Late 2015 Superb 3V L&K

 

Got cornering light error and need to know where to look before having to hunt for someone with VCDS or buy my own.

 

It's not a bulb out as I'm pretty sure the maxidot would just say that. When the lights come on they do part of their little wiggling dance but don't rise up which I believe is their 'safe' position. That's great for other drivers, not so much for me.

 

Where do I start looking? I have access to a carista but I know they're not much cop as a code reader.

As your car is 2015 it might be worth ringing your local dealer as there was a semi recall about this, essentially it’s just a software fix they need to apply

Usually it means something is up with ur light control modules - hence the AFS Error.

As a result ur headlights r now in "limp mode", pointing downwards.

 

There r two modules under each headlight.

Not referring to the ballast module, which sits at the back, which u can see from the engine bay.

 

Unfortunately to access the light control modules, u need front bumper off, which means front wheels off and wheel arch liners off.

 

Worst case scenario - the motors inside have seized.

In this case u'll need the entire headlight replaced.

 

Using a scanning tool first - check for an error codes, before u go start replacing things.

 

 

U can see the two light control modules in this pic - one black, one silver.

This under the left headlight.

 

Edited 13 April, 20233 yr by JR RS

Urgh, bumper off sounds like a task.

 

I'll hook up the carista over the weekend and see what that throws up. Weather's warming up next week should the bumper need removing.

Today I've actually realised that I still have a warranty on the car so I'll be on the phone on Monday morning to see if they want to try wiggling out of it.

Highly likely to be the suspension level sensor (front or rear) in my limited experience. Quite easy to replace and you can get relatively cheap versions from ebay etc. But if under warranty, get them to do it obviously!

 

The message is confusing because it implies it’s something to do with the cornering function. But it isn’t! The give away is it going to the fallback mode of pointing at the ground, because it doesn’t know how high to aim the lights.

Edited 17 April, 20233 yr by nicknorman

Update to this. Warranty company said I need to get VAT registered mechanic to diagnose and quote and they will only cover pattern part. The good news is my mechanic is VAT registered, the bad news being he is not so good on the leccy side of things and whatever code reader he uses tells him the same as my carista does.

 

With work being so busy at the moment, being carless is a major and expensive pain so I'm going to just buy the replacement part myself but need to be sure I'm ordering the right part. I believe it's 3Q0412521A as per @nicknorman's suggestion above but would like a reassurance.

 

For the record, a car will pass an MOT with the lights in 'safe' mode.

18 hours ago, petrolcan said:

Update to this. Warranty company said I need to get VAT registered mechanic to diagnose and quote and they will only cover pattern part. The good news is my mechanic is VAT registered, the bad news being he is not so good on the leccy side of things and whatever code reader he uses tells him the same as my carista does.

 

With work being so busy at the moment, being carless is a major and expensive pain so I'm going to just buy the replacement part myself but need to be sure I'm ordering the right part. I believe it's 3Q0412521A as per @nicknorman's suggestion above but would like a reassurance.

 

For the record, a car will pass an MOT with the lights in 'safe' mode.

Do you know if it’s the front or rear sensor? (Assuming it definitely is the sensor, which I think likely). The way to find out is to look at the reported value of each of the sensors - one of them will be stuck or showing rubbish or faulty. VCDS can do this, not sure if Carista does. The sensors are a different part number front vs rear but the actual electronic guts of it is the same, there is a different mounting for front vs rear. One can unscrew the electronic bit with green arm, and fit it to the existing mounting if you end up with the wrong one,

By the way, I bought my front one from here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/324537018631

 

I subsequently bought the rear one from TPS which was much more expensive but no better! Should have bought another ebay one and maybe transferred the clever bit to the old attachments

U really need VCDS or OBDEleven, or a mechanic/friend who has one n scan ur car for the actual error.

 

Ur assuming it's the levelling sensor that is kaput.

Maybe it is.

Maybe it isn't.

 

Have u physically gone under the car and looked at the sensors at least?

Make sure they r positioned the right way.

 

There r 3 in total.

One on each front suspension lower arm.

Then on the left rear suspension arm.

 

Front left

 

Front right

 

Rear left

11 hours ago, JR RS said:

U really need VCDS or OBDEleven, or a mechanic/friend who has one n scan ur car for the actual error.

 

Ur assuming it's the levelling sensor that is kaput.

Maybe it is.

Maybe it isn't.

 

Have u physically gone under the car and looked at the sensors at least?

Make sure they r positioned the right way.

 

There r 3 in total.

One on each front suspension lower arm.

Then on the left rear suspension arm.

 

Front left

 

Front right

 

Rear left

There are only 3 level sensors with DCC, if the car has standard suspension it only has a rear level sensor  

1 hour ago, ApertureS said:

There are only 3 level sensors with DCC, if the car has standard suspension it only has a rear level sensor  

 

Ah yes, I forgot that bit.

Thanks for clarifying.

11 hours ago, ApertureS said:

There are only 3 level sensors with DCC, if the car has standard suspension it only has a rear level sensor  

are you sure? I thought it was 2 for normal and 3 for DCC. I have DCC but when my front left sensor went kaput, I got the headlight problem so clearly the headlights were using the front sensor. It makes sense - position of the rear suspension doesn’t tell you (or the headlight system) the tilt angle of the car. It also depends on the position of the front suspension.

16 hours ago, nicknorman said:

are you sure? I thought it was 2 for normal and 3 for DCC. I have DCC but when my front left sensor went kaput, I got the headlight problem so clearly the headlights were using the front sensor. It makes sense - position of the rear suspension doesn’t tell you (or the headlight system) the tilt angle of the car. It also depends on the position of the front suspension.

If you have DCC the headlights read the levels using all 3 sensors via the DCC control module.

 

if you have non dcc it reads via 1 sensor which feeds to the body control module  

On 04/05/2023 at 19:01, nicknorman said:

Do you know if it’s the front or rear sensor? (Assuming it definitely is the sensor, which I think likely). The way to find out is to look at the reported value of each of the sensors - one of them will be stuck or showing rubbish or faulty. VCDS can do this, not sure if Carista does. The sensors are a different part number front vs rear but the actual electronic guts of it is the same, there is a different mounting for front vs rear. One can unscrew the electronic bit with green arm, and fit it to the existing mounting if you end up with the wrong one,

 

I knew it was the front sensor as carista was able to tell me that. New part arrived yesterday whilst I was at work so when I got home this afternoon I fitted it in the glorious sunshine. Took 45 mins all in, most difficult part was disconnecting the plug.

 

Now error free

Awesome - a happy ending 🙂