bobmugge

I had a change in my auto leveling headlights. I took it to Lexus and they said it would be 800 dollars to fix them. I said I'll take a pass for now. It seems like they work some of the time but not all of the time. They kind of flop around some times. It seems to me from what I have seen there is no way the price for fixing them should be anywhere near that high. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated. I know there is a motor that you can get for 50 bucks on ebay, and a few other parts that go with it that would total about 200 if you needed them all. I can't see that I need many of them as them work correctly most of the time. I don't trust the dealership much.

bobmugge

There is no light on indicating a problem on the dash FYI

texsexlex

iTrader: (3)

...hey bob hopefully ShawnOk will chime in on this, I know that he had an issue with his auto leveling & my mechanic talked him through the issue over the phone. You might send him a PM or hopefully someone else whose encountered this will chime in

Retroplay

It is most likely dirty height sensors. There is one behind the wheel on the driver's side front and rear wheels.

Here is a video showing how to remove them and clean them.


Lexus probably wanted to replace them, which is why they wanted $800

mrblister

I have a 2005 sc430 and I think the levelers are located in the rear left and right and are attached to the frame and a lever sits attached to anti sway bar. I wont swear to it but once when my car was in for service I asked the tech what was the motor or switch rheostat on the sway bar He told me that was top adjust the headlight levels

Retroplay

This is from the 2003 Model manual. It is possible that the 2005 is different.

Retroplay

I bought mine just in August of last year, and I thought it was a normal feature for the headlights to adjust to the grade of incline and in turns.

I was told that the normal operation is that they level only on engine start. Mine will move while driving, but only at low speed or when I am stopped.

After I discovered that, the weather hasn't cooperated enough for me to try the sensor cleaning route, but I stored the video for when it gets warmer out.

The odd thing is that the manuals makes references to the lights moving during driving, like I originally thought. But others here have said that is not their experience.

In 2005 or 2006, an AFS feature was added to turn on/off the auto headlight leveling system.

I am not 100% sure which behavior is correct operation, but figured the sensors could benefit from cleaning anyway.

Bob, does yours flop around even while driving at any speed?

iolmaster

iTrader: (1)

They should only be moving side to side, not up and down. It was explained to me by Lexus, that the leveling was to compensate for weight in the trunk. Not hills.

iolmaster

iTrader: (1)

You are absolutely wrong. My head lights move side to side. This is described on page 98 of the 2006 Owner's manual. The term Lexus uses is "Adaptive front lighting system" I can't say for sure if all the SCs have this but from 2006 on they certainly do.

iolmaster

iTrader: (1)

Once again you are wrong! That is exactly what my front headlights do as described in the owners manual. You seem determined to stick to a position that is not correct. The 2006 SC430 has adaptive headlights just as you describe. At least mine does and suspect all others of this vintage do also. There is even a switch under the dash to disable the side to side movement. Before you post again I suggest you do a bit more research.

Coleroad

Yes your right I'm wrong. The 06-10 sc430 has adaptive headlights. The op has an 05. It doesn't have adaptive headlights. The 01-05 till the headlight change

ShawnOk

iTrader: (1)

Ok, so having experimented and replaced my front ride height sensor, as well as taking off a pair of ride height sensors (front and rear) from 2 different SC's (2002 and 2007), I will chime in. First and foremost, they are located in the same place on all SC430's. Front Left Wheel Well and Rear LEFT Wheel Well attached to the antisway bars. From my experience. the 2002-2005 DO NOT have adaptive lighting, therefore the headlights do not adjust from left to right. The 2006 and newer DO have this system and can swing the lights from left to right depending on angle of taking a turn.

All years have the auto LEVELING function, which moves the lights up and down. Now to the OP's opriginal request and from my repeated problems with the system. I repeatedly found my headlights jumping up and down while driving. So much so, that other drivers would flash me thinking I had high beams on. I told different Lexus techs this situation and they informed that the lights should only adjust on start up for weight in the trunk, in order to avoid blinding oncoming traffic. It should not adjust while in motion. If it is adjusting while in motion there is a problem. Occasionally, I would notice the headlight leveling system dash error light and could almost never replicate it when I'd take it into Lexus. I went in about 15 times and every time they told me the system was working properly and they couldn't identify a problem; even gave me a printout that says ride height sensors working properly. Finally, I found a thread here and specifically told Lexus that I want them to check the ride height sensors in detail. They said they would charge me $130 (IIRC) to check it. Boom. Finally admitted that it was a bad front ride height sensor. They also wanted $800 for the part and intall. I asked if they were on drugs. I walked out.

Then did some more research. ONE HUGE WARNING! DO NOT ALTER THE ADJUSTABLE LENGTH ARM whether cleaning the old or replacing with a used part! You can clean the sensor and it's contacts. If that doesn't help,of course, you can buy one online or direct from Toyota/Lexus, but then you will need to program it, which is why it ends up being so expensive. In actuality, you could do what I did. Buy one from a part out/used and it should already be programmed and the length of the arm is already set. I replaced mine from another 2002, and have had no problems since. Easy to swap. Remove front wheel, remove two 10mm bolts that hold it to the chassis, remove a 10mm bolt that connects to the antisway bar, and unclip the wire harness. Replace in reverse order. For the rear, remove rear wheel, remove two 10mm bolts that attach it to the chassic, the 10mm bolt that attaches it to the sway bar, and unclip the harness. Anyway, hope this clears up the issue at hand and helps solve the OP's problem.

UPDATE: Corrected my mistake on location. The sensors are left front and left rear wheel wells.

416tt

iTrader: (1)

Mine eventually started moving up and down nonstop.. it was annoying. Then i would get error on dash and they would be aiming high up.. eventually i took out the fuse and there stuck at perfect level and no issues.. no error light.

leopor

ShawnOk,
If I were to take your advice and purchase used ones, what would I be looking for? What's the name/model number?

I have a 2005 sc430 and the light is always on. It's not intermittent, although it did start that way, but now it's just always on and I can't see at night. I think they're pointing down.
I did the garage test and they do not go up/down when I turn the car on.

Bgw70

Read this thread, it should help you understand your problem and tell you what you can try at no cost to you, only your time.
Be sure to read everything about the sensors. They begin discussing light types then they discuss light pointing and leveling. See post no.15
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc4...rightness.html

Also, you asked about the part...here is a link to these sensors, there are two of them and they are located on the drivers side front and rear wheel wells, very easy to access, remove and reinstall.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from...24060&_sacat=0

Part number 89408 24060 Height Control Sensor
Post no. 6 above shows the location.