problem with auto headlight leveling sensor

neilman01 · 08-24-2009, 08:58 PM

Hello, I just recently tried to install the rx8strakes footwell lights and I could not find the right harness, the only harness's that I tried to use made it so the lights would stay on constantly. I eventually gave up but when I started my car, that yellow symbol that means there is something wrong with the auto leveling sensor came on and would not go off. For about a month I let it be until I tried to fix it by taking off the sensors on the left side of the car thinking it would be corrision but those little sensors themselves are fine.
I now know that the problem is some where underneathe the dash where you install the footwell lights, if anybody has any ideas which wire it would be, I may have cut it by mistake or something because I did probably tap into about 10 wires trying to find the right one and never did.
thanks

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neilman01 · 08-24-2009, 09:00 PM

oh also now I have found the right wires for the footwell lights and those work but that still has not solved my problem for the auto leveling sensor. I have searched for a solution with no results.
thanks

Jon316G · 08-24-2009, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by neilman01

I now know that the problem is some where underneathe the dash where you install the footwell lights, if anybody has any ideas which wire it would be, I may have cut it by mistake or something because I did probably tap into about 10 wires trying to find the right one and never did.

Wow... so you just started tapping into any wire you saw?

Please don't do any more electrical work on your car!

There are so many possibilities I don't even know where to start.
What I would recommend you do is go back under the dash and ensure all the wires are good and as close to how they were before you started guessing.
If you used "crimp-on" wire taps (which I assume you did) remove it and wrap the wires with electrical tape.
And the other wires you tapped into, make sure those are also wrapped with electrical tape so no copper is exposed.
Once you have it back the way it was, see if the light auto level light comes on.
Hopefully it won't.

Then do a search and find out exactly what wire you should really tap into or if you should run the wire into the fuse panel.
Tapping into random wires can damage components.

neilman01 · 08-24-2009, 09:56 PM

I was trying to find the right harness for the footwell lights, when I first started, I just took the first harness and tapped into the green/black and red/blue wire and then I found out that there were many harnesses that it could have been. I have been doing a lot of electrical work on my car and this is the first problem I have ever ran into that I caused.

neilman01 · 08-24-2009, 09:57 PM

I will try that though, does anybody know which specific wire has anything to do with the headlight sensor. I found the wiring diagram of the car but couldn't make head's or tails of it.
thanks

Jon316G · 08-24-2009, 10:01 PM

Attached is the wiring layout for the auto level control module.
You'll see the wire color code. See if you tapped into one of these.
The module is behind the glove box, so it could be any of these.

EDIT: Attached a larger file for easier reading.

problem with auto headlight leveling sensor-auto-level-jpg

neilman01 · 08-24-2009, 11:32 PM

ok, does that mean I have to look behind the glove box? because i know what I did is in one of the wires around the footrest pedal and that fuse box area. I don't understand exactly what you mean if you could please give me some more details.
thanks

Jon316G · 08-24-2009, 11:50 PM

What I mean is that because of the location of the module, all wires running to and from are probably near where you were working so its difficult to say which wire to focus on.
The attachment above shows you the wires and what their color is.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of wires of different colors so it can be very difficult to know for sure.
Thats why I recommended starting over by repairing all the wires you tapped into, verify that the auto level light doesn't come on, then make sure you tap into the correct wire or fuse.

neilman01 · 08-25-2009, 12:17 AM

ok, thanks for the help!!!

t-rex04 · 09-06-2009, 09:02 PM

it sounds like you tapped into the positive lead wire for your auto leveling circuit which would increase the resistance in the circuit causing it to trip the sensor by reducing the current going to the sensor on the circuit. I had a similar problem when I installed the LED 3rd brake light on my mine it made my traction control light stay on constantly so I used a resistor to match up the original resistance the cause was lack of restistance in my situation. I would try to directly connect the lights to the battery with instead of using your harness and run the wires through the firewall I've always found that more successful and if you'd like you could use a junction block for ''future toys'' drop me a message if you need any help. Good luck

neilman01 · 09-07-2009, 01:24 PM

ok, well am still have no figured out how to fix it, i took all the footwell wires out and the light still comes on when I start the car...any ideas on which wire bundle has to do with the footwell lights and if so which color because i looked at the wiring diagram and couldn't make heads or tails of it.
thanks

t-rex04 · 09-16-2009, 04:17 PM

is it possible that the sensor coincidentally just started to malfunction at the same time. The auto leveling sensor can be replaced at the dealership for free due to defects in the design of the sensor I was one of the unlucky ones that was no longer under warrantee when mine went so i had to take it apart and repair it myself. The new one they're putting in now is a redisigned one that supposedly won't allow any moisture in it so the terminals don't corrode.