944J

for a while now my headlights wouldnt close after I turn off the car at night

and now they don't flip up. the light is on, but they wont budge...

any ideas?

951Porschiste

Had the same symptoms a couple of weeks ago. It turned out I had knocked the connector to the headlight motor partially off. I just pushed it back in and now they pop-up just fine.

944J

I'll go check... was your light on? you see mine werent closing before this... and the battery was always dying...

now it wont open...

951Porschiste

Yeah lights were on, but they would not flip up.

944J

nope, mine's connected, but I noticed there is a little silver square metal covered relay in there... maybe it's bad...

dualblade

do you have a meter or a test light? can you check if the harness going to the motor is getting power? it could be a loose or corroded connection so it's not working. if it is getting power, that eliminates the relay and headlight motor fuse as issues.

does the headlight motor spin freely when you pull off the rubber boot and turn the ****? i guess it's possible it might be stuck. if not mechanically, maybe the motor is bad electrically?

944J

I'll look at it in the morning...

anyone have a used motor or relay?

83na944

Typical of a bad relay. But also check for broken wires where the healight wiring harness flexes.

944J

anyone have the part# for the relay? autozone only had a relay for the fog lights...

also where can I get it in a normal store (napa, autozone, etc.) and how much?

also anyone have a used one they want to sell to me over paypal?

chilix

check your fuses, there is a fuse to raise the head lights and one to lower the head lights, you may have burned one up...

could also be a bad relay but i doubt it with the symptoms you describe, check the relay with a 12V power supply and a volt meter

also check your connections of the head light motor to the plug, disconnect the battery before doing this, then reconnect battery once connections between plug and motor are sound

944J

I checke the fuses, just wondering the part # for the relay and where to get it at a convenient local location and the approximate price...

Jfrahm

The relay is a standard relay often used for aftermarket fog lamp kits, etc. The motors often get sticky, or the contactor that tells the system that the lamps are up or down gets worn or dirty too.
If this is your problem, giving the motor manual **** a bit of a spin usually causes the lamps to raise or lower.

Whatever you do, be careful as that headlight system can bite you when it starts moving.
-Joel.

Red1

I've replaced that relay on two of these cars, and the symptoms were the same. I got the relay locally at a import car parts place (BAP-Geon), whereas I don't go into Autozone for anything other than oil. The relay was about $10.

944J

part #? or is it written on the relay?

autozone had a relay but they said it was for the fog lights?

Jfrahm

It's a standard relay, one of the ones I have has a VW part number:

141951253B (used for about 10 different things on VW's forever, including the horn.)
It has a big '53' on top.

However one of those relays they use for aftermarket fog lamp kits is the same too, it just usually has a plastic case with a mounting tab that might get in the way. You can probably cut that off and save three bucks.

-Joel.