Headlight issue '85 308 QV | FerrariChat

Headlight issue '85 308 QV

Discussion in '308/328' started by JimMA, Sep 28, 2022.

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  1. JimMA

    JimMA Rookie

    Sep 6, 2018
    21
    MA, USA
    Full Name:
    JimMA
    I have an issue where the headlights pop up fine when twisting the stalk, but the high beam and low beam do not turn on, The flash does work so power must be getting the the bulb.

    I have searched but haven't found a thread on this specific issue. TIA for all who offer suggestions.
     
  2. Brian Harper

    Brian Harper F1 Rookie
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Feb 17, 2006
    4,078
    San Jose area
    Full Name:
    Brian Harper
    The stalk has three positions. All the way up is off, middle is low beam and bottom position is high beam. So after you twist move the stalk up and down for the different functions.

    Have you been doing that?
     
  3. Steve Magnusson

    Steve Magnusson Two Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa

    Jan 11, 2001
    25,040
    30°30'40" N 97°35'41" W (Texas)
    Full Name:
    Steve Magnusson
    Most likely either the oddball ...006 relay (the one with the "K" on it) has failed, or +12V power isn't getting from the 4-way connector to the ...006 relay (but still could be a headlight switch problem).

    Do the exterior parking lights go "on" when the headlight pods are up?

    You can remove the ...006 relay and use a jumper wire to connect the female metal terminal 30 in the relay socket (which should always be +12V even with the key "off") to the female metal 87 terminal in the relay socket = the low beams and high beams should work depending on the headlight lever position (whether the headlight pods are up or not).

    If you use the jumper wire to connect 30 to 87b = the exterior parking lights should come "on". If they don't = strong sign there's a problem in the connection from the 4-way connector to terminal 30.

    (One note is that 87 and 87b would work fine if swapped, and sometimes F isn't so careful about the labeling on the schematic -- so if using the 30-to-87 jumper turns on the running lights, and using the 30-to-87b jumper works the headlights = I wouldn't be surprised ;)).
     
  4. pj911

    pj911 Karting

    Jun 10, 2005
    74
    Vermont
    Full Name:
    PJ
    I had this happen on my car as well & it was a super easy fix. Inside the stalk handle there are 2 wires that are soldered to contacts and one of the wires came loose. Simply soldered it back on to the contact.
     
  5. Steve Magnusson

    Steve Magnusson Two Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa

    Jan 11, 2001
    25,040
    30°30'40" N 97°35'41" W (Texas)
    Full Name:
    Steve Magnusson
    However, with that failure, the headlight pods also won't raise up -- the OP reports that his headlight pods do raise up so those 2 wires are OK.
     
  6. JimMA

    JimMA Rookie

    Sep 6, 2018
    21
    MA, USA
    Full Name:
    JimMA
    Thank you all for responding.

    Yes, the parking lights come on as the lights pop up.

    Yes, I have moved the lever up and down through the three positions.

    I have not tried jumping anything yet. New to this car so need to pull together some info.

    Work goes on.
     
  7. Steve Magnusson

    Steve Magnusson Two Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa

    Jan 11, 2001
    25,040
    30°30'40" N 97°35'41" W (Texas)
    Full Name:
    Steve Magnusson
    That's a good sign for the +12V getting from the 4-way connector to the ...006 relay. Trouble could be the ...006 relay or the headlight switch. If the 30-to-87 jumper gets the headlight bulbs to work = it's a bad ...006 relay. If the 30-to-87 jumper doesn't get the headlight bulbs to work = probably a bad connection in the sliding headlight switch contacts.
     
  8. JimMA

    JimMA Rookie

    Sep 6, 2018
    21
    MA, USA
    Full Name:
    JimMA
    Would someone have a picture they could post showing where the jumper points are? I am still learning my way around this car.
     
  9. Steve Magnusson

    Steve Magnusson Two Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa

    Jan 11, 2001
    25,040
    30°30'40" N 97°35'41" W (Texas)
    Full Name:
    Steve Magnusson
    This figure shows how you would add a jumper wire in the ...006 relay socket to connect terminal 30 to terminal 87:

    Image Unavailable, Please Login

    This figure shows how you would add a jumper wire in the ...006 relay socket to connect terminal 30 to terminal 87b:

    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    (The relay's terminal number are molded on the bottom of the relay itself.)
     
    JimMA likes this.
  10. dyerhaus

    dyerhaus Formula Junior
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Nov 4, 2012
    655
    Santa Rosa, California
    Full Name:
    Christopher Dyer
    Headlight problems are a feature of the 308! The switches always fail in some way, which will cause some weird issues. What I've found is just slightly jiggling the headlight switch stalk and/or the turn signal switch stalk below it will make everything work. And you may need to do that every time you turn your lights on or off.

    One of the fun quirks with mine is when you put a window up or down the left light will wink. When you operate the window, if the lights are up then the left side will close and pop back up again. If it's closed, then it will pop up and close again.
     
  11. kiwiokie

    kiwiokie Formula 3

    Aug 19, 2013
    1,455
    Tulsa, OK
    Full Name:
    John McDermott
    Also useful to thoroughly clean the contacts on the headlight stalk. My ‘69 Alfa Spider has a similar stalk and it is the first time I have ever experienced oxidation preventing an electrical circuit to function. Previous owner said headlights never worked and it was literally years of oxidation from only being driven in daylight with headlights off.


    Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
     
  12. dyerhaus

    dyerhaus Formula Junior
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Nov 4, 2012
    655
    Santa Rosa, California
    Full Name:
    Christopher Dyer
    There's a few videos out there showing how to fix problems with the switch, and most of them have to do with a cable coming unsoldered inside. Here's a couple. Don't know if this will fix your problem or not, but worth looking at.



     

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