F355 headlight motor question

There is an adjustment for the headlamp bucket alignment and height adjustment along with at top and bottom stop. Is does sound as though you have a bad headlamp motor. the motors have internal contact that get ruined by the moisture they are subjected to.

Ferrari has a fix for this. they employ a larger manual actuating knob along with a rubber boot that covers the top part of the motor to keep the water out. Your local Ferrari dealer should be able to get it for you.

You may want to recheck the motor by installing but not attaching the actuator rod to the headlamp. operate the headlamps and see if the motor works properly each time (open/Close). If works properly, the problem is with the adjustment, if not, the motor.

best regards, Jim

 

Scott,
Please report back on your results. That kind of feedback is invaluable to the list.

Thanks.

 

While you are at it have a look at the spot welds that are on the back of the headlight housing. You could have a busted weld spot. This can cause the housing to lean to one side, or even get hung up under the lips that runs across the front bumper. The other thing you may want to look at is the alignment of the headlight housing. Make sure that it is even, before you tighten down the retaining bolts.

 

i had a similar problem..
it turned out to be the fuse, like my original post : i said that it was a 7.5 and used a 10 instead.. it works fine now

if you say that the motor works, but when connected to the car it doesnt .. it may be from the connection .. so check the fuse .. much more simpler and won't take a lot of time

oh and the fuse is the 2nd row
before the last fuse (down)
check the manual on the fuse box, page L18

 

If your are blowing the fuse that is in there you have a different problem. My 348 had the same problem. A 10apm fuse worked for a while but then it started to blow that. It even would blow a 15amp fuse, so it had to be something else, and it was. The headlight housing for the 355 is the same as the 348. My problem was the spot weld I talked about earlier. They don't fully weld the arms to the back of the housing. They are just tached on, and poorly at that. Because of the busted spot weld the housing drooped a little bit, and as a result got caught up on the bottom of the lip running across the front of the car. I had a friend reweld it and It runs great now. I'm using the 7.5 apm fuse with no problems. So if you need to use a higher amp fuse you could have some sort of current problem in the wiring. I would search that out. The higher amp fuse is a band aid to what is really causing the problem.

 

You know what now that I reread my post I used the wrong numbers for the fuses. It had a 25 apm fuse in it before, and now I'm using the correct 15 apm. Thought I would clear that up.

 

Wow.....Can it be possible no one has had a headlamp motor failure since 2004? In any case, I am looking for a rebuilt or used left headlamp motor for a 1998 355 F1 Berlinetta? Any one have any suggestions where I can buy one? Thanks. Jim G

 

You may be using the wrong search words or technique. Headlight lift problems are a common problem. Perhaps one every few months.

What are the symptoms? Does the pod lift manually with the knob? Have you pulled the motor out and checked the internal electrics, plastic gearbox, the hidden diodes, etc?

 

Numerous repair options posted since then. In fact I posted a rebuild DIY several years ago.

Check the sticky thread.

 

The straight forward solution is to go to the dealer and order a new 355 head light lift motor. There is a left, and a right one and they will sell you the wrong one the first time. A few years ago I paid $600 for one.

The other solution is to replace the diode buried inside the motor gunk. If you can find it, and decipher which direction it should be installed, you can probably fix it for $20.

 

Here's a link to Dr_Bob's/Watson's headlight motor overhaul tutorial:

https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/posts/146186111/

 

Im having ghost headlight lift issues as well. Good thread revival .

 

By ghost, do you mean it rises without being activated, or simply intermittent operation?

 

Meaning sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Doesn’t rise on it’s own. And when it doesnt work, it’s only 1 side.

 

Possibly a moisture issue somewhere causing high resistance. Swap headlight motor relays (clean pins), clean the black and the white plug socket/pins on the headlight motors, then start pulling the motor/gearbox to pieces. If it's intermittent, I guess it's not likely to be the diodes. There is a major earth near the luggage compartment fusebox (at least on my RHD car). Are there any other strange things happening with your lights on that side?

 

That’s how mine was. Take a look at that link Ian posted of how I fixed mine. It’s pretty easy.

 

When I took mine apart and fixed it, I was careful to reassemble the gear inside the housing in the same orientation it was in to start. Don’t know if it mattered but mine worked properly on reassembly.

The pdf I made showing that fix and the orientation of the gear is posted in this thread above by qavion.

edit: Lol. I just saw I replied to a post from 2004. Kinda doubt that guy is still on here but the point is relevant so I’ll leave it.

 

Not that I know of. What other strange things could be happening?

 

Looking at the wiring diagrams... Possibly dim or inoperative lights (including side marker), hyperflashing turn signals, horn not working and suspension lights (related to accelerometers).