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Registered
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Stafford, VA
Posts: 114
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I think my car is haunted
It's a project car really, I have only driven it abour 100 miles this year.
I start it up once a week. Last week it would not start, no fire from the coil (new coil). I checked all the wires, everything was fine so I ordered another new coil. Next day I was getting ready to pull the old coil out and tried it one more time, it started right up ![]() So as I was putting the coil cover back on, the headlight doors started opening and closing by themselves (key out of the ignition), this went on for about 1 minute!!! I checked all the wiring, grounds, fuses, ect.... and everything is tight and fine! How the heck can that happen?? My headlight doors do not come up when I turn on the lights unless I have the key on. It has not done it agian, everything seems fine now |
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Yea, but it's a dry heat
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 754
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Ron,
My headlights do this also on occassion. I attribute this to electrical gremlins. Wonder if any of the electrical experts here have run into this and can suggest a solution? |
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Registered
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 4,554
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bad ignition switch?
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Kyle 2008 Mini Cooper // '83 Porsche 944 // '01 Mazda Protege [sold] // "Never break more than you fix!" - SoCal Driver |
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I had my lights go up and down and up and down a few years ago -- finally figured out that it is a failed headlight motor control relay that the electrical gremlins use to cause this.
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Larry 1986 944 Black (guarded by a 1998 Chow Chow, also Black) |
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winter-hater club member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: salt lake city, utah
Posts: 24,705
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my car would swallow parts. i had a complete set of new pulleys and rollers in a bag in my car, including the timing pulley for the crankshaft. when it came time to replace those parts, the crankshaft pulley, which is not small, was just gone. also, i dropped some screws on the floor when removing the console and they just disappeared, along with a relay. i even had the seats out. the parts were just gone.
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2000 Corvette - ????, 2007 Buell XB9R - Astrid, 1996 Discovery - Piglet, 2000 Forester "COOL PRIUS!" - Nobody Ever |
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Nynor...I can relate to your symptoms...Mine does that occasionally as well.
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Tom 1990 944S2 Cabriolet 2002 Chevy Silverado 2500HD 2003 Maroon Ford F350 dually |
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Registered
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: England
Posts: 55
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Ron, mine too.
Sometimes when I drop the headlamps, they will carry on cycling up and down. Usually popping the bonnet and jiggling the relay on the side of the motor cures it. Although recently they've not been to bad. (knocks on wood)
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White 91 944 Turbo Lindsey boost enhancer, 3 bar FPR, Bailey BOV and Promax chips. |
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i had this too, a while back. driving home from work, the headlights went up and down, all by themselves. i remember thinking "now thats something you dont come across too often". well, later that day they kept cycling up and down. all manner of warning lights on the dash, and to top it off, the engine kept running, with the key out !! if i switched on the headlights, the engine stopped!!
talk about car being haunted. well, apparently a wire got trapped, when my alarm was installed, and about 15 wires all melted together. really bad mess. there is no fuse in the headlamp motor circuit, so if it goes tits up, it will draw whatever current it can, and it will set your car on fire, so beware. check clarks garage, for faultfinding on the headlamp motor/circuit, and play it safe! bob.
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1984 944 na. FR. WILK power prom/dual chip. 2005 buick. daily beater 2002 grand am--better halfs ride. olds 98 royal brougham--gone, but not forgotten. |
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Registered
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Stafford, VA
Posts: 114
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Thanks guys.
I can't see any pinched wires or loose connections. Guess I'll keep looking. Now I'm afraid of fire |
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winter-hater club member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: salt lake city, utah
Posts: 24,705
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have you checked the relay that is attached to the headlight motor?
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2000 Corvette - ????, 2007 Buell XB9R - Astrid, 1996 Discovery - Piglet, 2000 Forester "COOL PRIUS!" - Nobody Ever |
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Registered
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Stafford, VA
Posts: 114
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Quote:
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Ontario, Canada
Posts: 4,554
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LOL
best test ever.... "have you checked the light bulb to see if it works?" "kinda.. it's screwed in the socket and the lamp is plugged in..."
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Kyle 2008 Mini Cooper // '83 Porsche 944 // '01 Mazda Protege [sold] // "Never break more than you fix!" - SoCal Driver |
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It is probably the contacts inside of the motor itself. There is a good guide to cleaning them over on Clark's garage. This or a failing relay can commonly trigger the headlights cycling problem.
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2010 Hyundai Elantra Touring, GLS 5 speed, Indigo Blue Metallic. 2.0L of Korean fury! Buy my parts! |
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Back from Beyond
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Alberta, Canada
Posts: 2,697
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Always with the headlight switch, eh? The contacts become intermittent, and changes in temperature, humidity, phases of the moon, can wreak havoc with them. And now, with winter coming, these things pop up (or don't, depending on how your switch is doing). I had a fire years ago because of this problem, and it was fixed by a mechanic for me. This summer I spent quite a while cutting out his work and replacing wires. What I found interesting was the green and red wire from the switch to the motor control relay showed signs of burning again - that's the culprit. I even considered running a completely separate control for the headlight motor and getting all that wiring and voltage out of the headlight switch circuit.
The car used to retract its headlights whenever it felt like it, and removing the relay at the motor led to a short that started the fire. Leave that relay in unless you're just taking it out to clean it or replace it.
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'88 944 Auto - project, kinda '87 944 Auto - died saving my wife '84 944 5SP - crushed under shop roof during snow storm All others GONE! |
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winter-hater club member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: salt lake city, utah
Posts: 24,705
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Quote:
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2000 Corvette - ????, 2007 Buell XB9R - Astrid, 1996 Discovery - Piglet, 2000 Forester "COOL PRIUS!" - Nobody Ever |
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Ontario, Canada
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hahahaha poor nynor...
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Kyle 2008 Mini Cooper // '83 Porsche 944 // '01 Mazda Protege [sold] // "Never break more than you fix!" - SoCal Driver |
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winter-hater club member
Join Date: Oct 2003
Location: salt lake city, utah
Posts: 24,705
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actually, the victim is power's car...
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2000 Corvette - ????, 2007 Buell XB9R - Astrid, 1996 Discovery - Piglet, 2000 Forester "COOL PRIUS!" - Nobody Ever |
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Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: ventura,ca
Posts: 290
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i just stopped using my headlights....... night vision goggles works for me??
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1988 924s mars red coastal cruzer |
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