Headlight Exorcism Help
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 46
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From: Sugar Hill GA
Headlight Exorcism Help
Okay, so I'm working on an 89 ZF6 Coupe, and have a headlight problem. The driver's side has a nylon gear with new bushings, while the passenger side is a brass gear with new bushings and a good bit of grease (used to bind, but works fine now). The problem is that the right goes up when the left goes down, and vice versa.
With the buckets still on the hood, I pulled the motor off the gearbox (I can get it back together with dental picks) to check and see if maybe I put the the brushes back in backwards, but no joy.
The linkages look the same left and right, and the little y-shaped follower between the pinned linkage and the headlight frame looks to be in exactly the same location/orientation on both headlights.
Why in the world would these things stay reversed from one another? The driver's side works fine, and the passenger's side is either up and turned off, or flips down and turns on the lamp when the headlights are turned on. What did I screw up?
Thanks guys,
Crit
Edit - I just noticed that the general section is intended for "in-the-manual" questions. I'll be careful next time, and if someone can move this to the general section, that'll work.
With the buckets still on the hood, I pulled the motor off the gearbox (I can get it back together with dental picks) to check and see if maybe I put the the brushes back in backwards, but no joy.
The linkages look the same left and right, and the little y-shaped follower between the pinned linkage and the headlight frame looks to be in exactly the same location/orientation on both headlights.
Why in the world would these things stay reversed from one another? The driver's side works fine, and the passenger's side is either up and turned off, or flips down and turns on the lamp when the headlights are turned on. What did I screw up?
Thanks guys,
Crit
Edit - I just noticed that the general section is intended for "in-the-manual" questions. I'll be careful next time, and if someone can move this to the general section, that'll work.
Last edited by Crit; May 20, 2007 at 12:56 PM.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 46
Likes: 0
From: Sugar Hill GA
I've wondered about the wiring, too. I've got an LED check light that will tell me pos. or neg. polarity, so I'll check the two plugs in the front wheel wells to see if they're the same. I pulled the motor housng off the only motor that I opened up and have verified that I didn't accidentally swap the brushes left and right.
Totally stumped, unless the test light tells me something.
Totally stumped, unless the test light tells me something.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 46
Likes: 0
From: Sugar Hill GA
Well, the polarity checks out. I get 12V positive from green to grey when I pull the switch. Both plugs show 12V pos. When I push the switch in, both plugs get 12 neg. across the two wires. Both motors have the green wire going to the driver's side brush, and the grey wire goes to the passenger's side. They're wired the same and get the same voltage input. If I watch the pinned linkage coming right off the gearbox, they turn in opposite directions, so it's not like my linkage is backwards somehow, they're just being driven differently when under load vs. when I'm using the check light.
Is there a chance that one headlight is binding when the switch is pulled, so the controller flips the polarity for that headlight, by chance? I'm stuck.
Is there a chance that one headlight is binding when the switch is pulled, so the controller flips the polarity for that headlight, by chance? I'm stuck.
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 46
Likes: 0
From: Sugar Hill GA
Holy crap, I've found my problem. It was a Civil War kinda thing, ya know, North vs. South.
The motor housing was on backwards, so that you could read the part number on the housing (should be turned 180 so it's facing the hood). The housing has the permanent magnets inside it, so my North and South were swapped. D'oh.
The motor housing was on backwards, so that you could read the part number on the housing (should be turned 180 so it's facing the hood). The housing has the permanent magnets inside it, so my North and South were swapped. D'oh.
