My headlights work!!! Thank you Aussie79!!!
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 3,993
Likes: 9
From: Gig Harbor WA
My headlights work!!! Thank you Aussie79!!!
Wanted to start a new thread because the original one..
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...res-a-tip.html
...looked to get a little off the subject (what else is new??)
Anyway, my headlights REFUSED to work together. When I start the car, the drivers side would come up, the passenger side would follow slowly, then the drivers side would go down, followed by the passenger side, like 30 seconds later....I troubleshot myself insane...
Shot some WD40 into the bottom of each relay...they friggin' work TOGETHER now!! Thats ALL I did, following Aussie79's advice...
They still come up when the car is started, but at least they come up together!!! Its the little battles won, that contribute to winning the war!! Now, why do they come up when the engine is started???
Gawd, I love this forum!!!!
Rob
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...res-a-tip.html
...looked to get a little off the subject (what else is new??)
Anyway, my headlights REFUSED to work together. When I start the car, the drivers side would come up, the passenger side would follow slowly, then the drivers side would go down, followed by the passenger side, like 30 seconds later....I troubleshot myself insane...
Shot some WD40 into the bottom of each relay...they friggin' work TOGETHER now!! Thats ALL I did, following Aussie79's advice...
They still come up when the car is started, but at least they come up together!!! Its the little battles won, that contribute to winning the war!! Now, why do they come up when the engine is started???
Gawd, I love this forum!!!!
Rob
Last edited by MakoShark72; Feb 20, 2010 at 04:20 PM.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 957
Likes: 6
From: Burlington wisconsin
Wanted to start a new thread because the original one..
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...res-a-tip.html
...looked to get a little off the subject (what else is new??)
Anyway, my headlights REFUSED to work together. When I start the car, the drivers side would come up, the passenger side would follow slowly, then the drivers side would go down, followed by the passenger side, like 30 seconds later....I troubleshot myself insane...
Shot some WD40 into the bottom of each relay...they friggin' work TOGETHER now!! Thats ALL I did, following Aussie79's advice...
They still come up when the car is started, but at least they come up together!!! Its the little battles won, that contribute to winning the war!! Now, why do they come up when the engine is started???
Gawd, I love this forum!!!!
Rob
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...res-a-tip.html
...looked to get a little off the subject (what else is new??)
Anyway, my headlights REFUSED to work together. When I start the car, the drivers side would come up, the passenger side would follow slowly, then the drivers side would go down, followed by the passenger side, like 30 seconds later....I troubleshot myself insane...
Shot some WD40 into the bottom of each relay...they friggin' work TOGETHER now!! Thats ALL I did, following Aussie79's advice...
They still come up when the car is started, but at least they come up together!!! Its the little battles won, that contribute to winning the war!! Now, why do they come up when the engine is started???
Gawd, I love this forum!!!!
Rob
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,695
Likes: 65
From: Kissimmee fl
Finalist 2021 C3 of the Year - Modified
2017 C3 of Year Finalist
Cruise-In VIII Veteran
St. Jude Donor '07
"They still come up when the car is started, but at least they come up together!!! Its the little battles won, that contribute to winning the war!! Now, why do they come up when the engine is started???"
Do they go back down after the car has been running for a few?
Do they go back down after the car has been running for a few?
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,695
Likes: 65
From: Kissimmee fl
Finalist 2021 C3 of the Year - Modified
2017 C3 of Year Finalist
Cruise-In VIII Veteran
St. Jude Donor '07
On the bottom of the valve, there is a "hollow square" if you will. There is supposed to be a foam filter in that square to prevent dirt from getting to the spool. That is where you spray the WD 40 after removing the foam, if it is still there. If the foam is not there, replace it after spraying.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 3,993
Likes: 9
From: Gig Harbor WA
On the bottom of the valve, there is a "hollow square" if you will. There is supposed to be a foam filter in that square to prevent dirt from getting to the spool. That is where you spray the WD 40 after removing the foam, if it is still there. If the foam is not there, replace it after spraying.
Drifting
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,695
Likes: 65
From: Kissimmee fl
Finalist 2021 C3 of the Year - Modified
2017 C3 of Year Finalist
Cruise-In VIII Veteran
St. Jude Donor '07
You have a vacuum leak somewhere, possibly a cracked hose end. Does your car still have two headlight valves? If yes, then the leak will be before the tee to the two valves.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 3,993
Likes: 9
From: Gig Harbor WA
I have verified hose routing, and trimmed all the ends to "fresh" hose.
Have a new headlight switch (which I suspect).
The headlight AND wiper manual pull down switches work perfectly.
Wiper door works perfectly with the wiper switch.
I have isolated the wiper "side" of the system, and headlight symptoms were the same.
Keep looking I guess...
Thanks!
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Verdad Gallardo
Racer
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 406
Likes: 1
From: Maroochydore QLD
G'day Rob, Glad I could help, and I may be able to help again.
You see, the headlights are designed to come up in case of failure anywhere else in the system, they actually come up as soon as vacuum is applied, the only thing that stops them coming up is the vacuum signal on the headlight switch, so, here's my take on your problem, I am guessing that the headlights come up really quickly if you restart the car say within 3 minutes of shutting it off? That would be because your vacuum tank is working well and you have no or little vacuum leaks on it, however, the headlights use two independant vacuum systems, one to raise the headlights and the other to control them, the one that raises them is working perfectly, the one that controls them is not, that is the same vacuum source that also controls your vents and heater controls, look at the main vacuum feed from the manifold, follow it to a filter, it then goes to a check valve, obviously make sure that is working, it should allow vacuum from the motor but is completely blocked in the other direction to hold the vacuum, the story doesnt end there though, it then splits in two, one goes to the tank but the other goes to the headlight switch and via a "t" fitting to the heater controls. Isolate the hoses at this point, remove the heater controls from the equation, pinch the hose with vice grips or proper vacuum hose clamps. That thinner vacuum line that controls the heater and vents has many many places it can leak, when it does it steals vacuum from the headlight control hoses and until they overcome the lost vacuum the headlights will raise, once the vacuum builds in the contol lines the headlights then do what they are told. You will notice that the hose to the tank is much larger than that feeding the headlight switch, this creates more vacuum for the raising of the headlights and smaller hoses require smaller leaks to render them inoperative. Hope this makes sense and helps, I cant tell you exactly where the leaks are but I am sure it is in the system that controls the headlights but more importantly, the vents.
Let me know how you go, cheers, Dennis.
You see, the headlights are designed to come up in case of failure anywhere else in the system, they actually come up as soon as vacuum is applied, the only thing that stops them coming up is the vacuum signal on the headlight switch, so, here's my take on your problem, I am guessing that the headlights come up really quickly if you restart the car say within 3 minutes of shutting it off? That would be because your vacuum tank is working well and you have no or little vacuum leaks on it, however, the headlights use two independant vacuum systems, one to raise the headlights and the other to control them, the one that raises them is working perfectly, the one that controls them is not, that is the same vacuum source that also controls your vents and heater controls, look at the main vacuum feed from the manifold, follow it to a filter, it then goes to a check valve, obviously make sure that is working, it should allow vacuum from the motor but is completely blocked in the other direction to hold the vacuum, the story doesnt end there though, it then splits in two, one goes to the tank but the other goes to the headlight switch and via a "t" fitting to the heater controls. Isolate the hoses at this point, remove the heater controls from the equation, pinch the hose with vice grips or proper vacuum hose clamps. That thinner vacuum line that controls the heater and vents has many many places it can leak, when it does it steals vacuum from the headlight control hoses and until they overcome the lost vacuum the headlights will raise, once the vacuum builds in the contol lines the headlights then do what they are told. You will notice that the hose to the tank is much larger than that feeding the headlight switch, this creates more vacuum for the raising of the headlights and smaller hoses require smaller leaks to render them inoperative. Hope this makes sense and helps, I cant tell you exactly where the leaks are but I am sure it is in the system that controls the headlights but more importantly, the vents.
Let me know how you go, cheers, Dennis.
Last edited by Aussie79; Feb 21, 2010 at 06:20 AM.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 3,993
Likes: 9
From: Gig Harbor WA
G'day Rob, Glad I could help, and I may be able to help again.
You see, the headlights are designed to come up in case of failure anywhere else in the system, they actually come up as soon as vacuum is applied, the only thing that stops them coming up is the vacuum signal on the headlight switch, so, here's my take on your problem, I am guessing that the headlights come up really quickly if you restart the car say within 3 minutes of shutting it off? That would be because your vacuum tank is working well and you have no or little vacuum leaks on it, however, the headlights use two independant vacuum systems, one to raise the headlights and the other to control them, the one that raises them is working perfectly, the one that controls them is not, that is the same vacuum source that also controls your vents and heater controls, look at the main vacuum feed from the manifold, follow it to a filter, it then goes to a check valve, obviously make sure that is working, it should allow vacuum from the motor but is completely blocked in the other direction to hold the vacuum, the story doesnt end there though, it then splits in two, one goes to the tank but the other goes to the headlight switch and via a "t" fitting to the heater controls. Isolate the hoses at this point, remove the heater controls from the equation, pinch the hose with vice grips or proper vacuum hose clamps. That thinner vacuum line that controls the heater and vents has many many places it can leak, when it does it steals vacuum from the headlight control hoses and until they overcome the lost vacuum the headlights will raise, once the vacuum builds in the contol lines the headlights then do what they are told. You will notice that the hose to the tank is much larger than that feeding the headlight switch, this creates more vacuum for the raising of the headlights and smaller hoses require smaller leaks to render them inoperative. Hope this makes sense and helps, I cant tell you exactly where the leaks are but I am sure it is in the system that controls the headlights but more importantly, the vents.
Let me know how you go, cheers, Dennis.
You see, the headlights are designed to come up in case of failure anywhere else in the system, they actually come up as soon as vacuum is applied, the only thing that stops them coming up is the vacuum signal on the headlight switch, so, here's my take on your problem, I am guessing that the headlights come up really quickly if you restart the car say within 3 minutes of shutting it off? That would be because your vacuum tank is working well and you have no or little vacuum leaks on it, however, the headlights use two independant vacuum systems, one to raise the headlights and the other to control them, the one that raises them is working perfectly, the one that controls them is not, that is the same vacuum source that also controls your vents and heater controls, look at the main vacuum feed from the manifold, follow it to a filter, it then goes to a check valve, obviously make sure that is working, it should allow vacuum from the motor but is completely blocked in the other direction to hold the vacuum, the story doesnt end there though, it then splits in two, one goes to the tank but the other goes to the headlight switch and via a "t" fitting to the heater controls. Isolate the hoses at this point, remove the heater controls from the equation, pinch the hose with vice grips or proper vacuum hose clamps. That thinner vacuum line that controls the heater and vents has many many places it can leak, when it does it steals vacuum from the headlight control hoses and until they overcome the lost vacuum the headlights will raise, once the vacuum builds in the contol lines the headlights then do what they are told. You will notice that the hose to the tank is much larger than that feeding the headlight switch, this creates more vacuum for the raising of the headlights and smaller hoses require smaller leaks to render them inoperative. Hope this makes sense and helps, I cant tell you exactly where the leaks are but I am sure it is in the system that controls the headlights but more importantly, the vents.
Let me know how you go, cheers, Dennis.
Where is the T to the heater controls located?
You see, I removed the vacuum system to the heater controls, as I converted to a Vintage Air system. So I have NO vacuum line going to the console, but I cant recall removing the "source hose" that used to feed the heater controls. I'm sure I did remove it, as are NO lines to the console. Since I have a very noticeable HISSING sound coming from the headlight switch, AND ONLY when the headlight switch is in the ON position, I suspect EITHER the switch, or hoses on the switch...
Man I hate pulling that driver's side dash....
Thanks, more to come as I figure this out...
Rob
ps..very nice explanation, BTW!
Last edited by MakoShark72; Feb 21, 2010 at 10:29 AM.
Pro
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 576
Likes: 3
Well, fixed my headlights too.
It would take several minutes for them to come up with normal driving unless I pulled the override under the dash.
Right one would never come down, always manual.
Didn't use WD40 but PB blaster. Just removed some of the hoses and filled em up with it.
Today sprayed right into the valve while manually moving the lights up and down.
Left comes up within a couple of seconds now and right lags about 5 seconds.
They come down with the same delay, however only with the engine running.
With the engine off they both stay up.
Well you can't have everything, at least I don't have to pull over when its raining to pull them up manually.
It would take several minutes for them to come up with normal driving unless I pulled the override under the dash.
Right one would never come down, always manual.
Didn't use WD40 but PB blaster. Just removed some of the hoses and filled em up with it.
Today sprayed right into the valve while manually moving the lights up and down.
Left comes up within a couple of seconds now and right lags about 5 seconds.
They come down with the same delay, however only with the engine running.
With the engine off they both stay up.
Well you can't have everything, at least I don't have to pull over when its raining to pull them up manually.
