Hello! I’ve had this ‘81 GTSi for a few years and this has been a quirk that I haven’t been able to sort out. The retractable headlights always pop up when the stalk knob is twisted and all the lights (parking, low beams, high beams) turn on and off properly when activated. When trying to retract the headlamps, though, the process is almost always delayed. Sometimes it’s only few seconds, but usually it’s several minutes. Most of the time I just give up after parking it in the garage and the next time I look both headlamps are retracted. I’m hoping this is one of those 308-isms that’s been common enough to have a known fix. I’ve seen the posts covering the broken solder joint inside the rotating stalk knob, but that seems to be a black and white type of failure that would cause things not to work until that circuit was repaired. My headlamps do eventually retract, just not instantly as I would expect when twisting the knob. The owner’s manual doesn’t go into a whole lot of detail. Can I assume that there isn’t any type of timer module for the retraction feature? If there were, that’d be the first thing I’d suspect. I’ve searched this forum and the internet in general for “delayed retraction” but haven’t found anything. Suggestions?
My '75 308 GT4 used to do that—I'd turn the knob and they'd just stay up, eventually going down when they wanted too (usually a couple of minutes). Eventually, they just started working correctly again. Not sure why. But they still do another fun, weird thing… if I operate the windows (putting them up or down) then one of the lights (usually the left one) will "wink". In fact, here's a fun video of it doing just that: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3ALvzw5sbFY
Hi Tony The passenger side headlight on my '76 308 GTB used to do the same thing. One of the things I've gleaned from posts on the forum is that the first thing to do when addressing electrical problems like this is to make sure all wiring harness connections are clean and corrosion free. Also make sure all grounds are similarly clean, corrosion free, and on bare metal. Once I cleaned all connectors and grounds the headlights worked correctly. These are old cars, and often these electrical connections and grounds have been untouched for 40+ years. Hopefully a simple fix. Start with the basics.
That’s not a bug, it’s a feature! It lets the lights stay on after you get out of the car so you can see to lock it up and find your house key …
Mine (82 GTSi) does exactly the same. I was always taught that when odd things happen with car electrics, check the relevant earths first.
Hi Cennzo aka Vince? Apologies for contacting you here, but it was the easiest way to reach out. I don't have a Ferrari (yet?) though I have a questions for you. Can you reach out to me through cordination @ gmail ? Thanks.
A new relay fixed it (Bosch 0332209151). The original metal case version is harder to come by and more expensive so I settled for the commonly-available plastic case. It’s one of the “6” relays, 3rd one from the right on the 2nd row (see photo). Image Unavailable, Please Login
