New owner Pop up headlights driving mechanic nuts

[Ferrariguyma]

I have a 1984 944 NA.

I was not blessed with any mechanical skills, so I brought it to my trusted mechanic to have him address a few maintenance items and on my list for him was the pop up headlights. They go up perfectly, they only go down if I get out of the car and give them a slight tap.

He has lubed every point, tested the motor (clearly it works because the move one way)

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

Andrew

[Jfrahm]

This is usually the rotary contactor that lives in the headlight motor assembly, it gets worn and cruddy and may not make the right connections for proper headlight operation. Poking the manual knob moves the contactor to a clean spot.

It could also be the relay or switch I suppose. Be careful if you monkey with them as the linkage can operate unexpectedly and crunch fingers.

The easiest thing is to put in a new/used headlight motor as you may not want to pay labor for troubleshooting and testing.

-Joel.

[mytrplseven]

My headlights were going up and down when I closed them. I replaced the relay and it fixed it. Do the easy stuff first.

[Ferrariguyma]

Much appreciated!

[cschmidt]

Also check the plastic surrounds that go around the bulbs. Mine were loose and would move around. When the headlights were going down they would catch on the frame underneath. Rebolted in and no problems. Good luck.

[Bradical]

Originally Posted by cschmidt

Also check the plastic surrounds that go around the bulbs. Mine were loose and would move around. When the headlights were going down they would catch on the frame underneath. Rebolted in and no problems. Good luck.

Yup, similar experience here. It ended up being that my wiper pump fell loose and was interrupting the closing of the lights. Even simpler fix.