Technical headlight adjuster constantly running (too high)

[Colledge]

my passenger side headlight has a constant whirring noise coming from it while the headlights are on and it seems to be stuck in the upper-most position, way too high.
is this a known problem / any easy fixes?

i have my MOT in a couple of weeks and don't fancy having to take the front off my car in the snow... so ideally i'd just cut the wires to the motor and manually adjust the beam for now and tackle the problem properly in the spring, but i'd need to know which wires are going to the motor first.

any help guys? :bang:

 

[mzhussein]

unfortunatley you cant just do that....

when its pointing too high, the adjuster motor has pushed the rod out so far it escapes the thread, so if you cut the wire it will still be pointing just at high as if you hadnt, all youd have is no noise and some mangled wiring....

and adjuting the headlight down whilst the motor is pushing it up will put allot of strain ont he R-L adjuster, so i advise against it or you might break somehting, the internals of the fiat OEM lights are quite weak...

id advise just grit your teeth and dismantle the front after getting a new motor. if you cant get hold of one, i have a spare brand new one you can have for £30 + postage.

any other Q's just post up...

 

[Colledge]

thanks for the info. so from them symptoms it definitely sounds like its the motor thats caput?

 

[mzhussein]

yeh its quite a common thing to happen. it gets corroded and gives up....the track inside no longer sens the position of the adjuster and it keeps sending the up signal, eventually leading to the rod leaving the adjuster thread....hence pointing at the sky...

 

[keviwal]

Hi ,

All is not lost!!
You can sometimes repair them.
I had exactly the fault you have got at the mo but on both headlights!
have a look at this link and you may be able to repair them.
It's not difficult just time consuming.
https://www.fiatforum.com/stilo/62363-headlight-alignment-motor-2.html

If i can help any further please let me know.

Cheers,

my passenger side headlight has a constant whirring noise coming from it while the headlights are on and it seems to be stuck in the upper-most position, way too high.
is this a known problem / any easy fixes?

i have my MOT in a couple of weeks and don't fancy having to take the front off my car in the snow... so ideally i'd just cut the wires to the motor and manually adjust the beam for now and tackle the problem properly in the spring, but i'd need to know which wires are going to the motor first.

any help guys? :bang:

 

[Austin09]

I have the same problem on my passenger headlight. I fixed it once. It was the screw thread being worn out since they are only soft plastic and it game off and would screw back on. I just cleaned up the threads and put it back on.
It was fine for quite a while but when it seems to have come out again.

There are VW golf ones you can use as well although i need to do a search for the part number. If anyone has any Fiat Stilo motors i'd be happy to buy it to save me repairing this one again!

 

[spyshagg]

so its common? My right side motor also gave up. Its pointing as up as it can.

I don't need to fix it, but can I adjust it easily?

 

[Big Black Stilo]

i repaired mine as described in this thread and the other thread linked. mine also started buggering about after a drenching so i thumped it and fixed it! I ended up taking the headlight out completely a week or so later to dry it out and repair it properly

interesting linky