So, at some point my headlights were sandblasted so badly by a sandstorm that they no longer had the clean cut-off line and cast more of a diffused light... This made it extremely difficult to see at night, so I used a 3M headlight restoration kit and got them clear again.

The cut-off line is back, however they are essentially pointing down at a 45 degree angle, only illuminating a few feet in front of the car. Of course it's not nice to drive around with high-beams, but it's also very unsafe to drive around without any visibility.

What are my options? I've read about adjusting them, however they were at the proper height before and I haven't touched them. I understand there's an "AFS sensor" somewhere that may be screwed up and causing the shield to fully close.

Where is this sensor? What can I do in the meantime? Why does turning the AFS off not cause the shield to go to a higher "default" setting? Any other suggestions?

 

What year is your car? 2008?

 

It's a 2011.

 

Is there a warning light in the cluster that indicates a failure with AFS? Before the sand blasting job did you have any issues with the headlights? I'm wondering if sand got into the mechanism somehow.

As for options, insurance claim? Replacements from Lexus are silly expensive.

 

Nope, no indication of AFS failure. I can't remember if there were any issues before the sandblasting but I don't think so. I did run over a piece of debris that fell off the back of a pickup that screwed up the under carriage and I wonder if that may have damaged the AFS, assuming it's located down there.

 

Dude seems you really hate your LS. Anyways... Big shock could've easily un-pluged the leveling motor ball from the lens assembly. Or something like that. HLs most probably need to be off to attempt any kind of fix.
(I do have my old non-nvir '11 hl's still, but not selling)

 

Nope, have just had bad luck. Selling it next year when I leave the country, so not too concerned.

If the sensors were bad or mis-aligned, I would get a flashing AFS light, right? Since I don't get a flashing light, could I assume they are functioning properly? Since there are four sensors, I would think the car would notice a "problem" if one of them was sending some data that didn't make sense.

I remember before that it used to "move" when I first started the car with the lights on. If I'm not seeing any movement now???

 

Probably have to hook up a fancy pants scan tool to see what is going on. I took a quick look didn't find any reference to a level sensor (except for the washer bottle, whatever that does) so either the sensor(s) are in the headlights themselves or my search skills are lacking. You should see a self start sequence/movement of the lights when you first turn the car on.

 

I found the parts / locations on a parts website. There are four height sensors located on the suspension assemblies. I'm going to just assume they are fine since the AFS light isn't complaining.

I don't think the start-up sequence is working, so maybe the motors are not functioning. The left/right motors both work, but not the up/down.

 

No, you're mixing up wheel sensors (mounted on wheels) and leveling actuator. Those have mechanical plastic ball->U-claw attachment inside. I just redid mine so images are vivid in my head... If ball-claw become detached there won't be any errors. There are no leveling sensors inside headlight (except failure sensor and l/r position sensor inside swivel actuators - those WILL light up afs error).
Man, I will try making a pic or two but no promises. My old ones I can demo on are in my warehouse. I might take a drive there later.

 

No rush. The headlights have been useless for a month or two but now with darkness coming earlier it's starting to be something I can't keep procrastinating on...

Would appreciate it though.

Do the headlights need to be removed to check them?

 

A Google search for the term “lexus ls afs leveling sensor” brings up lots of information.

Maybe some helpful information here: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...el-sensor.html

 

Sure does. That's what led to my comment earlier regarding them attaching to the suspension.

Unfortunately I'm not getting the AFS error/flashing. Just headlights pointing down and not doing the "startup sequence" where they aim. Wondering if the motors are indeed the issue.

 

Sorry for eb link (not sure if that's allowed?) but it got a picture to get a decent idea of what actuator I'm taking about. This ball clicks into a somewhat of a claw inside the headlight. It's not super strongly clicked in too. Strong pull and it's out. Personal exp..
https://www.ebay.com/itm/164266641041
ps. btw on my LS430 one of those just fell off. It only twists off/held by plastic tabs. Same system as LS4.

 

Thanks, have a few things to look at:
1) the motors
2) the linkages for the sensors maybe seized

I'm leaning towards the motors simply because there aren't any AFS errors and it does not do the typical up/down start-up sequence.