Headlight Electrical Issue

And none of us have a clue either (Definitely haven't had this ever reported before since FChat opened, or even before FList opened.)

Please give little more detail -- are you saying that with the engine running, when you turn the headlights "on", the pods come up together, but after a few seconds they both start quasi-continuously "winking" asynchronously?

 

same problem I once had with a triumph TR7. it was as if the car is laughing at you

have a look at the "stop switches", may be bad contact and during engine running or driving the vibration give bad/no conatct?

are both sides open and close separately or equal at the same time?

 

Jim,
The easiest to check is just to the right of the windshield wash reservoir under the hood. I believe this is the main ground for all the front end components (lights and lifting motors). There may be others by the lifting motors but I don't recall seeing them when I had the front bumper off. If a ground issue this is most likely it.
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My 91 'winks' at me with its passenger side eye. I rotate the stalk on the column, both headlights come up together. Then the passenger side one goes down and then comes back up again (and stays up after that single wink). I changed the passenger side headlight motor and wonder if I mixed up the wiring. Another tech friend of mine thinks it could be the contacts in the switch on the steering column (logical).

Have you done any recent work to the headlight assemblies or switches?

 

For the instruments the ground is under the passenger footwell in the left lower corner. You'll see a "channel" with eight grounds (several disconnected in the last of my photos). Check here.
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Here are the lift motor connections (I think only accessible with the bumper removed). Also, the second photo shows a single ground wire that is a spade connector in one of those plastic connectors--another possible loose connection in the grounding circuit but unlikely IMO since both motors are acting up. This wire should go to the ground I showed above (I think).
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I bet on THIS one Tim !
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Not sure that I'd be so sure about that, and since you report other electrical problems = that does seem a little more like a "global" problem rather than a singular "local" problem, but they are very easy to rule in-or-out by just trying some different ones of the same flavor -- try a different "Headlight Lifting Motor Control Relay (D)" first IMO (since both of the pods seem to be possessed - trouble at relay E or F would just affect that pod only).

The ground signal(s) to these relays also pass thru the "b" white connector (middle of the three on the RH side) -- so wouldn't hurt to give that an unplug/inspect/replug too if cleaning the various ground connections to the chassis doesn't solve it.

Did you also refresh where the multiple male spade strip connects to the large stud in your picture?

 

Yeah ... often forgotten

 

Jim, all the H/L lift motor connectors are right by the motors and extremely hard to see or get to with the bumper installed (even with the headlight pods removed--you can access the mounting bolts but the connections are still hard to see/reach). My photos are from the bottom looking up with the bumper removed. If you need to remove the bumper let me know and I'll walk you through that--there are some intricacies.

Concur with Steve on swapping relays and or fuse panel--I would go there next. The two 2-wire H/L motor connectors are pretty robust--not likely to shake loose. The single ground spade connection between the motor and the chassis could be corroded but is not likely loose as the plastic housing will not fasten correctly if the spade connection is not tight and the housing has tabs inside that keep the wires connected. Worth checking just the same but IMO unlikely both sides would be bad.

Ferrari realized the vulnerability of the electrical connections...on the 512TR many connections were converted to weatherpak-type.

 

Just remembered there is another "gang" ground just forward of the battery for the RH lights and lifting motor--check that one too. It is on the vertical frame just forward of the battery hold-down bolt.
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It's the middle one of the three vertical white connectors under the two large wires below fuse #1.

 

As you can tell all eight grounds on mine are used but I have an aftermarket amp. and some other electrical "junk" behind my dash that are using one or more of the ground tabs. The floor console uses one or two, and I think the center instrument cluster as well as the main cluster.

You'll be shocked but the WD doesn't clearly show what grounds at that one location.

 

Noisy power can cause it as well. Car running may be putting a lot of noise from the alternator into the power circuits. The lights do appear to see dropouts as the car is started and running so power and/or grounds are noisy.

Jumpering in clean battery power may tell you if the circuit beyond the relays is ok. Need a second car battery to do that.

SV

 

Just to be clear these are not grounds for the headlights, only your instruments and cabin electronics. Are you still having issues with your defrost light?

To my knowledge there are no external micro-switches. There are rubber tipped bolts to adjust headlight pod opening/closing limits but no external micro-switches. I suspect those are internal to the lift motors.

 

I remember reading about this issue in the 308 section about 10 or 12 years ago.
To correct the problem a small electrical component had to be replaced on each motor.

- For the life of me I can't remember what it was called, possibly a DIODE, but it controlled the direction of the current during operation, stopping the lift cycle from proceeding into the lowering cycle..

* Maybe this description will ring a bell with somebody well versed in electronics.