04 Broken auto leveling headlights - fixed!

[joules]

For those DIY owners who are experiencing trouble with their Prius headlights not leveling properly here's my write-up on the solution

Headlight sensor repair

My problem was the headlights pointed very low. They illuminated about 25 feet of the road with a sharp light-dark horizon. I've driven the car like this for 9 months.

Jason
04 Prius

[efusco]

Thanks for posting this here. I'm going to put this into the Knowledge Base....do you have a PDF version of your write up I could post there more permanantly?

[sparkyAZ]

Very nice write up, Jason, and welcome to PriusChat!

One comment on the repair: before reassembly, I would add some dielectric grease to the springs to help delay future corrosion.

Evan, I copied Jason's write-up to a PDF for you to add to the kb:


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[pvdo]

Sorry for asking the question, but is auto leveling system only in HID headlight type or in regular as well? Somebody told me, that auto leveling is for HID. I have the problem, that I get warning (triangle and icon on MFD) that it is not working. Should you have any advices how to behave.

[Bill Merchant]

Hello pvdo. The auto-leveling mechanism is installed in North American Prius with HID headlamps, it is not installed on our Prius with halogen headlamps. Since the HID lights are so bright, they can temporarily blind on-coming drivers if they shine up into their eyes. A heavy weight in the back of the car could point the HID headlights up, so the leveling mechanism compensates. I think European Prius may have a manual control.

Make sure your headlights are adjusted properly.

[krousdb]

I have had the MIL on and off for 2 years now. I just removed mine and took it apart. All 3 springs were rusted and broken. I checked with the dealer and they want $335 for a new one. I checked my local bone yard but they don't even have a Prius. Any ideas on how to get one for less than $335?

[Ct. Ken V]

Hi, pvdo & krousdb,

pvdo : 1st, do you know when you took delivery of your '05? Actually, it's the "in-service"date (which may be different from your delivery date) that the 3yr/36,000 mile warranty (whichever comes first) will probably determine whether or not your auto-level'g sensor is still covered. Your dealer can look on Toyota's database & print out for you the information that contains your "in-service" date, but most likely (if you haven't already exceeded the 36,000 miles) you have exceeded the 3 years from your "in-service" date (unless you got your Prius later than July 5th of 2005). I would report your auto-level'g problem to your dealer's service dept today(if they're open) just in case your warranty is still in effect (it also may be covered under the extended warranty (if you bought one). That way if it takes a few days to get the car in for service or for them to print out the info with your "in-service" date, you will already have put them on notice that it failed before the warranty expired (if that may be the case). I'm cross'g my fingers for you. Make sure you get a replacement sensor with the suffix letter "G" after the part number on the label (that's the improved one) if you don't attempt to rebuild/repair yours.

krousdb : Mileage-wise I don't know if you were still covered under warranty [but time-wise you most likely were back in 2006 (2 yrs ago, you said)] when you started getting the warnings on your screen. Did the dealer not fix the condition for you when you reported it, or did they just say : "can't reproduce the problem" which a lot of them used for a non-repair excuse in the past? If you have any paperwork from past dealer visits (& if you don't, they keep their own copies for a long time) that indicates you reported to them that you were having an issue with your HID headlight aim or were getting the MIL message that something in the system was not work'g [& they either didn't/couldn't fix it or they didn't fix it properly & it continued to malfunction afterwards (& you have additional documentation that you brought it back for continued MIL messages], then even if you are out of the factory warranty period, they should still make it right for you at no cost because they didn't take care of it for you while it was covered. Like I asked pvdo, did you bother to get an extended warranty that may cover it?

Ken (in Bolton,Ct)

[krousdb]

I have 135k miles currently. When it first started happening, I had 77k so I didn't bother taking it to the dealer. In fact, it has never been to the dealer. I have done my own maintenence. I will start looking around at other junk yards. This is really just a nuisance issue. I rarely drive at night and the aim seems fine when I do. I only get the MIL when it rains.

[krousdb]

After finding out the replacement was $335, I decided to repair it. I pulled the spring out of two ball point pens and cut them in half. I soldered three of them to the copper pads after cleaning the corrosion out. I put everything back together and viola, no more MIL.

[berkley]

thanks for your suggestion regarding removing tire when fixing,,,,,I contacted "Toyota Assistance" to see if they could help with costs. I have to take my car into dealer for diagnosis before they evaluate level their help.....['05-47,000]
Question:
how often has this malfunction happened in models up to "new&improved" sensor ?? numbers??
I'm trying to post this on chat but having problems...the answer may give me some ammunition when dealing with Toyota....
thanks
berkley