Weird problem today; I noticed my dash illumination wasn't working, and no sidelights on the right. Nr 5 fuse was blown, when I replaced it I noticed random, irregular whirring noises, from the headlights. After a minute or so, the fuse blew again, presumably due to the stop start headlight adjustment motors. (individual stop start whirring in each light by the way - it really is like they're off on some trip). I can still use the adjustment from the dash, the motors work as expected and then after a while start on their own again. Same when the headlights are raised. I've replaced the fuse with a higher rated one but this is obviously not ideal.. trouble is, I had to replace my batteries and there were some jump starting shenenigans along the way- hope I didn't fry something...
headlight adjuster motors with life of their own
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Maybe your wiring in the headlight is broken.
The PVC around the wires gets brittle over time and then the wires have no isolation causing all sort strange behavior.
This could happen inside the lamp (due to the heat generated by the H1 bulbs) or outside where the wiring enters the lamp housing.
Disconnect the connectors beside the fender and also in the lamp as well.
Check the wires in the connector with an ohm-meter. When both sides are disconnected, there should be no conduction between two wires.
If there is, the isolation is broken.Cheers
Steve -
In my opinion it's unlikely (but not impossible) both adjustment motors broke at the same moment. If the electrical troubleshooting manual (ETM) is correct only a single wire leaves the headlight adjustment knob. So if both headlights do not behave exactly the same the fault cannot be higher up than the wiring towards the adjustment motors. But a short in the wiring, no matter how likely with the crappy wiring around the headlights, does not really sound plausible to me. At least not on the wiring that leaves the headlight pod: The headlight adjustment signal that enters the driver's pod is on the same wire as that of the passenger's pod. If there's a short to that wire in even only one of both headlight pods, both adjustment motors should act the same. Maybe bad contact? Confusing
...Does the problem also occur when you set & leave the headlight alignment at maximum drop?
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Thank you gents - I have spent some more time with my ear to the pods, hope no one was watching
Zitat von revtor;127650Does the problem also occur when you set & leave the headlight alignment at maximum drop?
Yes it does, it seems to happen regardless of the dial's position.
But, I think I may have misdiagnosed when I said the pods were acting independently; as the motors are getting only very short, erratic -lower voltage?- power they may move the pod mechanism at different times because they are pushing something mechanical. They don't reach full speed. There's no sense of 'stereo' noise between the two motors, the very soft erratic whirring noise is not in sync, but they do, I think, receive power at the same time. A 20A fuse tolerates the situation fine but the 7.5A blew (twice)... Many thanks for any tips
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Be careful with a larger Fuse. Something draws more current then it should but the wires are planned for less, so the solution might not last long.
Cheers
Steve -
Wildatheart: In that case it might be a short circuit after all. Disconnect one of the headlights (just behind the headlight pod and towards the edge of the engine compartment are two round connectors close to each other - disconnect both). Wait for the problem to return. If it does not, the problem is most likely in the disconnected pod. If it returns, reconnect the headlights, disconnect the other side and wait again. Is the issue gone, the problem is most likely in the disconnected pod. If it still returns, the problem must be higher up. Reconnect the headlights and now disconnect the headlight alignment switch in the dashboard. If the problem is still there; the issue must be on the wiring between the switch and the headlights. If the problem is gone it's most likely the switch itself (it's rather unlikely the problem is even further up).
I agree with Steve: Using a larger fuse is a risk with the wiring. The continuous activation may also cause overheating and damage to the headlight adjustment motors. Try to find the cause as soon as possible.
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Zitat von Wildatheart;128038
The car fixed itself..
...Would be the very first time in history...
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My car had been in storage for 6 months so it must have been some grogginess from not being used. - the problem has not returned for many weeks now
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