head lamp motor grinding

[lotusesprit1 24]

I discovered my head lamps drains were blocked so disconnected one motor lifted the pod and cleaned the drain hole.

I messed about a bit taking fuses out before I worked out how to do it.

both head lamps go up almost at the same time and stop nicely when I turn them off both go down nicely but the LHS motor continues to run for a little while making a stalled motor grind before stopping.

I have tried setting the freeplay the same on each motor by manually controlling the motors. I have 2 wire motors fitted to a 1990 SE Esprit  I am wondering if I have got the motors 180 degrees out of sync or something is there an internal stop switch?

I am at a loss as running the motor stalled against its stop is eventually going to burn the motor out.

[punky 160 1 Vehicles]

Similar thing happened to me recently, which turned out to be the plastic drive bushings inside the headlight motor breaking down.

It was an easy fix and not expensive. I got the parts from SJ sportscars (Headlamp motor overhaul kit)

There's a good video guide here.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTjPoKfafSY

Although this is for an Elan, its the same motor unit so once removed strip down and reassembly were the same.

 

[lotusesprit1 24]

Sadly my battery is now flat and the head lamp motors are hot and the car smells of burnt electronics:)

Removing the control module and opening it I can see a burnt out PCB  expensive drain hole. I must have killed the MOSFETS when I disconnected the motor Fuses.

Edited May 3, 2017 by lotusesprit1

[CarBuff 128]

You may want to look at this Topic.  It has specs and part numbers for the MOSFETs

http://www.lotustalk.com/forums/f164/light-control-module-transistor-help-123906/

 

Note that the modules include a fusible link...

 

 

[lotusesprit1 24]

Thanks I found some equivalents and will try and fix the unit when they arrive hopefully tomorrow. looks like the main IC is a GM only part so hopefully just the MOSFETS are dead.

 

[lotusesprit1 24]

Ok, I have managed to repair the controller, luckily the GM custom IC was ok. If anyone is stuck with the same problem I should be able to fix it.

[CarBuff 128]

Pictures or it didn't happen!

 

How did you repair it?

[lotusesprit1 24]

The pictures in the link you gave are good so I did not take any. All I did was change the one n type power MOSFET that was internally shorting and replace the fuse link. I also added a little aluminum heat sink, that was probably overkill as the fault was probably caused by me generating a voltage spike when connecting and disconnecting the fuses while powered. oddly the fuse link appears to be made of lead solder I could melt the old one with the soldering iron. I replaced it with a piece of fuse wire.

[Jacques 760 1 Vehicles]

Maybe one should do this as a preventative measure to avoid it happening somewhere on a dark highway far away on vacation?

Anyway, could someone describe the exact spec for the parts needed?  (So I can go to a local Electronics shop and get the parts).

Kind regards,

Jacques.

[CarBuff 128]

2 hours ago, Jacques said:

Maybe one should do this as a preventative measure to avoid it happening somewhere on a dark highway far away on vacation?

 

The probability of failure depends on how difficult the pods are to lift, for the motors. The easier the pods move, the less electrical current the motors draw.

 

Good maintenance practice is to lubricate the pivots on each side of the the pods. The Heim joints on the actuator rods need to move freely, too. 

 

 

Don't forget, if you DO have a failure, the pods can be unplugged and manually raised if it's dark out.

[Jacques 760 1 Vehicles]

Thanks for pointing these Things out. Good to know and good to do.

I do think though, that as our cars begin to reach a fairly high age, say some 27 years like my own Esprit, things may begin to be a Little bit weary, and if something has not been looked at and changed, it may be a good thing to take a closer look and make sure, nothing bad is going to happen by preventing it.

So, for example, I've had my present Esprit for only 4 years, and had a pod lamp lift failure last autumn on a dark night driving home from a visit. Sure, I got out of the car and raised the headlamp pod manually, and next day adressed the error by taking it apart and saw the fine granualte that used to be three plastic rollers, now having been crushed by old age, and Wear too probably. So installed a new set of freshly made delrin rollers in that headlamp motor. That is when I could have stopped and just been happy and drive on. But the idea is to prevent it propperly by looking at other parts and systems as well. So I also changed the big plastic gear to a very nice made hard anodised metal gear in aluminium, grease and gaskets. On both head lamp motors, thereby preventing other future failures. Similarely on the mechanical chargecooler pump. Mine was working just fine with a freshly installed roller vane and I swapped it to an Electric pump none the less. Likewise all rubber bushings in the suspension had been changed for new ones not long before I bought the car, but I bought the lot in Lotac poly bushings and installed them successively, just missing a few on the front, because I will change the Whole suspension system before I get any errors on that too, but being halted by the local rules and regulations where I live, which effectively is extremely counterproductive and thereby putting peoples lives in danger, but that is another story

So, to get to the point, I was thinking that I would take the head lamp lift module out, take it apart, and change those few components and add those small cooling back plates as well, thereby prolonging the usefull lifespan of the Whole module by preventing for example melted copper connections on the Circuit board.

For example I'll do all the earth connections too next Winter, regardless. Just to explain my point.

I'd still like to know the exact specs on those components needed to solder into the Circuit board.

Kind regards,

Jacques.

 

[lotusesprit1 24]

Jacques

MOSFET's do not really wear out just get damaged if you over voltage/ current  them so no need to replace as a service component. The ones in my unit are BUZ10S2

These are rated at 60Vds Id 23A Tds 0.07Ohms and come in a TO220 package with pin out GDS viewing from top down with tab at top.

Data sheet is available here

http://uk.rs-online.com/webdocs/0026/0900766b80026b3e.pdf

As mentioned I have stock of equivalents so can probably help if anyone gets stuck.

I could not find an equivalent to the main control IC so let hope they never go wrong.

As a preventive I would just keep all the electrical connections clean and sealed and the mechanism lubricated. I probably only use my lights 3 4 times a year and for the MOT so they should out live the rest of the car. Make sure you disconnect the battery before unplugging fuses etc as that is what generated a surge and killed one of my MOSFET's the unit has a permanent live feed.

 

Edited May 8, 2017 by lotusesprit1

[Jacques 760 1 Vehicles]

Thanks Paul.

Kind regards,

Jacques.

[eeyoreish 758 1 Vehicles]

Is SJ the best option for the motor rebuild kits? I read some posts about kits for Fiero motors but  I'm wondering if I should just get the SJ kit and not waste time trying to find something a few pence cheaper. Anyone done this job recently?

My Esprit's developed a lazy eye, which I discovered this morning just before the MOT  Anyway it worked for the garage so now I just need to get both motors sorted ASAP

[lotusesprit1 24]

You may find your motors and mechanism just need a strip clean and oil, I would probably go for a rebuild kit. Be sure to unplug the motors as it is easy to kill the control module if you operate the motors without first disconnecting the motor cables.

 

[eeyoreish 758 1 Vehicles]

May as well do a proper job while they're out.

 

[s4simon 151 1 Vehicles]

For reference, here's some pics when I took mine apart 15 years ago.  Still working today so I must have done something right.

[eeyoreish 758 1 Vehicles]

I'm not getting any grinding, just one pod is a little slower raising and a couple of times didn't come all the way up.

Should I assume that the large cog is ok and I just need the 'basic' refurb kit (3 plastic bearings and gaskets)? Just trying to avoid having to order extra bits once they're apart and paying twice for postage!

[s4simon 151 1 Vehicles]

One of mine was slow and sometimes jammed. Stripped it down an cleaned all the gunky rusty bits. Came up as good as new. Gears were all fine luckily enough.

[eeyoreish 758 1 Vehicles]

Ok, maybe I'll whip out the lazy one and have a look inside it first. I don't have aircon so it looks pretty easy to access.

[Barrykearley 5,360]

If someone's packed it full of shitty grease - it doesn't help. Strip and a proper good clean out

[eeyoreish 758 1 Vehicles]

Access looked good so I dived in and stripped both of these down today. They were actually in very good nick inside, just a bit of carbon on the brushes and a bit of old grease.

Gave them both a good clean, a bit of fresh grease where required and adjusted out a bit of end float. Both felt nice and smooth after a bit of tlc.

Both working fine at the moment. If anything the lazy RH one is now a fraction quicker than the other coming up.

Noticed that my rubber up and down stops are all a bit chewed up. Has anyone replaced them? Where from?