Proper headlamp operation??

[Benco]

Hi, I’m at the stage of putting things back together….like the pop up headlamps! 
I have never seen these work before as the electrics were shot when I got the car…. So I’d appreciate your opinions….are these working properly?

The arms seem to be parked in different positions between the two lights, and that’s why they seem to operate at different times when energised or turned off. Also I understand why they go down before popping up….but is that correct or do I need to adjust them?

thanks 🙂

[Gray14]

Hi Terry,

I've had some issues with my S2.2 headlamps pods but I've not seen them drop before rising.

 

[TAR]

@Benco That looks like you may have one of the arms that attach to the motor 180 degree out, or one motor needing to move through a cycle to sync with the other one.  

[Benco]

Thanks Tar, both motor arms are broadly ‘in sync’, both pointing in the same direction when in the ‘up’ position. However they are in slightly different positions, say 5 to 10 degrees out from each other.

I presume that the rotating arms need to be at the ‘furthest position’ away when the pods are down so that any further rotation only raises them? I see a lot of posts about adjusting the lock nut on top of the motor to ensure that the motor is properly parking in both of its positions.

So plan is:

• get the motors ‘parking’ properly, esp. when ‘down’
• adjust the threaded bar to line up the pods with the bodywork when ‘down’
• the ‘up’ should look after itself (as the pod is managed with the ‘stop’ and the rod isn’t fixed to the pod, the spring then pushes it up)

[Gray14]

The YouTube video at 14.30 it shows the 2 stop positions of the lever arm which are not at 180' 

When in the up position the arm and adjusting rod are in line, but not when down.

 

[TAR]

Sounds like a good plan. 

The screw to resist the rotation of the motor is important for ensuring that the motor momentum doesn't carry the arm past the parked position. You'll find yourself adjusting this a fair bit as setting everything up without the light fitting in place will have an effect on the weight being lifted. You'll be quite fed up with it after several iterations of adjust/fit/test  

[Benco]

Thanks all for help, I’ve cleaned the connections on the motors (the copper strips) and made some really good connections. The arms are now aligned when in the up position,  and are parking in the correct position (not 180 degrees as I originally thought).

They still both go ‘down’ a little before raising and the passenger side motor is slower to get to the up position. Interestingly the passenger side motor is the newer of the two. 

Given that the parking position is 90 degrees (9 o’clock looking at the arm) … and the arm rotates anti-clockwise …. then I can understand that the pod gets pulled down until the arm rotates through the 7 o’clock position, and starts to move up from 7 o’clock to around 1 o’clock (the up position). 
 

I presume this is the same for everyone? 🙂

[TAR]

I'm trying to recall where the arms are at rest (headlamp off/pod down). The arms on the motor can be fitted in 2 different positions (180 degrees apart as mentioned above).

I sorted an acquaintances Elite headlamps but unfortunately, I can't get to see the car any more so am unable to check the correct orientation.  

[Gray14]

Here is a pic of the pod in the UP position, the lever arm and the spring/adjustment arm line up.

 

[Gray14]

Just wondering if the engraved line on the body of the motor is aligned with the arrow head  on the motor endplate, as shown in the picture on left on page 12 of the pdf below. This might cause the drop before they lift up to on position.

Lucas Pod Motor Strip.pdf

[Benco]

Thanks - in the up position the arms on mine align like yours (which is good). Do you happen to know which way the arm rotates (clockwise or anti-clockwise)?

[Gray14]

It rotates anti-clockwise looking at the arm side. In the up position the arm is at 45* clockwise from the vertical, rotating anti-clockwise by what looks to be 135*, to 9.00 o'clock position.

If you cut and paste and  Google this: " Repairing   Refitting Headlamps - Triumph TR7 Restoration Part 15 " you should find a good video of a TR7 Headlamp restoration. Go to 15:15 minutes in and it shows the motor operating.

[Gray14]

Pod Up Position

 

Pod Down Position

[Benco]

Thanks, then mine is the same as yours 👍. I guess that it’s just normal for the pod to ‘dip’ before it gets into the up position. 🙂

[Gray14]

Mine doesn't dip, but its just struck me the spring/adjusting arm could be lengthened to to adjust out the dip.

When pod is up the spring compensates for the extra length. You might be able to set the correct length through the access hole in the underside, or more likely through the up pod with headlight and back cover removed