Stuck headlamp pod with a difference

[nwarner]

One of my lights has decided to not come up any more so last night I went to turn the knob to crank it up by hand but there's no knob on the side that's stuck down. I've tried prising it up when the lights are on but it won't budge. Has any one any ideas how to get round this.

[islander]

Had a similar thing on mine, the knob which is just a screw fit mush have worked loose and fallen off! Whatever you do don't force the pod up as it will strip the plastic gear wheel in the motor, which unfortunately you will stuggle to buy seperately!

Try removing the knob from your other motor and screwing it into the hole vacated by the other one and then wind it up.

[nwarner]

Unfortunately it looks like the old one has sheared off and not fallen out, but I will have a closer look tonight to make sure.

[wombat172a]

If you really do have octupus arms it's possible to remove the 2 rear hinge bolts to give the pod some articulation, which may be enough to move it into a more useful position.

I had to do this after my headlamp fell out, and wedged the whole mechanism shut. Painful, but do-able.

[wedgewood]

Before you do anything drastic. Switch on the headlamps, put your hand into the cut out (where the knob should be) and locate the wiring harness for the headlamp. Try moving the wiring around and you may find that the lamp will raise. The connectors in this harness are prone to corrosion and sometimes just jogging it wil bring the lamp back to life. At least if the lamp raises you can then remove it and get to the wiring. One thing..Keep fingers away from mechanism!

[nwarner]

wedgewood said:

Before you do anything drastic. Switch on the headlamps, put your hand into the cut out (where the knob should be) and locate the wiring harness for the headlamp. Try moving the wiring around and you may find that the lamp will raise. The connectors in this harness are prone to corrosion and sometimes just jogging it wil bring the lamp back to life. At least if the lamp raises you can then remove it and get to the wiring. One thing..Keep fingers away from mechanism!

I tried that last night but unfortunately you can't do much to the connector with one hand. Tried pulling & pushing it as best I could but didn't have any effect.

I will try wombat172a's suggestion tonight if I get a chance.

[Wedg1e]

If you can get your hand in with a 10mm spanner you should be able to drop off the nut that retains the crank arm to the motor. Flick the arm sideways and it'll come off the shaft, allowing you to lift the pod.

[nwarner]

Wedg1e said:

If you can get your hand in with a 10mm spanner you should be able to drop off the nut that retains the crank arm to the motor. Flick the arm sideways and it'll come off the shaft, allowing you to lift the pod.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Managed to undo the crank arm nut and lift up the pod.