Hideaway headlight relay

I can't seem to get the hideaway headlight doors on my 71 Charger to close when I turn off the light switch. They open right up when I turn on the light switch. They just won't close (except manually). Not sure what the problem is and maybe someone has an idea of what the heck is going on.
Just incase the whole relay set up has to be replaced; does anyone know of a solid state replacement for the hideaway headlight relay set-up? Or has someone out there redesigned the assembly with other over the counter parts?
Thanks

Bad ground??...all the relay is doing reversing the polarity on the relay (I speak from knowledge of the 70 Charger relay). How do you shut off your headlights?

I know that if you shut off your engine first and keyed 12v are off with the headlights on, then shut the headlights switch to the off position, the lights stay on for about another minute due to the Headlight delay relay. maybe you have one of those in your system and it is faulty.

If you shut off your headlight switch first then the engine, do your headlights shut off with the eyelids raised?

Make sure the motor is spinning good and free. They have bad habit of seizing up.

Thanks for the fast reply. The headlights are turned off with the light switch. They do indeed shut off but the doors remain open.

i'm having a similar problem, mine open up when i turn the key on the light switch does nothing. on or off. going to follow this thread

first thing to do is check the power going to the motor- disconnect the plug to the motor-turn on the ing. switch to on.

check both wires- one should have power-"close" side.
the other should be dead.

now turn on the lights and the ing. switch on- they should now be reversed- the one that was off is now power for the "open" side.

if this checks out- the small park contact in the motor is open- not allowing the power to go to the motor to turn it closed-
a normal operation is the contact is closed- power goes thur it to the motors windings- when the doors are closed- the contact inside will open and turn the power off to the motor.
same as the reverse to open the doors.

hope this helps

John Mac

Thanks for the information. I will try what you suggested. If it turn out that the "park" contact is the probable problem, where is it located?
attaboy

it is inside the motor- where the wires go in.

it also could be the plastic cam is broken inside too!!

John,
The two pin connector has a female connection that has a wht/blk wire into it and the male connection has a red/blk wire going into it.

Headlights off- power on the red/blk connection
no power on the blk/wht connection

Headlights on- power on the wht/blk connection
no power on the red/blk connection
attaboy

I've srewed up a bit- to check for the voltages at the motor as stated- the ing. switch has to be on to supply the headlight motor power.

I've corrected the post.

so try it again with the ing. switch on for the proper chek!!

John Mac

colors for the wires in the factory manual are:

black with a red tracer= close
dark blue with a yellow tracer= open

I had the ignition switch to the acc position at the time of voltage check. I may have gotten the colors wrong for the blk/yell wire and mistaken those colors as being blk/wht. The results remain the same. The test seems to indicate what you had mentioned about the contact inside the motor. What does that little thing look like and how do I fix? Maybe just a corruption on contact?

TO CHECK THE MOTOR:

take a wire from the + side of the battery

touch the wire to the dark blue wire with the yellow tracer- the doors should open

next touch it to the black with red tracer- it should close- if not then the problem is in the motor.

pics to follow

next

I remember going crazy with my 71 Charger with headlight closures as well.

Since you are able to close them manually probably not the plastic gear, but be careful, they break VERY easy ( ask me how I know..)

I've had the motor apart as well, check the contacts make sure they are not corroded and also making proper contact.

Also make sure they are adjusted properly.
If I remember correctly I had to adjust them manually to the point the doors would just start to close. That way there was enough travel when the switch was turned off.

If it turns out to be the relay, I think I have an extra lying around.

Keep us posted.
Good luck.

Thanks for the pics and instructions. That'll be the next thing I try. I'll keep you posted. I appreciate all of your help.
attaboy

I don't remember what I did for mine....I think I got the headlamp motor off of a 70-72 C body. I pulled the plastic gear inside and the bulkhead and re-soldered all the connections on the motor itself. They were all badly corroded, so I sealed with electrical tape paste and heatsinked everything. I believe the connector was the same one used on the front valance turn signals which I eventually took out and replaced with GM weather-tite connectors. Like I said...been about 8 years since I played around with that motor...grease the heck out of the gear when you get it working with graphite lube. I even made a plexiglas sheath to encapsulate the motor on the front to prevent it from getting wet during rains.

Just out of curiosity....could the headlamp switch be bad? You get juice to the relay when you turn on the lights, but when you shut it off, the lights shut off and it triggers a reverse polarity through the switch and into the relay. If your headlamp switch isn't sending that signal due to corrosion or cratering, wouldn't the switch be at fault. I think I remember my doors being closed, headlamp switch in the off position...and the knob on the bottom of the motor casing was still magnetically energized. The only way to open and close manually was to disconnect the pigtail (weather-tite for me). If you don't have the electromagnetic force on the knob, then you have a supply failure

Thanks for your input too. I'll indeed keep you posted. Thanks for the offer of your spare relay. It may come to that. I don't know which would be worse; a bad motor or a bad relay. I'll keep trying to figure it out.
attaboy

Well, I connected up a wire to the positive side of the battery and checked each of the two connections on the connector going to the headlight door motor. Each worked perfectly. The doors opened when I touched the Blu/Yel and they closed when I touched the wire to the Red/Blk.
I verified earlier that the relay/headlight switch are working correctly because the power "switched" between the two wires when the headlight switch was turned on and then off. So what else could be the problem?

Hi I understand that You have to center your motor there is a marke on the casing or just count the turn and divide the rotation by two and make sure when You install the rod that your door are half close or half open and it should work give it a try Francis.

Quote:

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Hi I understand that You have to center your motor there is a marke on the casing or just count the turn and divide the rotation by two and make sure when You install the rod that your door are half close or half open and it should work give it a try Francis.

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Right, this is what I was trying to say in my earlier post, forgot all about the mark on the casing. (Thanks for the memory jogging .

I believe all of this is stated in the manual as well.