auto headlight levelling system error icon

[Jim Nadenicek]

Prius 05. The red attention triangle comes on on the dash then an erorr icon appears on the MPD that the manual says is the auto headlight levelling system error. I'm not sure what this error means. Has anyone encountered this error?

[Patrick Wong]

Hi Jim,

I assume that your car is equipped with HID headlights? Have you noticed any problem with headlight aim, like the headlights are pointed down towards the ground?

The warning light is telling you that there is a problem with the system that adjusts headlight aim in response to a heavy load being carried in the hatch or passenger cabin.

[Jim Nadenicek]

Patrick,

Thanks for the reply. I does seem like the headlight are pointing low. I took my wifes massage table out of the hatch to see if it was the weight that is the problem. I don't think it is that heavy though.

[Bill Merchant]

Hi Jim, welcome to PriusChat!
Headlight aiming was sometimes a problem on earlier gen II Prius. Here's a PDF of how one member repaired his lights.

[ClaudesPrius]

Bill, Any update to this. I have the same problem and would like to try the repair...

[Bill Merchant]

To my limited knowledge, the level sensor hasn't changed. The repair is probably the same.

[Ohio Prius]

My 2005 with nav has come down with this dreaded red light triangle also. I went to the service dept and they wanted near $400 to replace the sensor. Does that sound reasonable?

[clongwor]

Hi--
I had the same thing happened to me this morning (2005 Prius). The red triangle came on & the the icon showed the "auto headlight levelling system needs attention."

I didn't know I had that on my car to begin with. It just happened that once and every other time I started up the car today, there was no warning triangle. I had carried a 40 lb bag of birdseed around yesterday and took it out of the car last night....could that have confused it?

How would I find out if I have this option on my car?

Should I just wait till my next service appointment and tell them about it? If I have it and it needs replacing, does that extended warranty I bought help out with the cost?

Thanks!

[Ct. Ken V]

Hi, clongwor & Ohio Prius,

Yes, $400 sounds about right for the dealer to do it. Mine was replaced under the factory warranty (at about 13,000 miles), but when I posted about it here, others looked up the part # & found it to vary between about $270 to a little over $300. The rest is the labor to remove & install & to recalibrate (if necessary) the headlight aim. You should make sure the replacement part has the "G" suffix after the part # (maybe just on the packaging on not on the actual part---not sure).

I don't know if the extended warranty covers it or not. If you have one, check the exclusion list. If it isn't on that list, then it should be covered. Don't neglect the fact that you saw the warn'g, even if you don't see it again. I never had a warn'g at all in my case, but the lights were tipped so low that I could only see about 20 feet ahead of me & NOTHING else was visible at all beyond that, so to continue to drive safely would limit you to less than 5 MPH. And mine was intermittent too, so at one startup you may make it to your destination, but at the next startup for your return trip, you may have the severely reduced lighting, making your return trip EXTREMELY LONG.

Anybody's car will have that sensor (attached from the rear axle to the car body) if they have HID headlights. And you have HID headlights if your car came equipped with the factory fog lights in the lower grill (pkg's 4, 5, & 6 in 2005).

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

[clongwor]

Thanks, Ken!

I have noticed that the headlights didn't seem to throw much light but I don't drive at night that much. And as you say, it doesn't bother me all the time.

I'm off on a vacation tomorrow but will definitely bring it in as soon as I get back. Looks like the Platinum Extended Warranty I got talked into might just cover it.

I'm glad I posted....I don't have to worry too much, but do have to get it looked at.