One headlight only going up when I nudge the dial.

One headlight only going up when I nudge the dial.

Postby Trinten » Fri Dec 07, 2012 3:07 pm

This began three nights ago. Got in the car, started it, turned on the headlights. Left came up with no issues, right did not. Popped the hood, put my fingertips on the dial and just began to twist it, and it spun to life, lifting the headlight, and surprised the hell out of me.

By "just began", I mean I might have managed to turn it 1/16" before it kicked itself up. It goes down without any issues. This holds true for every night since.

At first I thought maybe the dial is gummed or something, and just needs to be cleaned, but I did some reading on the headlight setup over on Ogre's Cave, and see it's actually setup in a rather dumb way. Based on my new, limited, understanding I'd guess that there is something wrong with the bottom limit switch... Or am I not grasping the setup?

In short - is there an easy fix, or should I look into replacing the motors/relay system with the Gen 2 headlight motor setup?
1986 Pontiac Fiero GT, 355 cubic inch small block Chevy putting down 371 HP and 381 ft/lbs torque at the wheels, with more to come!
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Re: One headlight only going up when I nudge the dial.

Postby Chug » Fri Dec 07, 2012 7:38 pm

What year is your car?? Do you have a relay on each assembly?
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Re: One headlight only going up when I nudge the dial.

Postby Trinten » Fri Dec 07, 2012 8:41 pm

1986, so the Generation 1 setup - so yes, I should have a relay for each assembly. I thought if the relay was bad, the headlight would not go up OR down under it's own power. Was I mistaken on that?
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Re: One headlight only going up when I nudge the dial.

Postby Drew-py » Fri Dec 07, 2012 11:50 pm

on my 2nd Fiero (87 GT) I had the same issue I was led to believe the contact brushes for the motor were going out, some how the headlight motor actuator module "knows" and activates when the circuit is completed and runs its cycle. I replaced the motor and Ba-Da Bing problem solved, I don't know for certain what the cause was but replacing motor corrected the issue. Hope this helps out
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Re: One headlight only going up when I nudge the dial.

Postby Chug » Sat Dec 08, 2012 8:39 am

That is kind of what I was thinking. You might have some dirty contacts in the motor itself. When it reaches its closed position the motor stops running but it doesn't complete the switch to bring them back up when turned on.
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Re: One headlight only going up when I nudge the dial.

Postby spirit » Sun Mar 31, 2013 10:11 am

The relay for the left H/L controls the relay for the right H/L motor.
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Re: One headlight only going up when I nudge the dial.

Postby Trinten » Sun Mar 31, 2013 10:19 am

Thanks for the reply guys.

I was told about an 88 in Charlotte that had the wiring harness and headlight motors intact, so had gone out and snagged them a few months back. A few weeks ago CowsPatoot came out and installed the system (also finding out that Jeff, formerly of Vixen Cycles/Zero Resistance electronics did not put a weatherpack connector for the new radiator fan to link to the harness, just soldered/electrical taped it up).

Discovered that the motors were shot - they could barely lift the weight of the headlights, much less push up the headlight "doors" on the hood. So a trip to O'Reilly's warehouse to pick up two new motors, and that was fixed.

Also discovered that if your front blinker bulb goes bad/doesn't make a good connection, it completely hoses up your blinkers. The symptom was so bizarre (both turn signal indicators in the car would light up and stay lit when lights/parking lights were on, among other things), we didn't suspect it could be something so simple.

Anyhow, here's hoping that Pandora doesn't throw me anymore issues with the lighting/signaling system.
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Re: One headlight only going up when I nudge the dial.

Postby bigals » Sun Mar 31, 2013 9:14 pm

my 86 se does the same thing after replacing the gears....being cheap i found that if i turn the light on before starting the car and turn it off before cutting off the lights it will still work.......might work
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Re: One headlight only going up when I nudge the dial.

Postby Fierofool » Sun Jun 02, 2013 12:34 pm

I know this thread is a little old, but regarding bigals symptoms, this is something that frequently happens after replacing gears in the Generation 1 motors.

The problem isn't that you did something wrong in your rebuilt, but because you damaged the limiter switch set when reinstalling or removing it. More likely it would be when it's reinstalled since you would have probably noticed it if it was done upon removal.

When reinstalling the limiter switch/brush set, the ends of the brushes tend to hang up on the notches in the armature and one or both brushes break off the spring arms. Since it's sitting back in the recess, we usually don't notice it. The result is that you have one brush and one spring arm against the armature. Usually the motor will run in one direction, but must have a little twist or bump on the knob to get it to run in the other direction. Even then, the motor usually doesn't have enough power to raise the assembly. Continuing to use the motor with the spring arm against the armature can permanently damage it.

I use a pair of cir-clip pliers with a 90 degree tip to insert into the curve of the spring arms and hold them open while I slide the assembly back into the motor housing. Once it's in position, you can gently release the spring arms to let the brushes rest on the armature. Replace the rubber weather plug and the cover.
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