winking head lights | FerrariChat

winking head lights

Discussion in '308/328' started by unwound64, Nov 18, 2011.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. unwound64

    unwound64 Rookie

    Jan 19, 2011
    26
    Chicago's North Shore
    My headlights work great and I've read through lots of threads on issues and replaceing diodes(which I did) and such however when I roll either window back up from being down the headlights wink while operateing the window switch. Any one with any thoughts, comments , solutions? I haven't seen anything on this before. Could a wire be crossed or touching something it shouldn't? I'm stuck. Thanks, Adam
     
  2. LUKN4UBL

    LUKN4UBL Rookie

    Feb 15, 2007
    40
    My situation isn't the same, but it may be worth a try. I bought my QV in May and immediately had the winking headlight problem as well as a long delay between switching the headlights off and them lowering (up to a minute in some cases). The previous owner's records showed he already replaced diodes in the past. I removed all of the relay's and used an Emory board on the contacts. I also installed Birdman's Fusebox.

    The winking headlight problem has gone away and the headlights lower immediately now. I'm wondering if your problem could be caused by a low voltage condition when you use the power windows that could be rectified in the same manner.
     
  3. sammyb

    sammyb Formula 3

    Jun 23, 2006
    1,857
    Where wife tells me
    Full Name:
    Sam
    +1 -- replace your relay and ensure your fuseblocks are not hindered by bad connections/melting.
     
  4. Darolls

    Darolls F1 Veteran
    BANNED

    Jul 2, 2003
    7,782
    Full Name:
    Sparky
    +2, and check for a blown fuse. A bad fuse can cause residual feedback through other circuits causing an anomaly.
     
  5. Paul_308

    Paul_308 Formula 3

    Mar 12, 2004
    2,345
    WINKING is a poor word as it's ambiguous when applied to machinery. You don't have a cross-wired abnormality in your car which causes this, just an abnormal voltage drop when window motors are activated. Two very high current devices are the fuel pump and windows and odd conditions very often exhibit themselves due to contact failure at the aging fuse panels, notably the left panel.

    If the headlights go dim, the fuse panel isn't a likely cause as those circuits (windows and headlights) use different fuse panels. Both circuits do get battery voltage in the white battery distribution block on the relay panel. I've not heard of any problems there with factory wiring but anything can happen. While Lucas is known in British car circles as 'The Prince of Darkness', Bosch is a close cousin.

    If on the other hand, the headlight pods go down momentarily, the high window current could cause low voltage at the headlight lift relays to de-energize or 'drop out', causing the headlight pods to go down momentarily. Again, the fuse panel is suspect.

    You may also have an abnormally high current at your window motor because of congealed grease in the gearcase. I would check that someone hasn't put in abnormally high current fuses on the windows (left fuse panel, rightmost 2 fuses). That's one advantage of the relay modification as your window switches are suffering in silence with that high current.

    It would be good to get both a better definition of 'winking' and knowledge of your fuse panel status, ?replaced with Birdman or equiv, or not.

    _________________________
    http://www.FerrariWiring.com
     

Share This Page