[patkeefe]

Hi all:

I developed another small problem, this with the headlamps. My left headlamp goes up intermittently, and it goes down fine. I have searched for headlamps and motors topics here, and it seems the common malady is not going down. I had my daughter activate the headlights, and when she shut car the door, the lamp went up! She determined the lamp had a mind of its own, but, alas, this only happened a few times, and quit.



I will try and get the motor out, and look at the linkage and motor itself. Has anyone seen this particular problem before?



TIA,

Pat

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[DayDreamer]

Open the relay and give it a good spray of circuit cleaner.. worked for me <img src="/forum/images/smilies/968/smile.png" class="smilie" alt="" />

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[patkeefe]

Thanks, daydreamer. I took a look tonight, and I can't find a headlamp relay in the fusebox. But, the lights worked, three times in a row.

Pat

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[951968]

Have you lubed the pivot points and linkage? Helps.

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[patkeefe]

I'll try that. I just took the 968 out today to play golf, about a 45 drive each way. The car has some neglect issues. The headlams are on the list. The lube sounds like a good idea. I just finished putting in a battery isolation switch...got tired of the dead batteries. Lamps are next. Then, wheel bearings, front end issues and whatever else I run across.

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[jfrahm]

These motors have a set of contactors in them that provide the logic to raise or lower them. When these get worn, the motor may not respond to the raise or lower signal. These contacts are built into a disk on the side of the motor assembly.



Try a careful spin of the headlight motor manual wheel and see if the lamp responds. Be aware that it might spit the opposite way than you expect or spin unexpectedly. If your fingers are in the way of the mechanism they may be crushed. Ow.



A bad contact in this device will prevent a lowered lamp form raising or a raised lamp from lowering, depending on which contact is affected. Often a small movement of the motor (or slamming the door) causes the connection to be temporarily restored and the lamp works properly, generally only once.



The contacts can be cleaned or the headlight motor replaced.



-Joel.

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[craigawoodman]

I have a problem with one headlight. One goes up, but one does not. The globe turns on in the headlight which stays down.



I can manually lift the headlight up and it drops down. But it cannot go up on it's own. Any comments?



Thanks,

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[patkeefe]

What I found was that the headlamp was intermittent in its motion, almost identical to what Joel had written in post #6. I cleaned the contacts and tested the motor...OK. I also found that there is a fuse which operates each of the headlamp motors. My left side fuse was blown. I replaced it, and has been fine since. I must have corrected the short condition when I was testing the motor.



The fuse for the motor is not the same fuse as the fuse for the lamp itself. There are two fuses for each headlamp.

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[craigawoodman]

Ah, a fuse for each headlamp motor. German efficiency.

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[Grandpa#3]

A helpful tutorial can be found about the Headlights and there Operation. It is for a 944 but works on the same principal as the 968. It shows the insides of the motor and how to clean and repair it. Nothing ventured nothing gained. At the link go up to tutorials and click, you'll see Engine and then Body/Interior click on #6 Headlight.



http://944foot2thefloor.blogspot.com/



Cheers,

Larry

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[craigawoodman]

Larry,



Thanks - an excellent overview.



Craig

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[craigawoodman]

checked the fuses - there is one for the up mechanism and one for the down mechanism, then fuses for the high and low beam for each light. - all ok. I can rotate the mechanism by hand, but it is not working electrically. Looks like there might have to be an overhaul on the cards for the motor. There is a point of restriction in the down position - not sure if the motor can rotate more than 360 degrees but I am assuming so - so it might be a raised commutator?



Sprayed some WD40 on them and some penetrating lube - but no electrical movement.

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[flash]

relay?



as a side note: the downward movement of the 968 lights is gravity fed. they made a big deal of this in the advertising. only the release is electrical in the down stroke. so, if there is any binding in the mechanism, it won't go down.

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[craigawoodman]

Flash,



I didn't see anything listed for the relay - which one controls this? I was assuming that the headlight switch simply activtated the circuit and the fuse was the weak link, is there a relay? My bettery keeps draining and there is a clicking sound near the fauly motor that keeps clicking once the car is turned off - is the relay near the headlight? Without a hoist - I cannot get under the car to have a good look.

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[MCL968]

Last week my left headlight refused to go up. It went on just fine, just wouldn't raise. While this situation was handy for spotting planes or other aerial phenomena, it left a little to be desired for driving (although I will admit it gave the car a raffish appearance). 

 

Curiously, the right side worked fine, so I figured a fuse was the problem. Fuses were all good.

 

I pulled the protective cap off of the motor and turned the infamous white knob, everything was free and working fine.

 

I removed the relay and popped the cap off, it too looked great, no burns on the board and nothing smelled cooked.

 

On a whim I took a little 600 grit sandpaper and cleaned all 8 contact points (2 per relay, 4 relays) rinsed it (and my tonsils) with a little alcohol and reinstalled it.

 

Headlights now raise and lower as Porsche intended.

 

After a brief fit of apoplexy when I saw the price of a new motor, and a smaller but equally noisy spasm when I saw the price of a new relay, I was pleased to solve the problem with nothing more than a bit of sandpaper and a little time. 

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[Bulti]

Very nice when things work out like that :-)

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[az968]

And another task to the PM schedule, sand all my fuses and relays! Good lesson, thanks for sharing.

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[patkeefe]

Well, the light worked for a few years, but...

The left side light does not go up, again. I really need to get the motor out to look it over.

 

How does the motor come out?  It appears as though there is a lot of stuff in there. I have searched for this, and all of the search results seem to indicate that motor removal is intuitively obvious . I am not that smart.

 

If anyone has any suggestions, they would be appreciated.

TIA

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[MCL968]

First check and clean the double relay, that was the problem with mine.

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[patkeefe]

According to the fuse/relay cover, there are no relays for the headlamp motors.

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