Headlight lift motor problem
Discussion
I have been suffering the one eyed wedge problem for some time. Having now pin pointed the problem to the lift motor im still a little stumped.
I have swapped motors and confirmed that car wiring and relays are all ok.The lamps work fine on both normal and high beam.
Have stripped offending motor as suspected water ingress and corrosion but all looks fine inside. Cleaned connections on copper strip anyway
Have cleaned the commutator
Hot wired motor by connecting it directly to brush wires and it works fine, draws about 2.5 to 3 Amps
put it back together and into car and still doesnt work.
Could the diodes inside the housing be the cause of this?
Any ideas anyone please?
I have swapped motors and confirmed that car wiring and relays are all ok.The lamps work fine on both normal and high beam.
Have stripped offending motor as suspected water ingress and corrosion but all looks fine inside. Cleaned connections on copper strip anyway
Have cleaned the commutator
Hot wired motor by connecting it directly to brush wires and it works fine, draws about 2.5 to 3 Amps
put it back together and into car and still doesnt work.
Could the diodes inside the housing be the cause of this?
Any ideas anyone please?
Edited by ferlin on Sunday 19th November 14:09
ferlin said:
SEvans said:
If the other side works OK I would swap the motors around and see what happens. May take a couple of hours but it would be worth the time IMHO.
yes I have done that today and one motor doesnt work on either side. The other one works fine on both sides
If the motor runs OK then maybe a new switch block assembly will help.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TRIUMP
What are the symptoms? Does the motor eventually work but is slow? or does it just not work at all? I have had problems with the ball joints in the link arms being siezed up, but this usually causes the lift to run slow.
When connected to car wiring it does not run on either side of the car
Its has not been connected to the linkages so its not them being tight
If I turn switch on to lift headlights nothing happens. Then if I manually turn the motor using the knob on the botton and turn switch off it sometimes resets itself again!
That switchgear on ebay looks ok, but if I can test my diodes I can easily replace them if I have to
Its has not been connected to the linkages so its not them being tight
If I turn switch on to lift headlights nothing happens. Then if I manually turn the motor using the knob on the botton and turn switch off it sometimes resets itself again!
That switchgear on ebay looks ok, but if I can test my diodes I can easily replace them if I have to
The contacts in the switch boxes are not very robustly designed - the flat springy bits seem to be berylium coated copper alloy, whereas the rivets are plain copper.
I have previously got a few months extra life out of them by using 1000 grit sandpaper. Another problem I have seen is too much grease in the gearbox, gets through after a few weeks, and stuffs the contacts again. I tried contact lube, and that was fine for about a month and then went funny. Also I found if you sandpaper the flat strip, the only cure is to remove the strip and turn it round, as it oxidises too quickly otherwise.
So far the only reliable fix I found is to clean the underside of the copper strip with a solvent (be carefull not to remove the berylium coating), and then use 250 grit sandpaper on the rivet face. Make sure the gearbox has a very small amout of grease on the cams for the switch pips (clean the pips too).
So far this fix seems to have lasted over 2 years on a 280i FHC, over 1 Year on a 350FHC and three months and counting in a 390SE.
-Jim
I have previously got a few months extra life out of them by using 1000 grit sandpaper. Another problem I have seen is too much grease in the gearbox, gets through after a few weeks, and stuffs the contacts again. I tried contact lube, and that was fine for about a month and then went funny. Also I found if you sandpaper the flat strip, the only cure is to remove the strip and turn it round, as it oxidises too quickly otherwise.
So far the only reliable fix I found is to clean the underside of the copper strip with a solvent (be carefull not to remove the berylium coating), and then use 250 grit sandpaper on the rivet face. Make sure the gearbox has a very small amout of grease on the cams for the switch pips (clean the pips too).
So far this fix seems to have lasted over 2 years on a 280i FHC, over 1 Year on a 350FHC and three months and counting in a 390SE.
-Jim
jchase said:
The contacts in the switch boxes are not very robustly designed - the flat springy bits seem to be berylium coated copper alloy, whereas the rivets are plain copper.
I have previously got a few months extra life out of them by using 1000 grit sandpaper. Another problem I have seen is too much grease in the gearbox, gets through after a few weeks, and stuffs the contacts again. I tried contact lube, and that was fine for about a month and then went funny. Also I found if you sandpaper the flat strip, the only cure is to remove the strip and turn it round, as it oxidises too quickly otherwise.
So far the only reliable fix I found is to clean the underside of the copper strip with a solvent (be carefull not to remove the berylium coating), and then use 250 grit sandpaper on the rivet face. Make sure the gearbox has a very small amout of grease on the cams for the switch pips (clean the pips too).
So far this fix seems to have lasted over 2 years on a 280i FHC, over 1 Year on a 350FHC and three months and counting in a 390SE.
-Jim
I have previously got a few months extra life out of them by using 1000 grit sandpaper. Another problem I have seen is too much grease in the gearbox, gets through after a few weeks, and stuffs the contacts again. I tried contact lube, and that was fine for about a month and then went funny. Also I found if you sandpaper the flat strip, the only cure is to remove the strip and turn it round, as it oxidises too quickly otherwise.
So far the only reliable fix I found is to clean the underside of the copper strip with a solvent (be carefull not to remove the berylium coating), and then use 250 grit sandpaper on the rivet face. Make sure the gearbox has a very small amout of grease on the cams for the switch pips (clean the pips too).
So far this fix seems to have lasted over 2 years on a 280i FHC, over 1 Year on a 350FHC and three months and counting in a 390SE.
-Jim
Also it is easy to bend the strip whilst cleaning (if not removed and then re-rivetted) You MUST maintain the tension of the strip to get a good contactSorted the motor problem out. It was the copper strip not contacting the rivet properly! The copper strip is actually too short and doesnt really lie on the rivet as it should.
The only problem I have now is that I need to play with the length of the crank arm? as I cant get one light pod to sit flat when down and to pop right up for some daft reason. The funny thing is that i thought that the motors and crank arms would have been interchangeable and the same length etc so I swapped them over to test them. Now one doesnt come right up! Grrrrr bl**dy lights
The only problem I have now is that I need to play with the length of the crank arm? as I cant get one light pod to sit flat when down and to pop right up for some daft reason. The funny thing is that i thought that the motors and crank arms would have been interchangeable and the same length etc so I swapped them over to test them. Now one doesnt come right up! Grrrrr bl**dy lights
ferlin said:
Sorted the motor problem out. It was the copper strip not contacting the rivet properly! The copper strip is actually too short and doesnt really lie on the rivet as it should.
The only problem I have now is that I need to play with the length of the crank arm? as I cant get one light pod to sit flat when down and to pop right up for some daft reason. The funny thing is that i thought that the motors and crank arms would have been interchangeable and the same length etc so I swapped them over to test them. Now one doesnt come right up! Grrrrr bl**dy lights
The only problem I have now is that I need to play with the length of the crank arm? as I cant get one light pod to sit flat when down and to pop right up for some daft reason. The funny thing is that i thought that the motors and crank arms would have been interchangeable and the same length etc so I swapped them over to test them. Now one doesnt come right up! Grrrrr bl**dy lights
Yep, the adjustable link rod allows you to set the pod flush with the shell when retracted. Make sure the motor has parked in the correct position and the crank nut is tight on the motor spindle otherwise the setting will vary every time you cycle the pods!
That copper strip 'problem' is about par for the course. Most I've seen have the end of the strip about halfway across the rivetted contact.
ditto what Wedg1e said, plus my 2p:
The link rod wants to be straight with the arm when the pods are are up, or the lights will wobble when you drive at night, and it is very off putting. Generally, the limits are set by two stops, which cause the body work to flex. The stops are angles and have a bit of heater hose bolted to them, when the hose goes hard, the limits are very difficult to set.
There is a chap on PH who will sell you a set of very nice alloy motor brackets with slotted holes for the motor mounts which allows the stroke length to be modified by rotating the motor. You then have a more lee-way (sp?) to get the pod up/down and link rod alignment set up properly, but it does take some time and patience.
- I was going to write an article about it with some of SHPUBs swanky link rods - steve you designed them yet??
-Jim
The link rod wants to be straight with the arm when the pods are are up, or the lights will wobble when you drive at night, and it is very off putting. Generally, the limits are set by two stops, which cause the body work to flex. The stops are angles and have a bit of heater hose bolted to them, when the hose goes hard, the limits are very difficult to set.
There is a chap on PH who will sell you a set of very nice alloy motor brackets with slotted holes for the motor mounts which allows the stroke length to be modified by rotating the motor. You then have a more lee-way (sp?) to get the pod up/down and link rod alignment set up properly, but it does take some time and patience.
- I was going to write an article about it with some of SHPUBs swanky link rods - steve you designed them yet??
-Jim
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