seeing. On dipped beam all I am getting is the Zenons. They are pretty bright and move around pretty much as I would expect. However the beam that they produce is quite short. When I put on main beam all that seems to happen is that the halogens light up but the beam from these is not more than 10 feet in front of the car. I never get flashed if I drive around on main beam. I will try to work out if the "shutters" are working but I think not. There are no errors showing on the dash and my OBDI reader is not showing any errors that relate to the lights. I strongly suspect that the self levelling may be at fault. I have read in this forum  that if the self levelling unit is not getting a signal then it goes into its default position which is fully down. I plan to check the sensors on the suspension front and back but if they look OK I'm not sure what to do next. Do you know if it is possible to dismantle the headlight unit to see if the "works" inside look OK and maybe test them to see if they are doing what they should. I'm hesitant to take it to a dealer as problems of this type can take expensive hours to resolve

[ethel]

I'm afraid that my knowledge of the light units themselves is somewhat limited & there are others here who are far better qualified than I am to advise.

However, I would advise caution if you do take the units to bits not least because of the high voltages potentially present (no pun intended).

 

As a simple test, it might be worth getting someone to switch in and out of full beam (with dipped beam already on) whilst you watch what's going on at the headlight.

You should - I imagine - be able to see instantly whether the Xenon unit is doing anything from the outside which would at least allow you to determine whether the shutter is functioning or not.

The self-levelling is definitely worth investigating as you mention. As the numerous posts on the forum will tell you, this is a known failure point and could well be the cause of your woes.

 

For clarification, the dipped beam comes only from the Xenon/HID units. Full beam is produced from both the Xenon and the inner Halogen bulbs together if the dipped beam is already on, or just the halogens if the dipped beams are not active (which allows you to flash your lights during the day for example if the dipped beam headlights aren't switched on).

 

Sorry I can't be more help in terms of the mechanics of the lights themselves but as I say, there are plenty here who can offer advice. 👍

 

Good luck with it - hope it's a simple (and inexpensive) fix.

D. 🙂

Edited 1 February, 2022 by ethel

[silver1011]

Even if the xenon dipped / main beam was faulty or improperly aligned, the fact you're able to drive at oncoming cars with main beam on is odd.

 

As mentioned main beam consists of the unshuttered dipped xenon bulbs and the inner halogen bulbs.

 

The halogen bulbs alone should be bright enough to dazzle other road users, if you're not getting flashed then I can only assume they're angled all the way down - hence the lack of forward throw you mention.

 

The halogen portion of main beam isn't self-levelling though, so for these to be so far out of alignment suggests possible accident damage or someone has manually wound the adjusters all the way down.