erics944

I just bought my first Porsche, a 1986 944n/a with 56,000 miles. The headlights pop up and work fine, but when I turn them off they don't go down. Any suggestions on what this could be and how to fix it. Also, any suggestions on tune ups i can do this winter?

Chris_924s

Welcome..

Headlights wont go down at all? You may want to look for some obstruction in the headlight bucket. pull the power plug to the headlight motor and hand turn the **** to see if the complete headlight range is OK during up/ down rotation.

Tune up... a complete one including plugs, wires, airfilter, oil change etc if you dont know when it was done last.

If I dont say Belts someone's gonna hit me..

Timing and Balance belts if you dont have dated receipts of when they were last done.

icat

I'd start with cleaning the relay. Usually when the relay is dirty the lights just cycle up and down, up and down, up and down, up and... you get the idea. Most of us call that the Herbie effect. Anyway, the relay is a small square device (like a fat lighter) that's near the headlight motor (can't recall if it's on the motor or not, but I think it is). Unplug and then toss and replace (not a very expensive part) or you can pry the unit apart and clean the contacts.

HY M8NC

I agree with the relay. If you are looking down at the headlight motor, the left side is a rubber boot/cover. Pull that boot off, and the relay is right on top-usually it is white. I think they are around $10.

There was a post in here (search) that described opening up the relay. I've never done it, but it seemed easy enough.

Congratulations on the purchase-and welcome to the list.

UDPride

I believe theres a manual crank for the headlights just inside the hood. Like a big fat dial. Just in case you want to lower them before you get em fixed.

I kind of like the single headlight pop-up look myself. A lot of guys driving 88 Pontiac Trans Ams seem to enjoy that look.

JCNNJC

to lower lights remove the rubber boot on top of the headlight motor and turn it, you also can lube the linkage, I think there is a couple of places near each light.
Good Luck

SoCal Driver

Be careful when using the manual ****. Somtimes the head lights will take off and close on their own. Keep track of where you put your fingers!!!

56k miles? Bet that is one sweat car. Did you get the service history with it?

How are the belts?

erics944

Thanks everyone! I just pulled the relay off the headlight motor. I am going to get a new one and try that.

The car needs some TLC. Some small chips on the front and a small spot of surface rust i need to sand and touch up. The leather is perfect, no cracks in the dash. I have the history back to around 2000. A lot of the hoses have been changed. I would have to go back and check to see if the timing belt was changed.

I just got my insurance cards in the mail today! Going to get the plates tomorrow!!!

SoCal Driver

If you have no reliable history of the timing and balance belts being replaced do it now!

If you loose the timing belt it will bend the valves. A $1,200 hit if a shop repairs it. A $500 hit if you do most of the labor.

Worry about the paint chips later.

erics944

Just looked back through the history I have and the timing belt was changed back in July 2000. They had a lot of work done in the last few years. So thats good....

SeaCay

July 2000? I would change the belt if I were you...

SoCal Driver

Yeap. Three years or 30,000 miles to be safe. No kidding!

RMills944

something simple - if they try to go down, but can't it may be the plastic around the headlight is on wrong. I had this happen in mine when I replaced the headlights. For this,, just take the plastic piece off (1 screw) and the headlight cover (3 screws) and make sure the plastic piece on the front is on okay (it must lign up just right). If they just won't move at all, and they aren't part way down, then ignore this.

adie

3 years or 30,000 miles (I guess that equals 10,000 miles a year) so a 1986 car has 17 years or 170,000 miles of wear on it, if thats teh case no bother looking for a low milage one are you sure there's not 156,000 miles on it.
Out of interest what is the going rate for the belts to be changed, not exact price but a close approx for belts and labour. Seems like the share prices are dropping and some needs to keep on boosing there stock options.
P.S. happy Holidays to all, if you couldn't tell, the only christmas spirit I have at the moment is in a big glass and it's called Glenfiddich.

SoCal Driver

I see Ryan is getting this thread back on topic. OK.

Under the plate that the relay mounts to are several contacts that tell the relay where to park the headlights. Kind of the same way the windshield wipers park. The head lights have two positions. Could be that these contacts and the circular tracks they ride on are dirty/corroded.

A worse case would be the large spur gear is worn in the up position and is locking up on the worm gear.