Misaligned headlights

[MerlintheMad]

Small intermediate update: My dealer still has my Stinger to find out the cause of the intermittent failure of the AFLS. No news yet. They've had it in since last Wednesday.
I'm driving a 2021 Kia Seltos EX (AWD) lent to me free of charge in the meantime. This CUV is a real piece of garbage. Reminds me of the Sportage of the early 2000's. Underpowered (awful CVT), cheap ass interior materials, driving this feels like I'm sitting atop of a post blowing in the wind! I feel like I'm driving a 3-year-old car, and this is brand new (with only 2000 KM, or about 1200 miles on it)! I hope Kia doesn't rely on this POS to raise its reputation for quality? Even my friend's Hyundai Kona feels of higher quality, although slightly more cramped. Heck, even the Kia Niro Hybrid that they lent me for a day last week felt better than this, and this is supposed to be superior? Anyway, SUVs or CUVs are definitely not for me!

You might have a "bad" one. We all know of the Stingers that seem to be cursed with poor production quality; but most are fine (like mine).

 

[TheAlien666]

You might have a "bad" one. We all know of the Stingers that seem to be cursed with poor production quality; but most are fine (like mine).

In all fairness, it's a pretty minor annoyance (the headlights do work fine, just not directional in auto mode as they should) and the very first thing to go really wrong with my beloved Stinger (yes, there was a very short time when the lumbar adjustments of the driver seat had momentarily stopped working, but that was very quickly and easily fixed during an oil change anyway). Everything else is perfect with it. And as with any brand new models (mine is one of the early ones produced in late 2017), some quirks are to be expected. Anyway, I don't care as long as the repairs are 100% free of charge and I eventually get it fixed under warranty, and I get a courtesy car during repairs. That will save some wear and tear on my car anyway!

 

[Tony G]

Had same issue with adaptive headlight not working few months ago. Driver side headlight was replaced, no problems since then. Had to adjust headlight myself, since it was little low compared to passenger side.

 

[Legendsk]

When I got my 2018 a couple of years ago, the head lights seemed fine on high beams. Height was good and they were level. On low beams the right was aimed noticeably higher than the left, which kinda made sense to give oncoming drivers a break. There was a pronounced shadow in the left lane out perhaps 100 feet and then with a step function the shadow in the right lane was out about 150 feet.

Then there was a system software update about last August. Suddenly things changed and the low beam shadow was level across both lanes, with a small widow's peak between them. But they became directional! Turn the steering wheel and they sweep in that direction, pointing to where I'm going to go, not where the car is pointing. Straighten the wheel and they sweep back to centered in front of me. Very nice feature. Actually my daughter noticed the directional function before I did.

 

[TheAlien666]

When I got my 2018 a couple of years ago, the head lights seemed fine on high beams. Height was good and they were level. On low beams the right was aimed noticeably higher than the left, which kinda made sense to give oncoming drivers a break. There was a pronounced shadow in the left lane out perhaps 100 feet and then with a step function the shadow in the right lane was out about 150 feet.

Then there was a system software update about last August. Suddenly things changed and the low beam shadow was level across both lanes, with a small widow's peak between them. But they became directional! Turn the steering wheel and they sweep in that direction, pointing to where I'm going to go, not where the car is pointing. Straighten the wheel and they sweep back to centered in front of me. Very nice feature. Actually my daughter noticed the directional function before I did.

That feature surely had always been there. But in order to have it work, you needed to have the headlights switch set to the "auto" position. Perhaps something that wasn't the case before? I don't think that a software update could add this feature since the mechanical parts that actually move the beams has to be installed from the factory in the first place in order for it to work. ;-)

 

[Legendsk]

That feature surely had always been there. But in order to have it work, you needed to have the headlights switch set to the "auto" position. Perhaps something that wasn't the case before? I don't think that a software update could add this feature since the mechanical parts that actually move the beams has to be installed from the factory in the first place in order for it to work. ;-)

I agree the hardware had to always be there. I used the 'auto' feature from the beginning, but there could be other settings / conditions (ala: ISG) that weren't being set or met. However, the low beam shadow change was a very visible change that happened when the software update was done. And then there are other posts on here about updates affecting the 'directional' feature. I didn't see any others posts that indicated updates affecting the complete enable / disable of directional functions.

 

[OneIota]

When you start the car, observe the little light dance of the self-calibration on that wall, it should go from leveled, to lowered straight down, then a slight side-to-side motion, and then back up to the centered position. If they don't then there might be something wrong with the AFLS system perhaps? With AFLS equipped Stingers, I don't believe there are any manual adjustments for positioning the headlights, since it's the system's own accelerometers that detect the car's attitude and position the headlights accordingly (for levelling them when the back of the car is lower due to heavy passengers in the back, lol!).

I've always had that self-calibration run when starting the car but they end up being off center for me so I'm thinking something is stuck with the headlight itself even when the AFLS is working. I notice the right headlight doesn't seem to move as much with turns and the left headlight was previously replaced in one of the attempts. I'm thinking it's the right side pushing everything to the left.

I agree the hardware had to always be there. I used the 'auto' feature from the beginning, but there could be other settings / conditions (ala: ISG (Idle Stop and Go)) that weren't being set or met. However, the low beam shadow change was a very visible change that happened when the software update was done. And then there are other posts on here about updates affecting the 'directional' feature. I didn't see any others posts that indicated updates affecting the complete enable / disable of directional functions.

What software update did you have? One the dealer did to the central screen software?

 

[OneIota]

Sorry I legit don't understand what you mean lmfao!

Not being sarcastic lol! Are chameleons a political thing? Like I know Donkeys and Elephants... I sound so young and dumb lol!

Maybe he's looking at Imgur? Which is not political, just sometimes ridiculous.

 

[Legendsk]

I've always had that self-calibration run when starting the car but they end up being off center for me so I'm thinking something is stuck with the headlight itself even when the AFLS is working. I notice the right headlight doesn't seem to move as much with turns and the left headlight was previously replaced in one of the attempts. I'm thinking it's the right side pushing everything to the left.


What software update did you have? One the dealer did to the central screen software?

No. It was one I downloaded from Kia that had both Nav and system updates.

 

[Legendsk]

No. I downloaded it from Kia and it had both Nav and system updates.

 

[WRXtoStingerGT]

Maybe he's looking at Imgur? Which is not political, just sometimes ridiculous.

Nowadays everything is political or trigger-warning worthy... idk... I'll leave it at that... I learned recently through a friend that holding the door open for certain people can be racist/sexist so I'm done lmfao

 

[WRXtoStingerGT]

No. I downloaded it from Kia and it had both Nav and system updates.

Downloaded from their website directly??

 

[OneIota]

Downloaded from their website directly??

There's a thread around here somewhere that has the link (it's a Kia official site) to download Nav/AV system updates. If you search for nav or map update it should come up.

 

[TheAlien666]

Another quick update: my local Kia dealer has ordered a complete passenger side headlight assembly to replace the faulty one. It should arrive next Monday. As usual, I'll keep you posted.

 

[Legendsk]

Downloaded from their website directly??

It's been a few months ago. IIRC I tried the nav update page and didn't get anywhere. Went to the Kia owner's page and found available updates. Downloaded the vehicle update that was available. The Nav update link took me to the Nav software developer page and I downloaded it from there. Put both updates on a memory stick. The system update installed first and didn't take very long. After it finished and restarted everything the Nav update installed and took quite a bit longer, perhaps 1/2 hour or so.

 

[TheAlien666]

It's been a few months ago. IIRC I tried the nav update page and didn't get anywhere. Went to the Kia owner's page and found available updates. Downloaded the vehicle update that was available. The Nav update link took me to the Nav software developer page and I downloaded it from there. Put both updates on a memory stick. The system update installed first and didn't take very long. After it finished and restarted everything the Nav update installed and took quite a bit longer, perhaps 1/2 hour or so.

Yep, did the same a little while ago. I remember that the NAV update took some time to complete, but everything went well.

 

[OneIota]

It's been a few months ago. IIRC I tried the nav update page and didn't get anywhere. Went to the Kia owner's page and found available updates. Downloaded the vehicle update that was available. The Nav update link took me to the Nav software developer page and I downloaded it from there. Put both updates on a memory stick. The system update installed first and didn't take very long. After it finished and restarted everything the Nav update installed and took quite a bit longer, perhaps 1/2 hour or so.

I didn't think it would've affected anything with the headlights (I definitely didn't notice any improvement) but it did seem to help with a stereo inconsistency I was having, along with gave me Nature Sounds (which has helped me know when my phone hasn't fully connected yet).

 

[WRXtoStingerGT]

It's been a few months ago. IIRC I tried the nav update page and didn't get anywhere. Went to the Kia owner's page and found available updates. Downloaded the vehicle update that was available. The Nav update link took me to the Nav software developer page and I downloaded it from there. Put both updates on a memory stick. The system update installed first and didn't take very long. After it finished and restarted everything the Nav update installed and took quite a bit longer, perhaps 1/2 hour or so.

You're from the USA

Yep, did the same a little while ago. I remember that the NAV update took some time to complete, but everything went well.

You're from Canada

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Is it possible the software is different for the countries? It's very strange that software would completely rewire and change how the headlights would work... so weird...

 

[RedCal]

99.9% sure software is different (we have different features) but it's all infotainment related. .. I'm doubtful that it would interact with headlights, or other running gear

 

[WRXtoStingerGT]

99.9% sure software is different (we have different features) but it's all infotainment related. .. I'm doubtful that it would interact with headlights, or other running gear

Understood!