I have a 2005 Prius, purchased new, with HID headlights, recently the lights seem to be pointing about ten (10') feet in front of the car. My question, does it have the auto leveling feature, according to my dealer it does not. I took it in last week for 100K service. Why would the lights suddenly be pointing only ten feet in front of the car. I know they can be manually adjusted, but wonder what could cause this problem. The dealer suggested I need new HID bulbs, which seems far fetched to me. Thanks for any feedback. Ken In Raleigh, NC.
If it has factory HIDs, AFAIK, it should have a leveling sensor and it may have failed or be dangling. Google for Code: site:priuschat.com headlight sensor .
The leveling sensor may be faulty; however you should have seen the master warning light (red triangle of death) by now and the symbol for the leveling sensor on the MFD. Replacement of the sensor is easy but the price for a new one is quite expensive. Try to find a used one from a junk yard.
If you get under the rear of the car, you can find the sensor mounted to the body and attached via a thin rod to the rear axle.
The owners manual should point out your objective, there's a small spring that rust's out on occasion, it's an easy job getting to checking, replacing and resealing, pity Toyota did such a poor job designing and implementing.
Words of warning to the OP. If one of the sensor springs is rusted, there's a chance that the connector is too. Be careful when you disconnect the harness from the sensor. If it won't release easily, it's likely that the harness connector is partially rusted to the sensor. I needed to swap out the old connector when I replaced my leveling sensor because the connector was beyond repair due to severe rust. But since the OP lives in NC and since the car has been there the entire time, the rust is not likely to be as severe as it is for those of us in the snow belt. We were a mere 3 inches short of the all time snowfall season record this year in SE Michigan. Most but not all of the snow has melted.
