Ok, I don't know about yours, but my headlight controller is possessed!

Last week each time I pulled in to the parking lot for the evening I popped the hood and backed off both adjusters just a bit. Each following morning both headlights came up fine with both lamps on.

So Sunday I was leaving Ga. to head back to NC in the evening, but before it was dark. Just to get ahead of the game I popped the hood and backed off both adjusters just as I said above. Then I headed out.
About 1/2 hour or so down the road it got dark enough I decided it was time to turn on the lights. They both came up fine, but neither HID fired!
I tired repeatedly turning the switch back to just the parking lights and then back to headlights, but they would only do a little flash.
Same thing when I turned them all the way off and they went down, then back up, but wouldn't light.
So I pulled over at an exit, turned the lights off, turned the engine off, then restarted the engine and turned the lights on - they both came up and they both fired! Explain that to me!
What the heck does turning the engine off, then restarting have to do with the HIDs firing????

I too haven't had time to yank them out and check the stop, the motor tabs etc. Gonna have to make time next weekend while I'm home.

 

So I finally got time to work on my headlight issue.
However, I made a number of changes so if it works I won't know
exactly which one fixed it...
Since my original nylon gear wasn't damaged, I put it back.
The reason I did this is the rubber insert. I'm not sure if it
might have something to do with the problem, but the new
aluminum gear didn't have a rubber cushion, the tabs just
went into slots for them in the gear - no give.
I cleaned out the old grease and used a lighter lithium grease.
I tightened the motor tabs...
And lastly, I reversed the nylon stop pads. The stop for down
was very worn.
I'll report back later this week as to the results.

 

So far a mixed bag.

I started the trip to NC when it was light enough to not need the headlights.
When it came time to turn them on, they both came up, but the driver's side didn't fire. Again I tried turning them off then back on, but no go.
So I stopped, turned off the engine, restarted it and turned on the lights.
They both came up and both fired.
Someone please explain to me why turning off the engine makes a difference!
When I got to the apt I didn't touch the headlights. I wanted to see what would happen the next morning.
Well, they both came up and both fired. I'll see what happens the rest of the week.

 

OK, the headlights worked flawlessly the rest of the week.
Are they fixed? Time will tell. That one glitch still has me
concerned.

 

Just adding some information. finally got to get into the headlights this weekend. long time coming but sometimes life gets more interesting than I care for it to be.

thought I would throw some pics in for others having the same problems.

here's the headlight door motor output shaft with the arm removed. the beige colored pieces there are the stops which some have suspected as being part of the problem



This is what they look like after stopping the headlight arm for 11 years





since the damage is only on one side I rotated both 180 degrees. I put a small dab of silicone on the back of it before sliding it back into place to make sure they don't go anywhere they aren't supposed to.

I also removed and inspected the headlight door control module



hard to say but it looked fine. I ran some silicone around the break in the front and back halves of the enclosure shell just to help prevent any water intrusion if it should ever become a problem later. I also added some dielectric grease to the two connectors to help ensure that water doesn't get in where it shouldn't.

while I was in there I made a startling discovery not related to this problem. the pack of ballasts for my HIDs on one side was loose under the headlight! the black metal bracket which held it in place had rusted in just a couple years so badly that it broke and the ballasts were sitting on the bottom of the chamber below the headlights! makes me wonder how long they've been sitting there. I'm working on reinforcing the mounting and replacing the brackets. this time they will be painted myself with a thick coat of rustoleum primer to help prevent any corrosion. I'm also going to add a few more fasteners to help keep them in place.

so due to all that I haven't gotten the headlights back together yet, so no word at all on whether or not that will fix the problem, but it certainly can't hurt.

 

Any update? I've been through the stops, spacers, ground/ motor/controller wiring inspection and also checked to see the same problem of passenger light on but down when sentinel is activated. I don't have any grinding noise and it is always the drver's side. I do believe it is the controller at this point but don't understand why it will go up when I manually turn **** just 1/4 inch?
How has your search gone?

 

Yes! My problem seems to be fixed. I did not replace the module. I just removed the 2 stop pads from each of the 2 light opening mechanisms and rotated them 180 degrees. I added a dab of silicone to make sure they didn't fall off. The problem vanished immediately and has not returned. Give it a try. Its a free attempt and may fix your issue.

 

Glad to hear you got it done! I had taken the bottoms and put them on top. Maybe 180 is needed as the stops could have had indent on the same side but wasn't noticeable.

 

interested in this, similar problem with my driver side

 

Had the same issue, flipped the stops 180 degrees and now I'm good to go.

 

I'm having the same issue here. I haven't tried messing with the stops yet. Does this seem to be working with those of you who did it last winter? When you say you flipped it 180 degrees, this means you just flipped them over right? Mine are sitting with the long, flat side up, so there's only two ways it can sit. Not sure about this yet. I don't understand why the manual **** gets so tight - but everyone is right, you back it off just a quarter turn and it's good to go; for a few days. Any (new) info on this?