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Duck

Headlight Adjustment Actuator Running Continuously

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2006 cdi, just noticed that the lights (interior/exterior) all pulse/ebb at ~2Hz when car is running. Frequency doesn't change with engine rpm. Any ideas? Failing voltage regulator on alternator?

Edited by Duck

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Failing voltage regulator on alternator?

That would be my guess. Has the altenator ever been replaced?

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You can check it with a multimeter to see if the voltage drops when Idling and if it climbs when revving the engine.

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Aha! The culprit is the right headlight's vertical adjustment motor. I could hear it running continuously. What does it use for position feedback, a pot? I suspect a feedback wire has broken and its trying to achieve some position but never gets there, or something mechanically broke preventing it from moving.

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Alternator issues almost always change with engine rpm. Good find on the headlight leveler, I have heard of a few being replaced by a local specialist. Could be one of the alignment sockets has come out of the hole so inner workings are loose and unable to find the right height? Again something I have seen often enough, but unplugging it will solve the issue short term

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Posted (edited) · Report post

Aha! The culprit is the right headlight's vertical adjustment motor. I could hear it running continuously. What does it use for position feedback, a pot? I suspect a feedback wire has broken and its trying to achieve some position but never gets there, or something mechanically broke preventing it from moving

When the servos behave the way you describe, they can be repaired. It's a matter of getting the servo out, disassembling it and cleaning the position sensor. It's the slide with the gray pin:

post-13038-0-40863500-1428124289_thumb.jpg

post-13038-0-30469200-1428124384_thumb.jpg

Edited by turbomar
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Thanks for the pics! Unfortunately, I can't access the motor. I got the light module out, and managed to get the front cover off (every single plastic clip broke, $&@#%), and the fixed reflector (again, broke every single tab trying to pry it free, I HATE working on this piece of shit sometimes) but I can only release 2 of the 3 clips that hold the movable part to the ball joints. So I can't get at the servo.

I might just cut the wires. Don't need vertical adjustment, always thought that was a stupid feature that was just going to break some day (it did).

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Posted (edited) · Report post

Just said screw it and wrenched the lens out. Busted apart the servo but the big nylon gear and screw for the actuator plunger are stripped. No amount of turning will move the plunger. I suspect the motor just stayed on for so long that it stripped the screw threads on the plunger.

I put my drill on the drive gear and spun it hard and with some force on the plunger got the threads to climb back onto the "good" part of the plunger.

Will stroke the pot a bit and put back together and see if that does it. If not, cut wires it is.

Edited by Duck

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Got it all back together and tested and looks good. I suspect that there was a particle or something on the linear pot and it just "ran off the end".

Thanks again for the photos, Turbomar!

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What is this component for? Are power adjustable headlights an option or something?

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Your headlight beams could be aimed lower if you were carrying a load (heavy passengers, cargo area full, Etc)

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Iain if you had read the topics on disassembling the headlights, you would have noticed that a hair dryer or heat gun should be used to make the clips less brittle. Live and learn...

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Mike is right, a hair dryer is a must for this task that can't be rushed.

This was one of first repairs I performed when I first bought the car a few years back which still operates properly, a cool feature might I add

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And where was I supposed to have discovered this titilating fact? Where were you 3 hours ago? :P

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Also, hair dryer? Not in our household. Two guys with shaved heads have no use for one!

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I never used mine anyhow, when my pass side started moaning I just aimed it, disconnected the adjustment motor, and left it. MB couldn't find the part, and my parts car came without headlight assemblies. Cool feature, but I didn't find it overly useful. Just another part to fail.

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I've used it when the car is fully loaded during road trips to Seattle and the Rockies. So far I've not suffered the problem, but I have a spare motor assembly for when I do.

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I use mine fairly frequently. I have it set to the "up" position most of the time, but being a courteous (i.e.: non-Ontario) driver, I dip them when driving behind people on normally-lit suburban roads.

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Re broken clips: Plastics rather do come with a "best before" date, and although a hairdryer does help, past a certain age it's just not the same material and breaks like crazy at the slightest provocation.

BTW Duck, I'll pass 280K km next week. I'm kinda eyeing your position on the mileage list, is that current? Any road trips planned?

Car's running great, work requires high miles, car remains perfect for my work and I still love it. Compared to maybe a Corolla, much the fuel savings ends up going for service costs but I love the car so much it's worth it, and compared to something like a Dodge Ram (what I "should" drive in my job) I figure I'm better than even on service and about 50 grand ahead on fuel. 7 years, $50,000. It's a deduction so the difference to the bank account is less but still huge.

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Hi All:

I need advice on this topic. I have a 2006 smart Passion and the headlight leveler motor on the right side runs constantly without actually changing the level of the light.

Our smart is only summer driven with 60000K. I took off the front end and am prepared to snip wires to stop this motor, but I see four different coloured wires going into the light motor housing. Which wire or wires do I cut to disable the headlight leveler motor?

Thanks in advance.

Ron

HIGH IQ

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