308 pop-up lights... dancing

HAD THE SAME PROBLEM ON MY 328, TURNED OUT TO BE ONE OF THE RELAYS. SIMPLE FIX, REPLACE RELAY, NO MORE DANCING!

 

Kind of fun to watch, but embarassing as hell if someone else sees it. You can replace the relay or just open it up and clean the contacts.

 

It's happened to me few times; usually after the lights haven't been activated for a long time (over 6 months). It cracks my wife up each time.

 

Don't sweat it Pat. It sure beats having your car stall at an intersection, facing a bus, and having to get out and push...while people stare.

 

check out:
http://www.ferrarichat.com/discus/messages/112/306948.html

 

could be worse...I had to push start mine the other day when starter solenoid went out...it was even worse having to ask some rednecks for help.

 

check to make sure the lever that attaches the motor to the headlight assembly is not loose.

 

realys often

 

Mine were doing the same thing. I removed the steering wheel and hub and cleaned 27 years of goop off of the contacts where the rotating stalk actuates the circuit not only for the headlight motors, but also the headlights themselves. Problem solved, without touching the relays. It could be either or both causing your entertainment problem!

 

Replacing my fuse blocks (and doing nothing else) completely cured this longstanding issue with my '78...

Bill

 

I also had winking headlights. I read the threads and checked the relays and fuses to no avail. A clue was that the left one was sort of lurching which led me to think it was mechanical. Sure enough, it was the 10mm nut holding the short lever right on the motor/gearbox shaft. This turned out to be loose on BOTH sides. So, the nuts were tightened, the small linkage re-greased, and everything worked fine.

Rjay

 

#10, patpong. Happened to my car once too.
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For me, that problem was caused by a solder connection going bad in the headlight stalk switch. Fixed that, and the problem has never recurred.

 

Great Thread here.... Need to read in more detail...
I have read alot about "dancing" lights..
The problem that occured last night... My lights would come on but did not pop up. As I was driving down the road.. they finally poped up... Then at a stop light... they went back down (not Cool with Dallas' finest accross from me... I guess that's called "dancing". Once I got the car home and parked... they worked great (Parked, car turned off).
Sounds like it could be a few things... definate short. No delay between the left and right, both of them came up at the same time or shut down at the same time.
Was hoping I could narrow my "search".
Relay? Wiring?
Thanks again for those who have had this problem and have shared.
Tom

 

/\

 

Anyone have any pics of this? Not sure if my problem is with the stalk or the light motor...
When it does work.... or not... they both come up and go down at the same time...
Not sure where the connection is that activates the motor to raise and lower the lights.
(Lights are still on... when they fold down, unless I put the stalk back to the off position... then they go out.

 

Taking the steering wheel off? Were your lights (when you were having your problem) still on... even though they were in the down position? Thanks.

 

The "relay for headlamps lifting motor (with low beams on)" - otherwise known as the "headlight motor relay" in earlier 308's - is picking which of two cam operated switch blades in each lamp bucket assembly is getting 12V on it.

These cam-operated switches in turn are powering independent relays for the left and right bucket motor. The net effect is that when the "relay for headlamps lifting motor" changes state, a relay will power the bucket motor until the cam switch opens...180 degrees of rotation of the motor shaft.

how the "relay for headlamps lifting motor" gets powered seems to differ for various models. I think on the earlier 308's/mondials, just rotating the stalk knob does it, which is why the relay is named differently. On the 328, you have to both rotate the knob, and have the stalk in one of the two lower positions. Not sure about the 308/mondial qv's. It'll be one or the other.

if both headlamps buckets are failing to go up reliably, or they both go down whenever they feel like it, then either the "relay for headlamps lifting motor" is cruddy, or the stalk switch(es) that powers it is dirty. If the relay is chattering, the stalk switches are a good bet. Try wiggling the stalk and/or banging/swapping the relay.

If either the right or left bucket is misbehaving by itself, then the RH or LH headlamp motor relay or the cam switches inside the headlamp assemblies are likely the problem. I don't recall anyone ever saying they had to do anything to the headlamp assembly to fix these kinds of problems, so I guess the cam switches are less likely. Also check for mechanical issues with the tie rod and arm that connect the bucket to the motor shaft.

'course, wiring/connector/fuse issues could show up as any of the above too.

 

HEADLIGHT STALK OPERATION:

The headlight stalk operates the same on ALL the 308s,Mondials, & 328s:

The headlight motor relay is actuated when the stalk is in the middle(low beam) & lower(high beam) position. The twist knob on the stalk actuates the releay for power to the bulb filaments selected by the stalk position.

There's a very commonly retrofitted diode modification that will leave the headlights down until the twist knob is turned. I think it was standard for the 328/Mondial3.2 but haven't verified against the wiring diagram.

DANCING/POPPING HEADLIGHT:
While it can be caused by a bad relay, one headlight motor repeatedly popping up & down is usually caused by a failed diode mounted on a motor. It's well documented in the old fchat archives.

On the top left of the page you'll find the word SEARCH,
click on it and a box will drop down........

Click on SEARCH OLD FERRARICHAT.COM

Select AND (Match all Keywords) in the KEYWORD OPTIONS BOX.

Select TEXT OF MESSAGES in the LOOK IN box (if it isn't automagicly displayed).

Enter the following in the SEARCH FOR box:

headlight diode

followed by pressing the return key.

Unfortunately about half the pix in the old Fchat database
were irrecoverably lost in a hard drive crash a few years ago.

 

I had a left headlight that would run up and down when opened or closed. If I grabbed the housing and held it in the desired position as it went by it would stop. Based on a suggestion above I removed the LH headlight relay, removed the cover and cleaned the contacts. It works perfectly now. The only thing better that a cheep solution is a free one.

 

Thanks for the detail wolftalk. I bet it is in the stalk.... I had a problem with the running lights wanting to stay on 2-3 months ago. Got that one fixed... Just not sure where on the stalk to begin. Hard to discover error... when it works fine in the garage sitting. I'ts probably been 5-6 months since I ran using the lights... that could be it as well...(read in a different thread). Thanks again.

 

Per your notes... I will do an additional search under the "old Ferrarichat". Thanks Verell