944 S2 cab

90 944S2 cab headlights open and close continuously after engine shut down. This may go on for 5 minutes before stopping. Also, not sure if it's related but the headlights also don't always stay up fully upright and pop down about an inch but this is inconsistent. Has anyone experienced this or know the cure?

icat

The headlight relay is dirty. They are relatively inexpensive - about $20, but you can take it apart and clean it. You'll need to pry the cover off and then look for a contact point (like points in an old ignition). Clean the points and snap it back together and away you go. You might need to adjust the "touch" between the points, but usually a cleaning works fine. I used a thick business card soaked with WD40 to run between the contacts. Look for "paper stock" that has lots of fiber for the best cleaning "pad".

We always called the head light up and down "the Herbie effect". Don't know why, it just seemed to fit.

adrial

The car is waving goodbye.

944 S2 cab

thanks Keith, I'll try it...don't want to be reading lips of people pointing to my car that look like they are saying "herbie"!

TomH

Try jiggling the wiring connection to the headlight motor when it happens. I have a lose connection that causes similar behavior.

944 S2 cab

Keith - that did the trick. I appreciate the tip, it helped a lot.

icat

Thanks for the follow-up. I'll have to give the better part of the credit to my dad who showed me the trick. We switched our relays between his 924S and my 951 to verify the problem was the relay, then he took mine apart and cleaned it. Works perfect now. Dad used to be a guru at NCR back in the mechanical cash register days. He's a wealth of knowledge on older style points, contacts, and electrical stuff.