Having received an extremely comprehensive and helpful answer to my first headlight question, I thought I’d chance asking a second. When driving along with my headlights up, they occasionally ‘wink’ - in other words, briefly lower before rising again. It’s usually only one headlight that does it. The other night I had my wipers on, and my headlights were constantly lowering and rising. Sometimes individually and sometimes together. My suspicion is a poor earth connection. Am I on the right lines?
That’s a great question and the honest answer is I don’t know because I’ve been driving and they “wink” only briefly. I’ll see if I can recreate the problem with the car static and me standing in front of it, so that I can see.
I think there is a small green warning light at the bottom center of the tachometer that illuminates when the parking lights or headlamps are "on" (i.e., relay O closed) -- just watch to see what it does during the "winking": If the little green light goes "off" (and then comes back "on") during the winking = I'd investigate the stalk rotating knob switch (first) and relay O (second, if the stalk rotating knob switch is OK). If the little green light stays "on" during the winking = Aaaack!
Both or just one? My 91 TR winks only the right one. Cheeky thing. I understand it is some sort of diode problem, but I am not smart enough to figure it out.
It happens with both, but usually at different times. When my wipers are on, sometimes both lights dip together. Gah.
I once had a TR7 doing the same with the headlights. when I turned the lights on one headlight goes up and down again, and when going down the other goes up. but a little fatser. and after several times both have been up. lucas electric lauphing at me.
So… the green light on the tacho stays on. I’ve noticed that if I pull the wiper stalk backwards to initiate the wash cycle, the right headlight starts to sag, then lowers completely before popping back up again. I think my first step is to clean all the ground points.
this I not understand now. what has the wash cycle to do with the green light? 2 totally differnt systems. as steve has written, what does the green light does when the headlights are winking?
I repeat: AAAACK! -- as that is not so simple problem to fix/find, and is downstream of relay O. That's a good clue, and I'd give that a definite "maybe", and a good thing to check, as the wiper washer pump motor and the headlight pod stuff share a common ground point near the RH front turn signal assembly (and actuating the wiper motor could cause that ground signal to "float up" if that common ground point is not well connected to the chassis). This link will get you a copy of the TR 459/86 wiring diagram (Fig. 5 is for your GB version lights with DIM-DIP): https://www.dropbox.com/s/ox8kxpyzlsid9jn/Wiring Diagrams TR 459_86 from Ben.pdf?dl=0 The common ground point in the upper right corner of Fig. 5 would be a good thing to clean/refresh (and Fig. 6 has the wiper-washer pump motor, item 8). Good Hunting!
Sorry, I wasn’t very clear. My headlights wink intermittently, but do so much more frequently when the windscreen wipers are operating. So I was just saying that I recreated the fault by operating the windscreen wipers. The green light stays on when the headlights wink.
ok, thanks for explaining. so it is not a problem or the switch itself. I think it will be a ground problem as also steve has written I had an equal problem with a lamborghini countach. there a diode has been broken on the right headlamp. not know without looking in the wiring diagram how it is woriking here
