Dear Ferraristas: When I turn my 1979 308 GTS headlights on, they open one at a time, close, behave randomly, but do not stay open. If I turn the high beams on, the lights again behave randomly, opening and closing but not together, ultimately closing. I have been able to keep both units up and on by holding the stalk in the turned position, slightly overturning it, and down in the high-beam position, driving all the while with one hand controlling the stalk in this way. (Needless to say, with a manual transmission, both hands have pre-assigned roles and sidelining one hand for holding the headlight stalk is inconvenient.) Has anyone fixed this problem? And if so, what did it turn out to be? Thank you!
These issues have been discussed here many times. It usually boils down to relays, diodes or the stalk switch. Sounds like a switch issue but diodes in the lift motors also suspect.
On my car it had nothing to do with the relays or diodes, it was more that the linkages where worn, assembled incorrectly and not adjusted properly. Think of the headlamp actuator that switches on or off at say 6 oclock and 12 o clock. If the adjustment linkage moves past these positions [say 6.05] then it doesn't know where it is and so continues on its cycle. (headlamp winking) The actuator has to turn off at the 6 or 12 position so the relay can change over. You can find this position by moving the headlamp manually until the actuator / linkage is at its furthest point. The adjustment rod is a left and right hand thread to make it easy All I did was strip the linkages down, reassembly correctly and adjust accordingly. Word of warning, make sure the power is off while working on these and when adjusting the stops make sure your hands are well clear when they move up and down....they bite. When you have them set correctly then adjust the bumps stops to stop then bouncing around while driving. Then get them checked to make sure they are within driving limits. Tony
+1 Also, if the motor mounts are loose, the whole assembly can move a bit, creating the same problem.
