Seized xenon headlight level sensors

Neven · 8 Jan 2025

I'm just thinking ahead to my list of DIY Spring maintenance jobs.

The start of March will be a year since the last service, so I plan to do an oil and oil filter change myself. For those of you who do your own oil changes in between stamped services at indies or OPCs, do you reset the service indicator, or just leave it alone? I have a Foxwell NT510 so could reset the service indicator, but I'm not sure I should...?

During the last visit to my indie, they noted an advisory saying the front and rear headlight levelling rods are seized. Now I'm not sure whether this advisory is referring to the sensors themselves or just the struts that connect the sensors to the wishbone arms, but either way they look quite simple to remove and replace.

My thought is to remove these components, give them a clean up and try a lubricate them to see if I can unseize whatever is actually seized. However, if the sensors are knackered and need replacing, then I understand the new sensors need to be coded to the front control module. Does anyone know whether this can be done with my Foxwell, or will I need the Indie to do this using PIWIS?

Gizmob73 · 8 Jan 2025

I just replaced the front bracket and link on mine when I replaced the control arms.
I found the sensor was fine but the rubbers had perished on the link causing the joints to stiffen. I replaced the bottom plastic brackets that fits onto the control arm because the old one was brittle due to age and didn't survive removal from the old coffin arm.

Neven · 8 Jan 2025

Gizmob73 said:
I just replaced the front bracket and link on mine when I replaced the control arms.
I found the sensor was fine but the rubbers had perished on the link causing the joints to stiffen. I replaced the bottom plastic brackets that fits onto the control arm because the old one was brittle due to age and didn't survive removal from the old coffin arm.

Thanks @Gizmob73

Thinking about it, the Renn Works advisory says the levelling rods are seized which sounds similar to yours. So probably is just the struts/links/rods whatever they are actually called. At least that will mean no messing around coding new sensors.

Any recommendations on where to buy the new struts? I think the front one is shorter than the rear isn't it?

Gizmob73 · 8 Jan 2025

Neven said:
Thanks @Gizmob73

Thinking about it, the Renn Works advisory says the levelling rods are seized which sounds similar to yours. So probably is just the struts/links/rods whatever they are actually called. At least that will mean no messing around coding new sensors.

Any recommendations on where to buy the new struts? I think the front one is shorter than the rear isn't it?

I only did the front out of necessity so can say if they were different lengths.
I confess I did look to see if I could find a cheaper solution, but in the end I think I ordered from my local OPC. Iirc it was about £45 for the two parts with shipping. Crazy money for what they are, but had to be done. Hopefully they will last another 15+ years...

Neven · 9 Jan 2025

Haven’t tried my OPC yet but online Design 911 seems to be keenest on price for the front and rear struts. But I agree the components are expensive for what they are as I can only see Porsche parts, no third party alternatives from the likes of Meyle, etc.

Gizmob73 · 9 Jan 2025

I just checked the receipt from my OPC.
P/N 99734137501 - Articulated Rod FA £23.41 +VAT
You will need to order the two nuts separately, they are: P/N N 10737001 - Clamping Nut £1.15 each + VAT
Not sure you will need the bottom bracket but it is cheap, so might be worth while anyway: P/N 99634137103 Litronic £2.89 +VAT
All plus shipping came to £42.71 a few weeks ago.

The "Articulated Rod" has two ball joints, one at each end. The rubber boot was perished on mine allowing dirt into the ball joints so they stiffen up or lock completely. On the new one, the ball joints are actually very loose with very little resistance to movement.

Neven · 9 Jan 2025

Thanks for sharing, that’s useful. Looks marginally better pricing than D911.

Ill wait until the weather is better then whip the wheels off and assess what needs doing. Hopefully only the struts/rods, but I’ll check the state of the sensors as well.

sidned · 9 Jan 2025

I just took delivery of a 997.2 and this popped up as part of my PPI. They said the sensor was fine but the strut needed replacing along with the bracket on the coffin arm. Looks like an easy DIY - I found this on Pelican Parts that may help anyone who wants to tackle this: https://www.pelicanparts.com/techar...ont_Headlight_Leveling_Sensor_Replacement.htm

Neven · 30 Jan 2025

Picked up the parts from my local OPC to address the seized struts front and rear on my car. Will wait for the weather to get better before attempting the DIY.

Neven · 20 Feb 2025

Finally got round to replacing the headlight levelling struts yesterday. The struts have little articulated ends and it was indeed these that were seized, not the sensors themselves which move just fine.

Funny thing is, once I removed the old struts, I cleaned them up out of curiosity and they now have movement that is very much like the new ones I installed. So I might not have actually needed to replace them. Something to bear in mind if your own struts are seized.

Gizmob73 · 20 Feb 2025

Neven said:
Finally got round to replacing the headlight levelling struts yesterday. The struts have little articulated ends and it was indeed these that were seized, not the sensors themselves which move just fine.

Funny thing is, once I removed the old struts, I cleaned them up out of curiosity and they now have movement that is very much like the new ones I installed. So I might not have actually needed to replace them. Something to bear in mind if your own struts are seized.

Glad you got it done.

I found similar on mine, but the rubber boots protecting the joints had perished on mine. I figured it was worth replacing as they would just jam up again with a bit of wet and dirt.

sidned · 19 Mar 2025

Finally got round to replacing my seized levelling strut today. Pretty simple job but then inevitably ended up deep cleaning the wheel which took 2 hours to get all the tar and old wheel weight stickers off and then waxing! Oh well, both jobs were very satisfying

Neven · 19 Mar 2025

Nice work! I spent a good half a day cleaning all 4 wheel wells too when I changed my levelling rods. As you wrote, it's a strangely satisfying job. I also gave everything a coat of Bilt Hamber Dynax UC just for some extra protection.