DS5 2013 headlight woes

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Re: DS5 2013 headlight woes

Post by Shingleberry »

Hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday... I decided to make the most of the weather and lie down, starring at the bottom of my car for a while to see what I could see and... Lo and behold, I found the vehicle height corrector on the rear axel, along with something unusual, a molex connector, or rather a disconnected molex connector.
I've included some pics.
I reconnected this plug and had a visual check of the height sensor, its linkage is rusty but it appears in damaged.
I then carried out the BSI reset procedure as previously posted but to no avail, the fault still appears present so I'll still have to take it in.
Still, I'm glad I did this today, I'm not sure what that connector is for but it was very clean inside so I don't think it could of been undone for long, what do you think it could be?
Thanks again.
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Re: DS5 2013 headlight woes

Post by GiveMeABreak »

That's the height corrector sensor. Without that, there's no way the sensor can provide the data to the headlamp ECU.....

Clean it with some electrical contact cleaner and reattach it. See if the fault still appears after a while driving at night or with the headlamps on. If the fault remains you still may have a faulty sensor (especially if the plug was disconnected which will have allowed all sorts of muck to get in), as well as water and salt from the road.
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Re: DS5 2013 headlight woes

Post by Shingleberry »

Cheers Mark, I've cleaned it and reconnected it and I still get a fault after doing your BSI reset procedure, maybe it'll clear up given some time.

Thanks pal.
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Re: DS5 2013 headlight woes

Post by GiveMeABreak »

No worries - but if it's still playing up then it will need a diagnostic. The BSI reset will only help shut down and restart the BSI and any other ECUs, but the height sensor is a dumb device in that it just sends movement data to the headlamp ECU and nothing more than that, so there is no separate ECU that does any calculation inside the height corrector.
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Re: DS5 2013 headlight woes

Post by NotAnInterestingName »

Would it be worth a "kill or cure" squirt into the height sensor(s) with some aerosol contact cleaner? In my utterly unqualified opinion it might be worth a go, just find any openings you can and squirt away then bounce the suspension straight after, it may just be enough to rinse/rub away some muck or corrosion. Does anyone think there's a risk to this?

All after disconnecting the connector or battery, then leaving it a couple of hours before reconnecting. Use proper contact cleaner, definitely not WD40 or other random solvents. E.g use something like this...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/295034665974

Still not tried out my diagnostic kit yet, I had a thread about it here...

viewtopic.php?t=71598

I know many here recommend a UK supplier. I don't mind a bit of a gamble so bought direct from China for less. I won't tread on any toes by giving a link, I think the UK supplier may be a forum friend!
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Re: DS5 2013 headlight woes

Post by GiveMeABreak »

NotAnInterestingName wrote: 27 Jun 2022, 12:09I know many here recommend a UK supplier. I don't mind a bit of a gamble so bought direct from China for less. I won't tread on any toes by giving a link, I think the UK supplier may be a forum friend!
Just for clarification: This Forum is not affiliated to Easydiagnostics in any way. Many members have bought their kits from them as they provide UK-based support and provide high quality kits. Member recommendations are solely those of the members themselves. Easydiagnostics do however offer a discount of 15% to FCF members. Whether you wish to take advantage of this offer or not is entirely up to you. The FCF does not receive any benefits whatsoever.

Details are here:

viewtopic.php?f=51&t=60112

As I mentioned a few posts ago, there is no harm in spraying some electrical contact cleaner into the electrical connector in order to decontaminate it, seeing as the plug has been left disconnected for some time, and correct, you should not use WD40.
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Re: DS5 2013 headlight woes

Post by Shingleberry »

Just to give you an update, it's been a few days now and I've driven the car with lights on at every opportunity... So far, so good. I can't believe the connector is in such a daft place and, also, managed to be totally unplugged but still, it all seems good so far... Touch wood. 😂
Cheers all
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Re: DS5 2013 headlight woes

Post by GiveMeABreak »

Fingers crossed that will have saved you a few £ if it holds. :)
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Re: DS5 2013 headlight woes

Post by Shingleberry »

Hey all, hope you're good and enjoying this heat. 🥵
Thought I'd give you an update on my particular bit of fun with the Directional Headlights (DS5)... So... The dreaded Fault/Service warning message came back... Kind of... I decided to take a look under the front end of the car to see what I could see and I did find the Ride Height Sensor there two, makes sense to be front and rear but, this where it gets weird, it appears to be attached to the Sway Bar with a B&Q jubilee clip, I'm not sure if this is meant to be like this so I've attached pics for your amusement/opinion. Now... I told you it got weird... I discovered that when the fault message comes on I am able to clear it by driving over one of two bits of road near where I live, yes, that's right... Now the special thing about these sections of road is that they involve quite extreme inclines, one is a 30% steep, sharp incline up a slope to the street I live on. The other is a deep dip in the road with a steep slope out... As soon as I drive on either of these, around 25/30mph the headlights align and start to work again and the message goes away... Regardless if the message has been on for a day or 20 minutes...

Welcome... To the twilight zone... 😂

I've include the pics of the front sensor and the original ones of the rear.

Thanks
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Re: DS5 2013 headlight woes

Post by GiveMeABreak »

There's nothing mysterious about that to be honest. If the fixing / mount of the height corrector to the axle is incorrect, then the height sensor will not be providing accurate readings. These things are precisely aligned and fixed to the mounting point. If the position is even slightly out then the readings will be out of kilter as the base readings at rest will be wrong.

You will then get anomalous readings that will change as you are driving, until it goes out of range again most likely, which is when you will get the error. The C5 setup has further calibration of the suspension computer to fine tune the height references, but that won't be relevant on a DS5.

However, if the sensor of the mounting has been removed at any time (whether in your ownership or not), then the headlamps have to be calibrated using the diagnostic equipment and adjusted using a beam setter afterwards.

Calibration of the headlamps is done in the following conditions.
  • The vehicle in running order (vehicle empty with all systems filled).
  • Vehicle on a level surface.
  • Check tyre pressures.
  • Front wheels straight ahead.
  • The vehicle should not be loaded, with no-one on board.
  • Slacken the parking brake .
  • Set the gearbox in neutral.
Carry out
  • A headlamp calibration procedure using a diagnostic tool.
  • Reading and erasing fault codes using a diagnostic tool.
  • Check - adjust the headlamps.
This of course assumes that one or more height sensors is not faulty internally, thus providing faulty sensor data.
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Re: DS5 2013 headlight woes

Post by Shingleberry »

Ah thanks, I had a feeling this would be the situation, in your opinion, would you sy the mount is correctly installed, I know it hasn't been removed in under my ownership but, when looking closely at the position of the mount, it looks to me like it should be mounted on the deliberate "flat spot" on the sway bar, not next to it. Would you think it was worth moving the mount to that position by slackening off the jubilee clip and relocating it.
It would make sense that this may be one of the possible causes of this error, along with the disconnected molex connector, as the day it occoured I had driven on some very rough lanes... Thanks to staying in a pretty little Airbnb in the middle of Bumf*ck nowhere.

Cheers.
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Re: DS5 2013 headlight woes

Post by GiveMeABreak »

Hi, I'm afraid I can't advise on the exact location as there are several designs based on whether you have the Hybrid traction system version of the vehicle or not. The For the rear, the Hybrid version seems to have a smaller bracket attached to the sensor directly with holes on the sides of the bracket that I would expect would indicate the fixing location. On the non Hybrid version, the mounting bracket is a lot larger and has multiple fixing points that the sensor sits into and is fixed onto.

There's no harm in trying, but as I've mentioned, if the mounting point is moved a calibration needs doing. Whether it has been moved already of course is hard to say....
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Re: DS5 2013 headlight woes

Post by Shingleberry »

Update... Again... I've discovered the front sensor is actually not properly attached to the car... It's been put on with a bit of cloth tape that is not sufficient in stopping it from moving around, in fact, it practically fell off when I went to check it today. I'd be very grateful if yourself, or anyone, has a picture or diagram of where it should be located and what the backet might look like.

The saga continues. 😂

Thanks again, Thomas.
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Re: DS5 2013 headlight woes

Post by GiveMeABreak »

Pop your VIN up (automasked on post submission) as there are different setup according to model type and lighting option.
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Re: DS5 2013 headlight woes

Post by Clan71k »

Hi DS friends,

I had the same issue with my ds5 and it was also a misfitted bulb, when fitting the bulbs on the ds5 or most cars us a mirror to aid insulation so to view into the rear of the mirror.
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