My problem is the oppossite of what was posted in the other headlight thread. Last time I went to the track the headlights decided to not turn on when the pods popped up. I had the relay chart with me and tried to move the rellays but nothing happened. I had to drive home with only the fog and parking lights.

I had this happen on a couple other times but re cycling the headlights made them turn on. I have a feeling the problem is the limit switch that tells the relay that the pods are up. Where can I find this switch, in the motor or outside of it?

 

I had the same problem Imo. It was the headlight relay. I check this with the relay from my other car and had headlights, then ordered a new relay. Ouch and that one is a $100!

 

Its inside the motor - directly related to shaft position. Check the connections at the plug before you tear into it too far. See if the plug has terminal ID's on it. If you can determine the connections you can test the motor & limit switches in-situ - much easier using the knurled **** on top and a multimeter...

Looking at the earlier motor wiring I'm intrigued....

My GTS reverses the motor between lowering and raising the pods. Looking at the pre '87 version it looks like the motor is designed to only run in one direction... can anyone confirm that for a pre'87 car the motor does a half turn to raise and then another half turn in the same direction to lower again? Is this how it works? I never realised it was different between years (if this is true) Otherwise I have absolutely no idea how the pod motor can possibly ever reverse....

Alan

 

Mine did that a few weeks ago. I took the cover off the relay, scraped between all the solder leads, hosed it down with contact cleaner, reassembled and it worked.

 

Thanks for all the help, I will look at both the realy and the motor.

 

Well - I got the confirmation I needed on the other current headlight thread .. the 86 and earlier cars always cycle the motor in the same direction - half a cycle for up, next half cycle for down (and round & round). The only reason the pods stay up is that the limit switch tells them to stop half way throiugh the revolution. So your limit switches must be working... the motor drive is controled by the relay so the relay is getting the limit switch status....

Not getting the lights on must therefore be an electrical issue elsewhere - fuses, relay, wiring or bulbs.

Since its both sides I suspect the common relay contacts - working some of the time on cycling could just mean they are sticky/crud covered. I think cleaning and or replacement is probably called for....

You could validate by using jumpers to activate just the headlights (eliminates bulb/wiring/fuse)- you'd have to figure out the connection individually one for high & one for low beam.

Do your high beams work with the stalk in high beam mode (not in flash mode)
this is a different contact on the same light relay...?

I don'r have a wiring diagram handy for your year but jumping relay socket terminals 30 to 56a OR 30 to 56b should let you test both beams.

Alan

 

Thanks guys, it was the relay. Now that I think of it, it's been kind of slow to turn on the high beams for the last little while. I pulled the realy out of my 86.5 project car and the lights work like a charm!

I have to stop using the project car for parts. It's too easy and at the end I'll end up with a huge list of things that it will need, on top of the paint job!


Alan, the lights didn't work at all, even the flashing high beams were out. It all went at ounce at the end of the 1/4 mile, in pitch black. Good thing the fogs and the parking lights were enought to see.

 

ive just this week got back from nz, collected my car from the garage where it had been sitting for nearly 10 weeks and not long after driving noticed that the low beam wasnt working. so after checking the fuses and searching this thread i pulled apart the relay and gave it a clean and some wd40. put it back together but still no lights, checked one of the bulbs and its ok so i was stumped. called my mechanic and he said not to worry, just keep flicking between high and low beam, corrosion on the stalk/switch mechanism! and its great to be driving a shark again!!

 

Headlight relay new $100. Used from 928 Intl $40.

 

Flying Dog, Can you elaborate on your post, in which your problem had something to do with contacts in your relay. I didn't know relays are sometimes faulty and repairable in this way. Was excess solder the problem? What had built up on it? Thanks.

 

Whatever you use, don’t use sand paper. Relay contact need to be extremely smooth to prevent sparking. If you use sandpaper it will create small grooves and the relay will not last long. I would suggest either very fine steel wool, or cardboard.

Here’s how to do this.
Remove the relay cover and you will see I think 3 relays in there. One at a time carefully pull the contacts apart and with the steel wool/cardboard softly polish the contact surfaces. You can wrap the steel wool/cardboard around a small flat head screw driver to get better access to the contact surfaces. Do this with all 3. After this you can either blow the relays clean with compressed air or contact cleaner. Then reinstall the cover and plug the unit back into the relay panel. If this doesn’t fix the relay, then you’ll need to buy a replacement (new or used).

 

Thank you for the advice. I'll try this before purchasing new relay, as I have the exact problem described in your initial post. Then I can get back to my other problem which is a stripped (from PO) and rusted phillips head screw on headlight trim ring, preventing me from correcting bad headlight aim. '84.

 

There was a brown substance which I guess is corrosion of some sort that had grown between a lot of the solder lines. I've found this stuff inside most of my bad relays at the point where they fail. I scraped the brown stuff out, then sprayed with CRC contact cleaner (basicly aerosol propelled alcohol). My contacts were all still good and clean.

 

Plus, the contacts are usually a soft metal like brass with a harder metal plated on, like nickel. Abrading them too much will remove the hard coat. Recommended only for very short-term fixes!

 

guys, ive just replaced my headlights entirely with projectors that are fixed into the body with no more pop up and removed motor. only trouble is i cant get high beam to work. is there something i need to bridge on the four wires that normaly go to the headlight motor ie the headlight up contact switch wires?? they were working fine before the swap, the driving lights come on with the 'flash' position on the indicator stalk. - car is 86 S2