Headlight problem

You mean it starts to go down, then goes up, then finally goes down.

Or is it stuck on something and won't come down smoothly?

 

They all do that sir - many many threads about this

First thing to try is removing & reseating the two relays and their fuses

 

Following applicable for 1983 US QV:
Use a pencil to mark the relay position numbers in case you get interrupted with a phone call in the middle of the job. In the middle row of relays, the two at the right are left and right pod lift relays.

Reverse those 2 relays to see if the symptoms reverse sides proving a bad relay. There are other components but that relay is the 95%er. The middle relay in the second row is the master lift relay. Replace all three and maybe more.

Relays are cheap in quantity. But they are different, note the numbers on them. The headlight relays are Bosch 0332204101 which also the number of the cold start relay, bottom right. There are 7 other relays with the Bosch # 0332014113. The external lights relay is the singular odd man out...top row next to far right, Bosch # 0332015006. When buying relays, get 5 pin variety without snubbers unless resistive, current is not important.

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http://www.FerrariDiagrams.com

 

Within the last two weeks I've torn mine all apart and swapped some email with Paul B. about the circuitry. Two items are at work here:
A) The driven side of the worm gear has a switch plate that has 3 wiper contacts. The inner and outer contacts have to ride on a portion of the switch plate that has "windows" or openings in it. When the appropriate contact hits its window, it triggers the stop action for that position whether it be for up or down (home).
B) When this stop action is triggered, the motor should lock up instantly. There is some sort of "dynamic breaking" which occurs when all the elements of the system are working properly.

I had been seeing the same issue you are writing about. What causes this is the dynamic breaking does not occur when the motor stops getting voltage from the circuitry and coasts to a stop. Only it coasts far enough that the window on the switch plate closes and the motor gets voltage again and runs another cycle. This can repeat. Finally it gets the elements to align and it stops correctly.

I'm sorry I haven't had time to extract the circuity into a functional diagram so I can't tell you more but I'm sure between myself and the stuff I've sent to Paul one of us should have this sussed out soon.

What I can tell you at this time comes in 3 parts.
A) a sticking relay can cause this issue. When a wiper contact hits its window it triggers a relay event that must occur quickly in order to start the dynamic breaking and stop the motor before it can "coast" or "spin down" and drive the window past the wiper.
B) There are diodes in the circuit. on the inner and outer wiper contacts. If these diodes are not working properly they too can affect the timing of the circuitry.
C) The gearboxes and the associated wipers and switch plate are bathed in a clear non-conductive grease (dielectric). In one of my motors this grease had gone to jelly. I was able to clean this up and reapply but there was some minor but correctable damage done to the wiper contacts and switch plate.

So what can you do for now?
Relays - There is one common relay that starts the circuit cascade to both headlights (105). If its bad I would suspect both headlights would exhibit the same issue. Downstream, each headlight has its own drive relay (75L & 76R). If you swap these two relays and the problem moves to the other side, you probably have a bad relay in the pair.
Diodes - if the a diode is bad, you will need to replace it. Not a hard job in itself but getting the rubber boot of these motors is a royal PITA!!! Some cars have motors protected by some sort of spray on rubberized coating. Good luck working through that.
Ground - The ground to the motor comes through all the bolts holding the motor to the lift frame and a small ground wire and the bolts holding the lift frame to the car. You might consider a separate ground wire. I am certainly going to add one as I reinstall.

Once I (or Paul) get a breakout circuit drawn up it will be easier to troubleshoot what really is the source of the breaking action on the motor and this will be a little easier to nail down.

I do have pictures of all the internals starting at picture 308 in this set if you want to look at the guts of this system.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moseley_ferrari/sets/72157625743653455/?page=5

Hope this helps,
Rick

 

Rick,

Thanks for your response, advice and images. I get so tired of the standard replies in this section that merely tell the thread poster to "try searching for a thread".

Jon

 

Its a dangerous trap... too many who have been here for a long while forget what their first days of ownership were like. True, we get some repeats but its the fresh blood that keeps things going. I'd rather help some one fix an issue and take something away from that experience than get frustrated with their car and the this community.

Rick

 

When answering newbys by referenceing a thread from a search, I favor the idea of providing the search word information, to encourage search use with how-to hints. Also many don't know about the advanced search feature of confining the search to just the 308 forum. Search is your friend, valuable albeit temperamental.

Anyway, since the car's left headlight winks, the car is a vamp. If the right headlight winks, the car is a hussy. Both vamps and hussys must be fed relays. Is May relay month?

 

Jonny / Rick : What about the people who provide the information - are they not entitled to show a level of frustration that some folk repeatedly decline to have the courtesy to try first apparently believing even the most basic question has never been asked before ?

 

Thanks for the reminder, Rick. PM coming

 

To a newby, how are they to know the issue they just encountered for the first time on their new car is "the most basic question" that hasn't "never been asked before?" (I know, bad english. Read that again and think outside the box)

Sure, you have a right to be frustrated... have at it, but frustration doesn't really do either party any good. Its equally frustrating for the user when the issue they are looking for is hidden in a thread title that has little or no reference to the issue itself. WE can all make the searching more productive and more useful in the future if WE'd use good thread titles too... how many times have you seen "arrrghh... I messsed up again" and the real context of the message is "where does the 3rd vacuum hose go?". <soap box mode off>

I think Paul hit it on the head. We shouldn't just tell them its already been discussed and to go look it up... give the inquisitor some good search criteria and steer them to the previous postings... of which this now belongs. There is a wealth of previous and valuable knowledge here, some easy to find... some takes a little more time to find. Equally, some folks know this knowledge exists, some don't. If you don't know something exists, how are you to know to go look for it?

Find a polite and informative way to connect the needy one with the needed knowledge and we all win.

Or, get frustrated... which like I said earlier, does neither you nor the question asker any good.

Rick

 

bjromanek, sorry for highjacking your thread.

A lot of times the thread has gone stale. If the person who started the thread hasn't logged in for months or years, I doubt they will pick the conversation right back up. And repeating a thread may expose current information that was not relevant when a old thread was started.

Key words are good, but most people I talk with have (myself included) tried searching already. Both basic and advanced. If you know of a thread that may answer the question, attach it in a replay. That is the most helpful. You used the key word of "winks", which was never mentioned in any of the previous replies. My point being that key words only work if everyone uses the same word. I might have used the word "bounces".

That's just it, your not providing any information if your only answer is "look harder". If the question frustrates you so much, just ignore it. Your not required to post on every thread.

Its probably safe to say most people have already tried searching before starting a thread.