Headlamp Pod Motor Seized

[s4simon]

What a bugger.

Was just prepping the car ready for this weeks MOT - went to check the lights, and the right one didn't budge. Tried to turn the manual lift screw and it was jammed solid.

Why oh why do they make it so difficult to remove the right one, which is hidden away under 6 layers of ABS gear, piping and numerous sharp (flesh piercing) hidden bits.

An hour to remove - an hour to strip and clean- and an hour the get the bugger back in.

All in all lots of quality swear words were uttered and I lost around 6 pints of blood. Which I suppose is average for working on the Esprit.

The gearing was fine. It was the other end that was causing the problem. The motor had seized due to rusting on the spindle. Cleaned the rotor, brush blocks and lubed it all up. Works a treat now.

Don't be scared to strip this motor down. It's quite a heavy duty piece of equipment. Good solid gearing and solid motor. Very simple in construction.

Appologies for the cr*p photo. Tried to show the amount of crud that got inside. Quite rusty, as the seal is not that good. Spose it was overdue for a good clean.

[rocket63]

Mmm. Nasty. Had the same prob on the S3 and I thought that was a pain. But on reflection, Re. "flesh tearing" maybe not. Id swap that for the pain of trying to find a decent Esprit to buy though

[s4simon]

Oh Dear - Back to square one for me today. Headlamp right pod failed again today.

Last time I was not able to get the rotor out (seemed jammed), and did not want to break anything. Just wanted to clean it enough to pass the MOT.

Anyway, ripped it out again and was determined to find exactly what the problem was. Started at the other end this time (Gearing) - no problems there, as when the gear was removed the rotor was still binding on rotation.

After some persuasive force was used the rotor finally came out. The brass bushing is actually held in by a (single use) springy piece of flat metal. There's no way the bushing will go back in with this in - so it's been relegated to the bin.

The spindle was actually binding on the magnets (absolutely full of crud). Spent a hour cleaning and polishing all the relevant bits. All put back together again - seems a bit too free. Anyway, reinstalled and works fine.

Hopefully this will be the end of my little headlamp saga.

[DanR]

Simon, I can sympathise with you especially having to do the job twice. My wife calls me "two-times" because I often have two attempts at repairing things.

While we're on h/lights, do they all open and shut with a loud thunk? Worries me that each time I use them they want to either leap out or bury themselves in the road. If they're all like this has anybody developed a way of softening their operation?

[Paul C]

Simon, I can sympathise with you especially having to do the job twice. My wife calls me "two-times" because I often have two attempts at  repairing things.

While we're on h/lights, do they all open and shut with a loud thunk? Worries me that each time I use them they want to either leap out or bury themselves in the road. If they're all like this has anybody developed a way of softening their operation?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Mine are loud like that too, on my last esprit they were quieter.

I'm just content that they work

[s4simon]

Yes Dan, mine also close with a thump. The only change I've noticed now is that they both close at exactly the same time - before there was about a quarter of a second difference.

The hardest bit was trying to put the first (of 3) screw in that holds the motor to the car chassis. Once thats in things tend to speed up.

Nice day today (rare).

Could be a day for polishing - yipee