S1 Headlight Motor

[dglotusltd]

My headlamp lift function appears to have packed in and they no longer rise and fall with the dash switch. I should mention that when they stopped working I found the left pod bucket filled with water after a nasty rain storm I got caught in.

Lights do come on but the motor does not operate.

Manual knob at the base of the motor does move them so the linkage is not broken or binding.

All fuses are ok and power to them is ok.

Dash switch was monetarily bypassed to verify its not the switch. Circuit operate the same way.

Fender mounted cutoff switch operates properly and the ckt does not work even when its bypassed. (Bonnet was off the car for all this testing).

Pektron Inverter (aka the Diode in the ckt) was tested, bypassed and even replaced with a new one to no avail.

And last but not least, I seem to get +12 and Ground properly to the two leads of the motor itself with no resulting action. I can even hear the approprite relay make up when I operate the microswitches by hand while the pods are at the halfway point between open and closed.

I am assuming that the way this bugger operates is that it rotates on only one direction as power is applied. At the half way points are the two microswitches that kill the power to the motor if the headlight pod are either at the bottom or the top of their travel. Is this correct or is there some magic current reversal that takes place that I cannot perceive?

Sounds like when all is said and done, the motor has packed up.

Am I missing something I should check by assuming this is the case?

Anybody have a US equivalent or some other way to replace it short of calling the usual suspects (Frank at SCW, Jeff at JAE, Dave Bean, etc...)

DomG

77 S1 Esprit

New York Area, US

[Guest teigan]

sounds to me like rusted/corroded bushings or contacts. short of disassembling the motor, you won't know. i'd say source some pontiac fiero motors and make them fit. these motors pack up on their own at some point anyway, so you'll be ahead of the curve.

[dglotusltd]

I've seen the Fiero units. From pictures they look nothing like the metal can looking unit in the S1.

I'd swear its a wiper motor from the looks of it.