Headlight problem

[TimCole]

Tonight was my first time driving my '88 Esprit at night.  When I returned home, the headlights wouldn't go down or turn off.  I'm assuming that since it's affecting both the motors and the on / off operation that it's likely to be the switch.  Any advice or opinions are appreciated.

[Chillidoggy]

Does your car have a pod delay module?

[CarBuff]

USA cars do have that module.

On our '88 it delays pod retraction by only a second or two. Can't remember if the delay module keeps the lights on, though.

 

Still, worth the time spent to reseat all the colorful modules and relays under the bonnet. (Always support/hold the wiring underneath when doing this to ensure that socket connectors are not pulled away.)  

 

Some contact cleaner might be worthwhile to use as well, since Tim's car was sitting dormant for a time.

[Jacques]

Hi Tim,

A few things to look into (like I did on my Esprit):

* light switch, clean.

* pod control module (relay at the relay arm and which on my car is the green relay) , can sometime stick and can usually be cured with good contact cleaner and a bit of pluging in and out a few times.

* Pod delay module, placed at the front of the car, next to one of the head lamps. Unplugs and unscrews and can then be taken apart (black sticky stuff sealant can be reused), and inspected for brown or burnt out special transistors, marked Q1 and Q2. Can be bought after some looking around, but can be real hard to find, so better preventative measures. No newer versions of these were made. Separated solderings may be found as well, because of uneven bumpy roads   Better cooling plated may be added to these parts indicated with red arrows, so they last longer. A bit like for example the mosfets on a Class A amp like the Musical Fidelity A1, which also can burn out because of insufficient cooling paste. in this case of the Esprit, an aluminium cooling plate together with cooling paste will Work.

* Clean all connectors with electrical cleaner as well. You may want to repeat this step two or three times.

* General notice. Usually it's a bit of a bad contact at the pod control module at the relay"arm", or relay-console. Seldomly it's the pod delay module, nla. but can be repaired at most instances.

My Esprit Works so, that upon activating the retraction of the head lamp pods, the lights go out, then a delay, then the retraction. This to ensure that no warm lamps are retracted into the bodyshell.

Kind regards,

jacques

 

 

[MarkL]

BTW can one mess up the lamp pod when having used the emergency winder to open the pod ? I mean if the motors are OK and you switch on iginition and/or head light: where will you end up with the pods ?

Is the gear free running or does it jam ? I just changed all bulbs in manual up-position and rewinded the pods back manually.  It might be saving winding it all back another time on the next instance.

[silverfrost]

No worries Mark on using the emergency winder,   just wind up, wind down as many times as you you like until you get the switch sorted.   You cant damage anything or underwind or overwind.  

Would personally just leave them up for the duration until you get the light switch sorted,   esprits look cool with the pods up imo  

[Escape]

I can confirm you can use the winders as you please, you don't even need to wind the pods down again before restoring electrical power. I often wind the pods up manually for washing or such, afterwards just flash high beam and they will retract. The manual winders turn the motor spindle, the end positions are determined by stall current at the stops, so nothing can go wrong (at least not with that part of the pop-up mechanism...)

Filip

[karyan]

Does any one have the specs for the MOSFET's so that replacements can be bought for installation in these pods. I've put in what were recommended replacements and they burnt out almost immediately

[drdoom]

MOSFETS ....???

[karyan]

Does any one have the specs for the MOSFET's so that replacements can be bought for installation in these pods. I've put in what were recommended replacements and they burnt out almost immediately

These beauties

[s4simon]

BUZ 10 S2 Power Transistor specs

 

BUZ10S2_SiemensSemiconductorGroup.pdf

[sailorbob]

If the BUZ 10 S2 transistors are burning out then two things come to mind; are they genuine Siemens or is there another fault in the headlight module causing the failure?

[karyan]

Thanks Simon much appreciated

They've been working ok for the last 20 years and as far as I'm aware were the originals. They just decided to give up the ghost recently. I'd like to replace the whole unit but of course you can't get them now

 

[sailorbob]

The originals are GI PA75 N85S, probably an in house GM reference.

The Fairchild FQP20N06L is also quoted as a replacement.

[karyan]

Thanks Sailorbob appreciate the update