Technical Headlight Alignment Motor

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Technical Headlight Alignment Motor

Re: Headlights making a whirring noise

I noticed this for the first time the other day while using the follow me home function, and it's been niggling at me. Not sure if I could have done some damage when I removed the clusters to change the bulbs. It's up on the ramp tomorrow so I might whip em out and check the lamps are seated ok.
 
Re: Driver Side Headlight Motor problem

Has anyone found anything more on this topic? I've recently noticed that my driver's side dipped beam is making a noise, clearly coming from the motor, and it appears to be adjusting side to side (maybe an optical illusion?) :confused:

I'm worried about blinding other drivers and also burning the motor out, but I don't fancy replacing the whole unit (no £). I'm thinking of lining the lights up (shine them on a wall or something) and then cutting the wire from that motor to stop them auto-adjusting.
Any thoughts?
 
How do you remove the headlight levelling motor

Anyone,
My headlight leveling motors are not working at all and I would like to extract them to have a look if I can somehow repair them. I have normal lights (non-Xenon). I can reach the motor with my hand after removing the plastic cover of the headligh - but pulling it, twisting it, just do not work.
Anyone done this?
Is there any special procedure on how to remove it? If anyone has a service manual, maybe he can post a scan of the page describing that procedure?
thx in advance
 
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noise from headlights!?

hi there, ive got a small problem with the headlight assembly on the stilo, it makes a noise, like a motor whiring when the headlights are on. you cant hear it above the engine, but when you turn the key that first bit you can, even with the windows closed. sounds like the "up and downy motor" is stuck or something.

Any ideas guys?

Cheers
 
noise

here we go again :cry: when i turn my headlights on theres a noise like a motor running somewhere is this common or have i just been unlucky again :D 53 reg 19 jtd stilo i cant hear it in the car but i can when im outside of it its not faint its loud enough anyone got any ideas ?
 
Stilo headlamp motor

Hello,
I'm new to this site, and was looking for advice.
I've got a stilo 5 door 2003.

The motor inside the passenger headlamp is whining all the time, does not look like the lamp is moving (or the whole unit).

Have been advised to get NCT done (MOT test in Ireland) and see if this problem with motor affects allignment test.

Also have been advised that I need a whole unit replaced, cannot replace just the motor in the headlamp cluster. (found a 2nd hand on ebay for around €60)

Has anyone had any experience with this, could it be a fuse or something simple?

NK, Navan, Ireland
 
Re: Stilo headlamp motor

To check if it affects headlamp alignment, shine the lights on a wall at night and look at the beam pattern hitting the wall. If both lights apear level then it is probably OK for the test. If one is mich higher/ lower than the other, you have a problem.
Probably buying a light on e-bay is the cheapest way to go. Just check with the seller that it has the alignment motor in the light. Sometimes they are sold with it removed.
 
Re: Stilo headlamp motor

Well I had a look at this today. Removed battery, fusebox, tray to get into the lens.
Got the motor unit out and opened it up.
This fixed it was back on the lens and doing it's job.
Whole job took me 1 day and no need for any salvage to mend this problem.
Going for the re-test now, hoping that all will be ok.
Thanks for the advice. And some old threads were really helpful.
Navan_Stilo
 
Headlight Leveler Motor Alternative Fix

Thought this fix may come in handy for those looking for headlamp motor fix ,,have done both of mine on my 1.9 jtd multiwagon, the o/side was doing the crunching noise and the n/side was hit and miss, took them apart and no easy fix on the variable resistor inside that can be the usual fault.
Anyhows looking for a cheap fix I spotted some of the same design for Ford Fiesta MK4 MK5/Mondeo MK1 MK2 the moving screw pin are longer and can be swaped from your faulty one as the cover for the motor is just clip fit and the board clip fits also then the whole board just slides out , best way I came to was just to swap the good circuit board into your existing stilo headlamp motor adjuster but first the only thing to do is either de-solder the connector socket on the board and spin it 180 degrees and solder into the extra 3 existing holes which is the way I did it or you could swap the 2 outer wires on the connector block that fits into the motor as the ford one has the connector on the opposite side the is the connector hole in the housing to allow wire connector in either side, ,, so if your having trouble finding a headlamp adjuster motor in your breakers yard is worth keeping an eye out for the fiesta/mondeo one's ,,,mine are zipping up and down nicely now and no trouble with the beam height so long as your old screw pin is in good order to use
 
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Re: Headlight Motor Alternative Fix

yep thats the one I used , I did both sides using the ford item but remember you have to use your old rotating pin as the ford is longer and you have to rotate the connector block on the circuit board 180 and solder into the 3 other holes on the board , you may get away with just swapping the 2 outer wires, it does work and I found them easier to source and cheaper, have you taken your faulty one apart yet as may be worth checking the pin is located and the sliding resistor is clean, but otherwise if your handy with a soldering iron or wiring you be ok
 
Re: Headlight Motor Alternative Fix

Yep had it all apart today, all looked lovely and clean inside, although couldn't get the mechanism out of the casing (although I didn't try that hard).

Didn't specifically look at the sliding resistor might do it all again tomorrow or buy the motor first then do it.

Any tips for getting the mechanism out of the casing? Think I might make a guide when I do it again.
 
Re: Headlight Motor Alternative Fix

http://www.evilution.co.uk/pages/print.php?mod=396

have a look there Punto will give you an idea on taking the casings apart, to get the pin out all you do is use a small srewdriver to turn the round plastic part that is turned by the motor and it will make the plastic pin that moves the headlight move out when it has reached the end of the thread you can pull the pin mechanism out may take a little jiggling but does come out just take care not to damage the tiny prongs that clip into the resistor , those motors are made by the same company and do have different components on the board think the stilo one is a newer design using a chip where the ford uses old style diodes and resistors , but no worries they both do the same thing, is usually the sliding resistor that goes
 
Re: Headlight Motor Alternative Fix

just had a wee thought Punto that if you have any trouble pulling the pin out then so long as you have wound the plastic ring to the end of the thread you could leave it in the case and just remove the circuit board then just replace the circuit board when you have swapped the connect on the board, so may work either way , the cases are identical apart from the stilo wires plug in from the opposite side to the ford.
 
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Re: Headlight Motor Alternative Fix

I would not be sure on that other fiat motor as the whole case is a different shape so the circuit board may be designed to a different shape although the working components would most probably be similar, so unless you can get a look at the inners may not fit into the stilo case, the reason I took the plunge to experiment with the ford one is that the cases are the same , the ford option is not that difficult , even if you just have a go at taking your broken stilo motor apart you having nothing to loose as it is already broken and you see how it all fits together and what part does what, another thing to watch for is if your driving about with out your motor in place as the moving reflective part of your headlight will be rattling about a bit, so could be best to get the job done when you have a few spare hours, the longest part being getting the the motor in and out of the headlight , found the drivers side ok but the passenger side was a case of doing it from removing a the wheel arch cover, still all good practice if I need to change a bulb
 
Re: Headlight Motor Alternative Fix

Most often the tiny two finger clip that fits around the linear resistor gets weak and becomes detached from the resistor.
DSC00250.JPG
You can see the clips have become detached from the resistor moving pin -top left in the picture here

This means the motor has no way of knowing when to stop and it just keeps on going until the leveller adjusting screw reaches the end of its travel and just jams there. You then find the motor just makes an endless whirring noise whenever you have the headlights switched on as nothing is telling it to stop

The levelling motor top is held on with 4 spring clips


DSC00253.JPG
You can then carefully remove the circuit board and motor

DSC00252.JPG
Here's the casing (circuit board removed) with the jammed levelling screw. You have to free off the levelling screw but you can't do anything whilst it's stilll in there. To get it out, the screw is a one time fit in the casing and held in by lugs on either side? I just hit it squarely on the end with the casing resting on a hard surface. It'll break one of the side lugs but they're not really necessary as it can't go anywhere.
DSC00254.JPG
Here's the levelling screw jack and you can see the securing lugs on ether side that hold it in on assembly. Once the screw jack is out then you can get it moving again and put some lub on the screw threads.
DSC00256.JPG
Then you just have to make the clip stay on the resistor pin. I used some superglue there

When refitting the leveller, make sure the popper at the end of the screw jack pops into place in the headlight panel.
 
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Re: Headlight Motor Alternative Fix

once again a fantastic guide by mr decks. thank you (y)

unfortunately when trying to fiddle with mine, i ended up breaking the clip which the leveler pops into in the headlight itself :bang:
 
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