URGENT Advice please - Erratic headlights problem | FerrariChat

URGENT Advice please - Erratic headlights problem

Discussion in 'Technical Q&A' started by vanimal, Oct 31, 2005.

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  1. vanimal

    vanimal Formula Junior

    Mar 19, 2003
    380
    UK
    Full Name:
    Vaughan
    I have an irritating headlight issue on my 360 Modena, the headlights (both low and high beam) work fine, however after a few miles of use the problem starts. Under heavy acceleration, or normal braking they either flicker of go dead totally, this also happens at speeds above 80mph. The problem is not constant and the headlights do not stay off. Scenario – I pull away from a traffic light and accelerate strongly, the lights go dead, once I slow down or cruise at a constant speed they come on again, or I will be driving on bumpy road, the speed gets near to 80mph and hey presto they go off, slow down and they come back on. Now as you can imagine this makes for very difficult fault identification as you cannot check things out during these scenarios. What I have done to date is –

    · Checked all fuses and relays (including tugging, bashing and wiggling the connectors while the lights are on – cannot reproduce light failure)

    · Checked all connections in the steering column
    · Checked all wiring onto headlights

    We are travelling to France this weekend in convoy and will be doing some night driving, I am not happy with the possibility of being without headlights in the dark French countryside as you can imagine. My local specialist has said ‘sure bring the car down and we will have a look' – but as I know, they could look for hours and like me find nothing wrong. Could it be a speed or movement sensor for the suspension or ABS that has gone faulty that could cause this (only item I can think of that is speed or acceleration sensitive).

    Any advice or ideas from someone who has actually had a similar experience as to what to check for next would be much appreciated (i.e. I appreciate replies from ‘soon to be owners’ or 'when I am old enough to own a car' types but really need a solution soon guys.

    Thanks
     
  2. ernie

    ernie Two Time F1 World Champ
    Lifetime Rossa Owner

    Nov 19, 2001
    22,614
    The Brickyard
    Full Name:
    The Bad Guy
    Well if your car is still under warranty, I would take it to the dealer and make them fix it on their dime.
     
  3. Bob L. Head

    Bob L. Head Rookie
    BANNED

    Jul 26, 2005
    49
    My guess is you have an electrical ground fault, somewhere.
    As the chassis flexes during acceleration, the electrical connection is being broken. Quick fix probably
     
  4. 4redude

    4redude Formula Junior

    Jan 13, 2005
    732
    Fungus Corner
    Full Name:
    Brian Keegan
    Vanimal, I have not encountered this problem before, so I can only suggest something logical to inspect that could potentially be the culprit. You didn't specify if your car has the "Xenon" or "gas lamps" option. If it does, there is "front light control station" or ECU for the headlamps. A pigtail wiring harness plugs into this ECU and into the back of the headlamp directly to the bulb. There is an ECU for each headlamp and I believe this ECU is mounted to a bracket on the outside wall of the front trunk (boot?). Perhaps the connection to the ECU is loose or dirty? Perhaps the mounting bracket needs some vibration dampening using something like the double stud mounts used to secure the outer ends of the (large lower) air box housing?
    Good luck! If you figure out what the problem is, please let us know. I'm just curious, whereas you are quite anxious I'm sure.
    Brian
     

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