A while ago I had a problem with my headlights in which I had a wiring problem in the motor of the lift bar actuator and also a relay problem.

When I was assembling the system I switch on the motor until it switched itself off as in the lights up position and then connected the splined conrod with the lights in the upright position. Have not really used the car at night time since then but took it out this evening and as the lights lifted it seemed as though they were aiming high. I set the levelling switch to the lowest position and initially it seemed as though they were too high and it also seemed as though only the drivers side was responding.

As I then inspected the headlights & it seems as though the passenger side has a bit of slop in it when down and when up, it seems as though both of them are not latching in the fully upright position.

Anythoughts/tips as to how to ensure everything is set correctly? Seems as though I may need to adjust the position on the conrod arm so that the lights lift a bit more.

if this lot sounds familiar and anyone has any tips- much appreciated.

Regards

Fred

 

In the fender there is a position adjuster for the upstop, don't know why it would have changed though?

You can also screw the base posistion of the adjuster motors in and out before attaching to the pivot frame - pull it off and you will see the cross head adjuster.

However it seems one of the motor may be non-functional (or perhaps just run up against its end stops and can't adjust further).

Alan

 

Alan,

As everything seemed to be functional with seemingly no problems prior to my earlier issue I kind of figured that all I had to do was put everything back where it was and problem solved but perhaps not quite so easy.

I will pull the headlight covers and take a look as to what exactly is going on and whether the adjuster motors work- I get the impression there is something not quite right in there.

Regards

Fred

 

Perhaps the adjusters are not locked properly into the ball cup on the frame...? Would cause them to be high and loose...

Alan

 

This sounds familiar. On my 86.5 the headlight mechanism seems to work normally, but I can manually lift the headlights another few degrees past the place where mechanism stops raising them. It feels like there is some stop, or detent, at max raise, but the headlights won't stay there. My car is up on the lift right now, I'll check into this tomorrow (it has been a nagging, but not killer, issue- I just adjust the beams to compensate. But it don't look right, for sure!). Alan, I will in particular take a look at the ball cup- thanks.

 

Do they move when you go over bumps? Mine right one moves the left one is Rick steady.

 

Bilal,

I have no awareness of this happening whilst driving [I do not do much night driving of late as I drive the 928 mostly for enjoyment] but inspection suggests it could move a few [5 or so?] vertical degrees. When retracted the passenger side definitely can flop around a little [the drivers side does not]. When lifted it seems is can /wants to rotate a bit more.

Whether this is something that developed after the original problem or whether I have simply noticed it since remains to be seen.

Regards

Fred

 

Slightly, driving over something rough like a gravel road washboard.

 

Fred,
By your initial post, it sounded like your set point for the endpoint of 'up' excursion was altered. This endpoint of excursion can be affected by two things IF ALL ELSE IS INTACT. First the proper linkage fitting of the linkage on the splined motor shaft. Sounds like you did that. Second are the 3 bolts in the plate that secures the motor to the body. Slight adjusting can take place there too. When you did some motor work, did you mark on the frame exactly the orientation and placement of this plate when you re-installed it ?
Going over this again will get you the proper excursion.
The headlight jiggling in its bed is another thing, and can affect excursion if it inhibits it. You have something loose/broken/missing in the supporting bracket/swivel plate or driving arm.
Craig

 

Fwiw I recently adjusted the headlights on my 87 because one was slightly high. When I inspected the vertical adjustment screw, I noticed age coloration telling me most likely where the original factory adjustment was. I set the errant headlight to this. At that point both headlight beams were aligned.

As a reference setup point, and apparent factory setup, both right and left headlight vertical adj screws had 9 screw threads protruding in the back.

It appears this is about midway on the adjustment screw length.

 

The ROW cars have a quite different (better) adjuster mechanism than USA DOT spec equipped cars - so this doesn't apply.

Alan

 

+ the up-stop adjustment screw (only on s4+) + the detent latching mechanism (cable installation issues in the slots can stop it from engaging completely + the baseline adjustment of the electric adjusters + plus the ball cup engagement (mostly an issue on ROW cars not so much USA)

There are quite a few things that can be set-up wrong. Which ones were touched/replaced should give an idea of what is most likely.

Alan

 

Since the headlight frames are fixed on USA cars vs pivoting on ROW cars the ball cup is less of an issue on USA cars. It does allow a small frame movement if not engaged properly where on ROW cars it allows a very significant movement.

On ROW cars aiming the HL involves pivoting the whole frame via the hydraulic or electric adjusters - while on USA cars the frame is fixed and there is a moveable subframe controllled via the manual adjuster screw and a spring retention.

In both cases the adjustment moves the pod cover - but not the pod base... if the base moves - then its a headlight motor/motor linkage issue - if just the pod cover & lens move its an ajuster/adjuster linkage issue.

Alan

 

Thanks Alan.
Always an education with your posts.

Sorry Fred for my misdirection.

 

That was in response to Mark's comment on the manual adjusters - they just don't exist on an ROW car.

I think you made some good points - its a little unclear exactly how much Fred removed/adjusted etc on this car - sounds like it may have been quite extensive.

If new fenders were installed there will be a new upstop , if the HL pivots were removed from the drive rail and/or if the motor was removed there can be alignment issues... etc.

Alan