Hello everyone.

So a few days ago I got the fault in the dashboard in the title or something similar. I have been doing some reading  up and the potential failure points seem to be either the position motors in one or both of the headlights may have gone faulty or it is a red herring and the fault is actually with the light levelling sensor attached to the rear suspension. I'm not sure which is at fault, if either or if it is something else entirely. I don't have VCDS to give a full scan, but I do have OBDEleven and the fault codes and live data readouts from there.

Any suggestions and advice is appreciated, as well as a potential cost. Am I looking at a simple sensor replacement? Or a more expensive fix? Can the local mechanic deal with this or am I going to have to drive out to a main stealer or VW group specialist?
Many thanks in advance.

Does not have to be motor or sensor failure. Check for moisture in the headlight, move the cables inside headlight about, also the plugs inside (bottom one under light unit is where water can settle), use hair dryer if there is moisture. Most importantly, check position of the thick cable to the ballast, Sometimes it prevents movement of the light unit.  I have had on my car the cable problem after replacing the HID bulbs and putting one cable back with an extra twist, and the moisture in headlight problem after accidentaly leaving rear cap part open. Codes need to be cleared for retest. HTH

 

Jiggled the larger connector at the back of the headlight units. So far nothing has appeared. Could a low battery also cause this error? 

Usually if it is cable/plug it is one inside the headlight unit, below the bowl. The control unit is at the bottom of the headlamp (underneath), with connector fed to the inside of the headlamp. That's where moisture can settle and cause poor connection or even a short. I did not observe low battery voltage affecting AFS.

 

OK the error is popping up again. How do I get access to the connection inside the headlight? I only see one external connector on the back of the headlight unit. 

After a few months of the error not showing up, it's popped up again. Any other ideas before I just put it on the to do list for the mechanic to deal with at the next annual service and MOT?

+1 bump for this thread. 

My Octavia just threw the same error...

Any suggestions of things to check would be appreciated before I take it to the garage in November for the service

 

I signed up for the free trial of Carista to read the fault codes. 

Mine suggests an error from the front levelling sensor: 

5256213- Left front level control system sensor: Open circuit/short circuit to B+

 

I assume this is the sensor fitted to the steering/ front drive system in the left wheel arch as shown in the image? 

 

Does anyone know the part number and how simple it is to change?