Funky headlight behavior | FerrariChat

Funky headlight behavior

Discussion in '365 GT4 2+2/400/412' started by luigibosco, Oct 16, 2020.

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  1. luigibosco

    luigibosco Karting

    Jan 28, 2005
    202
    Westchester County NY
    My headlights are acting funny. One won’t go up at all and the other won’t stop going up and down until I turn them off.

    Any ideas if this can be a simple fix or do I need new motors?

    Thank you


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  2. SouthJersey400i

    SouthJersey400i Formula 3

    Mar 14, 2007
    1,591
    Romulus, NY (Finger Lakes)
    Full Name:
    Ken Battle
    I can not explain one not going up at all. The one going up and down sounds like issue I had 14 years ago which got me on this forum. Do a test first. Rotate the outer knob slowly and see if thee is a middle position where the up and down light stays up. If this is the case you likely have a cracked solder joint inside the rotating knob. There is a small inside the knob that will want to fly to parts unknown so be prepared to catch it. See if the solder joint inside is cracked. Redo the solder joint. Mine still working 14 years later. (I have other issues now with lights.)
    Ken
     
  3. raemin

    raemin Formula 3

    Jan 16, 2007
    1,825
    Lyon (FR)
    Full Name:
    R. Emin
    "dead" lifting motor : blown fuse, blown relay or faulty diode within the motor itself (documented in this forum a while back).

    "blinking" headlights : the stalk is often quoted as the culprit. I did not test the lifting motors but had my share of gremlins with the wind-shield washer and headlight flashing (also operated through the stalk). Judging by the diagram, the green cable should be grounded when the headlights are up (as said I did not test this one). You could try to short the cable manually and see if the funky behaviour is still present.

    If your problem is related to the stalk, please note that it is delicate and expensive... "Unobtainium Supplies" can fix whatever is broken in these.
     
  4. Ferraridoc

    Ferraridoc F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Jun 20, 2012
    16,057
    Gold Coast, Aust.
    Full Name:
    Patrick
    I had a winking headlight pod in my GT4 (33 years ago, wow!). It turned out to be a loose mounting bolt, allowing the motor to rotate a bit and touch the active contact track again to repeat the cycle - easy to check and fix, if it's the culprit.
     
  5. luigibosco

    luigibosco Karting

    Jan 28, 2005
    202
    Westchester County NY
    So all these ideas and suggestions are well beyond my mechanical expertise which is null. However I will forward all of them to my mechanic and ask him to look into them.

    If it comes to it, does anyone recondition these motors or where can I buy used ones?

    Truly appreciate all the help.

    Thank you


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  6. Part Time

    Part Time Formula Junior
    Silver Subscribed

    Dec 16, 2013
    494
    Port St. Lucie, Fl
    Full Name:
    Gary Shore
    Rumor has it that the headlamp motors are actually the same units as on the Fiat X1/9......and much cheaper.
    If you can locate a local shop that repairs alt/starter/wiper units, drop it off to them, but tell them they come off the Fiat.

    Gary
     
  7. raemin

    raemin Formula 3

    Jan 16, 2007
    1,825
    Lyon (FR)
    Full Name:
    R. Emin
    You should also buy a good wiring diagram in order to make the life if your mechanic slightly easier. The motors do send a signal back to the relay box so has to let it know the headlight position ("I am up", "I am down"). Quite a few relays and cables are involved in the process. Without a good read at the diagram your mechanic will be in the dark.
     
  8. raemin

    raemin Formula 3

    Jan 16, 2007
    1,825
    Lyon (FR)
    Full Name:
    R. Emin
    Well the same happened to me yesterday! For me it was the electrical tracks within the motors that were full of old grease.

    The way these motors work is as follows. The motor runs always is the same direction (clockwise). Half turn it is opened, half more turn it closes. There are 4 wires on this motor (4 pin fastin faston connector). 2 wires for the order to open or close (green/grey), one black cable that sends a signal to the relays, the green cable that feeds the motor.

    If you want to open the motor: apply 12v to grey cable, the black cable will return 12v (through the tracks and diodes) untill the headlight is open. This (low power) current from the black cable is used to trigger a relay that will send back high power current to the green cable. This will rotate the motor. Once the motor has performed half a turn, the black cable stops emitting 12v which closes the relay, which stops the motor.

    Now you can apply current to the green cable, which will let the black cable return 12v, which will activate the relay, which will make the motor perform an additional half tun and closes the headlight.

    Unfortunately if either the diodes are faulty or the track has some gooey mess, the black cable will not emit a proper signal that won't be in a position to properly trigger the relay.

    See https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/posts/137421197/ for more detailed info on this issue.
    [​IMG]

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