944 Headlight Problem

[montoya]

Hi everyone new member first post,

My 1989 944 2.7 Lux brings a big smile to my face every time I drive it, however just recently it has started having problems when retracting the headlights, switch the lights on everything works fine lights open to the correct position, but when switching the lights off they will sometimes stay slightly raised from the fully closed position by about ¾", if I switch the lights on and off several times they will eventually close properly.
I have greased all the linkages and checked for any obstructions it appears electrical any ideas?
Thanks Jon

 

[peanut]

Have you checked that nothing is fouling anywhere in the headlamp wells when the lamps return,

. Mine had the same problem recently and turned out to be one headlamp snagging on something in the lamp well which is difficult to see once the lamps are partially returned.
If not then it sounds like the switch that turns the motor power off needs adjustment.
I'm not really sure how it works precisely but assume that there must be a switch that turns the motor off at full return position . I asume that that switch is either faulty or it needs adjustment . Sorry can't help further.

 

[Fred Hindle]

Does the motor have a knob on the top to raise /lower the headlights manually? If a headlight is snagging on something (as Peanut suggests) using this may allow you to see what the cause is.

Cheers,

 

[xenon]

See here - this explains how to fix:

http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/body-05.htm

 

[Fen]

Careful with that knob! It snatches the light from you if you turn it - better to pull the fuse or disconnect the battery before you play with it.

 

[Fred Hindle]

I suppose the knob is only meant to be touched if the motor has failed. Didn't know about the possible problem. Would this also be the case if the ignition and lights were turned off Fen?

Cheers,

 

[xenon]

remove fuse 2 (25A) and you can twiddle your knob to your heart's content.

 

[Fen]

Yep works any time - I scared myself with it the first time I touched it. I really believe if you had your finger in the gap where the 2 rods pass each other there's a chance it could be cut off - the motor felt pretty powerful.

 

[montoya]

Thanks for the quick replies,
I have checked and greased all the linkages, after removing the fuse (thanks for the warning Fen & Xenon), I have twiddled my knob and all seems to function correctly.
The fault is intermittent so I guess it has something to do with a worn brush on the rotary switch RE Xenon's link.

 

[arumdevil]

lol, yea fiddling with your nob with the power connected to it can be scary! I learnt this the hard way when I had the same problem.

interestingly, touching the nob made the motor jump back to life and they worked after that. Until the wall incident that is []

 

[John Sims]

ORIGINAL: xenon

remove fuse 2 (25A) and you can twiddle your knob to your heart's content.

Further caution the headlamp bizarrely uses two circuits - one to raise them and one to drop them. So there are two fuses as I found out when mine wouldn't go down.

The raising circuit seems to be switched and the lowering circuit live unless switched when raising or when the motor micro switches say the head lap is a rest.

 

[xenon]

That's interesting, John. What model year do you have? My '92 S2 definately only has the one fuse for lowering and raising.

Edit - by which I mean removing 25A fuse 2 effectively kills all motor power. I understand the 'signal' wires are fused too, on later models. (7.5 A??)

 

[berg944]

I always disconnect the battery as it nearly had me the first time.

Mike[:'(]

 

[John Sims]

Ah ha:-

Fuse 2 (25 Amp) Headlamp-motor
Fuse 38 (7.5 Amp) ......Headlamp motor open (only RL DD)

Mine had "Dim Dip" so that might account for it.

 

[montoya]

Hi
Problem solved, A lose wire in the multi-pin connecting block on the motor.
Once again thanks for the help.