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Headlamp beam adjuster wiring?

sr.944man

sr.944man

PCGB Member
Member
Hi All,

Has anyone experience of the wiring for the motors that adjust the headlamp beam aim (for when you're loaded with a boot full of whatever...)?

Mine don't work, so I've done the checks in the manual. Each motor plug has wires 1,2 & 3 and should show battery voltage across 1 & 3, and a control voltage across 1 & 2. On the Right cable I get 12v on 1&3, but with the switch set at "1", no control voltage on 1&2. On the left plug I get nowt, nada, nuffink.

I can see that the cable to the left side plug heads back across behind the front bumper panel towards the right, so I'm hoping that both cables join at a connector somewhere on the right hand side, but with the headlamp pop-up motor and the washer bottle on that side it's hard to see much. I'm guessing that this is another of those faults caused by years of cable flexing as the lights go up and down, so If I can figure out where the cables run I'd like to rewire them end-to-end.

All clues as to cable routing and connecting points gratefully received.

 
I cannot help you I'm afraid but as you dive further into this problem I would be grateful if you update this thread with your progress, mine do not either and I've never got around to looking at them, it would be nice to get them working though.
 
Can not recall exactly been sometime since I had the harness out but I'm sure they wire directly into the harness no connectors.

memory fading but I believe there is a common fault with these something pops of the circuit board inside but it's obvious when you open the unit up it just clicks back on.
Sorry can't be more help
 
Scott, Ken - thanks for the replies - I guess I'll have to dig deeper, I'll report back when/if I get somewhere!
 
Kongsodoken said:
Can not recall exactly been sometime since I had the harness out but I'm sure they wire directly into the harness no connectors.

memory fading but I believe there is a common fault with these something pops of the circuit board inside but it's obvious when you open the unit up it just clicks back on.
Sorry can't be more help
Click to expand...
Which circuit board are you referring to? Inside what? The adjusting motors on each headlight? Mine used to work and are not iffy also...
 
Ok, update time....
With the battery disconnected I used a meter to test continuity between the two plugs that go onto the adjuster motors. Looking at the wiring diagram shows that each pin shares a current path - i.e. pin 1 on the n/s cable connects to pin 1 on the o/s cable etc. so testing 1-1, 2-2 and 3-3 should give continuity in each case - and it didn't, only one pin was linked. So I started by stripping back the loom on the n/s, as it's easier to access. I found that the two wires that didn't test were indeed broken within the loom. I now think that the cable had been hooked over the metal bracket behind the headlight that carries the stop to limit how far the lights go up, and had been regularly wrenched.
It was an awkward job as one of the wires was broken right back to about an inch into the main loom that crosses behind the bumper, but I got them repaired and re-terminated. Now all three wires are continuous between the two plugs, so I know the o/s end is ok too.
Going back to the tests in the manual, I now have battery voltage on 1-3 on both plugs - but still no control voltage on pin 2 with the potentiometer in the centre console set on 1 or 2.
So - out with the centre console panel, pop out the potentiometer and unplug it from the loom. It is also on the same common current paths as the motor connectors. I bodged up an extra long probe wire for my meter and tested the continuity between the plug at the pot. and one of the motor plugs, and sure enough, wire 2 is not connected. Grrr.
So that's as far as I've got. Interestingly when I first connected everything back up, hooked up the battery and switched on the lights there was quite a long whirr from one or both of the adjuster motors, so I guess they have now adjusted themselves to the default position. Of course moving the control potentiometer does nothing still.
Next step will be to investigate the dreaded central electrics panel where all 3 bits of loom connect, but as I need the car quite a lot over the next while it might have to wait for the Club events season to end, as I don't trust myself not to cause more trouble in there than I fix.
I found some nifty connectors on Ebay - a length of shrink tubing with a ring of low melt solder inside, and two rings of hot melt adhesive inside the ends. You just pop a stripped wire in each end so the strands interleave inside the solder ring, then heat the whole lot up with a heat gun til the solder and glue melts and the tube shrinks. Wires are soldered and sealed inside the shrink tube, all in one go. The shrink tube is clear so you can see the solder run.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm...d=p2057872.m2749.l2649
I hope this account has something useful, even though I'm still not quite there. PM me if there's anything above you need clarifying.
 
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