General What is this whirring sound when the lights are on?

[skrrt]

Hi everyone! When I turn on my lights there is this weird whirring sound. I am trying to identify what makes it and how to stop it. I figure it might be the motor for adjusting the lights as that is broken. Does anyone have an idea of what it is and how to stop it?

Video: https://imgur.com/a/sfvzZzT

Thank you in advance.

 

[skrrt]

I just realized there is no sound on the clip.. Here is the clip with sound https://gofile.io/?c=53pIiN

 

[portland_bill]

One side only?
Does sound like the adjuster motor trying to find its base setting. If you operate the height adjust, does it respond? Does the other side?

 

[Ralf S.]

I'll try to listen to the sound video later.. can't open it where I am... but if it's coming from the headlamp then it's almost certainly the adjuster motor. There's a little motor in there like from a Scalextric slot-racing car.. it turns a small nylon wheel that winds a lever out that pushes the reflector down, or pulls it up.

If any of that goes wrong (e.g. if the nylon wheel spindle seizes up or it strips its teeth) then the motor will keep turning, until it eventually burns out and stops buzzing.

You'll need new motors; since last May the headlamp adjusters became an MOT test item, so they have to now work, even if the beams are not dazzling anyone.

Good news is that the motors are only aboot £8 each on the Bay of Fleas.

Bad news is that it's a bumper- and headlights-off job to change them.. (don't let anyone fool you that it can be done with the headlamp in place.... you need a trained Capuchin monkey with double-jointed elbows for that). It's *possible* but you'll be there 4 hours and swear a lot. Have a go by all means.. then take the bumper off..

Removing the bumper is not difficult in itself.. you just need to take your time, remove the wheel arch liners, undo all the bumper bolts (two at each front wing, which may be Torx heads... and a couple or three under the radiator). Then you have to unbolt the bumper supports under the headlamps (two bolts each) and then finally the headlamps - three bolts each.

It's *much* easier and you'll be able to see how it all fits together with the headlamps on your kitchen table.

The motors have a rod with a nipple on the end.. this fits into a groove on the back of the reflector. Unclip the tiny electrical (tab) connector and unscrew the motor (2 small screws) and then slide/rotate the nipple out of the groove. The new ones go in the same way.

The reflector might move when you take the old one out and the new motor nipple won't then reach the groove.. so use your Capuchin to press the reflector down at one end, so the groove moves towards the nipple. Slot it in (it rotates slightly as it goes in) and screw it in place... then re-connect the connector.

While you have the lights out.. replace ALL the bulbs.. since this is a brilliant opportunity - and you already saw how much space there is behind the lamps when they're in the car... And make sure the dust covers are fixed correctly.

I would replace BOTH motors at the same time. They're c.15 years old now.. and if one has gone, the other can't be in much better shape. It may even be not working already and you've got away with it since the MOT changes, if your last tester didn't remember the new stuff and forgot to test it. For the trouble you need to go to, when you have to change it later, it makes sense to spend an extra £8 now.

Ralf S.

 

[skrrt]

One side only?
Does sound like the adjuster motor trying to find its base setting. If you operate the height adjust, does it respond? Does the other side?

I think it's the adjuster motor. There is no response when adjusting the head lights. The other side is quiet.

 

[skrrt]

I'll try to listen to the sound video later.. can't open it where I am... but if it's coming from the headlamp then it's almost certainly the adjuster motor. There's a little motor in there like from a Scalextric slot-racing car.. it turns a small nylon wheel that winds a lever out that pushes the reflector down, or pulls it up.

If any of that goes wrong (e.g. if the nylon wheel spindle seizes up or it strips its teeth) then the motor will keep turning, until it eventually burns out and stops buzzing.

You'll need new motors; since last May the headlamp adjusters became an MOT test item, so they have to now work, even if the beams are not dazzling anyone.

Good news is that the motors are only aboot £8 each on the Bay of Fleas.

Bad news is that it's a bumper- and headlights-off job to change them.. (don't let anyone fool you that it can be done with the headlamp in place.... you need a trained Capuchin monkey with double-jointed elbows for that). It's *possible* but you'll be there 4 hours and swear a lot. Have a go by all means.. then take the bumper off..

Removing the bumper is not difficult in itself.. you just need to take your time, remove the wheel arch liners, undo all the bumper bolts (two at each front wing, which may be Torx heads... and a couple or three under the radiator). Then you have to unbolt the bumper supports under the headlamps (two bolts each) and then finally the headlamps - three bolts each.

It's *much* easier and you'll be able to see how it all fits together with the headlamps on your kitchen table.

The motors have a rod with a nipple on the end.. this fits into a groove on the back of the reflector. Unclip the tiny electrical (tab) connector and unscrew the motor (2 small screws) and then slide/rotate the nipple out of the groove. The new ones go in the same way.

The reflector might move when you take the old one out and the new motor nipple won't then reach the groove.. so use your Capuchin to press the reflector down at one end, so the groove moves towards the nipple. Slot it in (it rotates slightly as it goes in) and screw it in place... then re-connect the connector.

While you have the lights out.. replace ALL the bulbs.. since this is a brilliant opportunity - and you already saw how much space there is behind the lamps when they're in the car... And make sure the dust covers are fixed correctly.

I would replace BOTH motors at the same time. They're c.15 years old now.. and if one has gone, the other can't be in much better shape. It may even be not working already and you've got away with it since the MOT changes, if your last tester didn't remember the new stuff and forgot to test it. For the trouble you need to go to, when you have to change it later, it makes sense to spend an extra £8 now.

Ralf S.

Hi Ralph!

Thank you for the detailed information, it will come in very handy if I have to replace the motors. In my country light adjustment ability is not yet a requirement. The car passed MOT this summer with the whirring sound. Is there a way to disable the adjusting motor to stop the sound?

 

[Zeewulf]

skrrt

You have United Kingdom listed as your country and light adjustment IS a requirement in this countries MOT test ..... ??

 

[skrrt]

skrrt

You have United Kingdom listed as your country and light adjustment IS a requirement in this countries MOT test ..... ??

I didn't pay attention to the country field when registering. I live in Denmark. Its updated now

 

[Zeewulf]

I didn't pay attention to the country field when registering. I live in Denmark. I will attempt to update it

It helps, as I assume some people like myself try and word their replies as easy to understand as possible when they know people might not speak english as their first language.

 

[Ralf S.]

Hi Ralph!

Thank you for the detailed information, it will come in very handy if I have to replace the motors. In my country light adjustment ability is not yet a requirement. The car passed MOT this summer with the whirring sound. Is there a way to disable the adjusting motor to stop the sound?

All the headlamp operations are powered through the big round connector block on the back of the headlamp... and the motor is connected to it (somewhere behind the reflector) via a small connector block that looks like a mini-version of an old-style telephone connector running two thin wires to the connector <somewhere>.

The obvious way to disconnect the motor (if it was on a bench in front of you) would be to just disconnect this small connector from the motor itself, leaving the motor in place and the wire "loose".

I have no idea if you can remove that tiny plug (it has a tab on it) from the motor with the headlamp still in place but that would be the best approach to try first.

You might need to remove the wheel and wheel-arch liner, in order to get a better view of the insides of the headlamp but the motor should be easily visible when you remove the dust cover. Just the question of do you have enough space, a trained Capuchin, or a younger kid brother/sister with skinny fingers.

If you can't get into the headlamp without removing it.. then you'll need to find out whether the motor is powered by a single wire from the big round connector block on the back of the headlamp.

If that single wire does nothing else (e.g. it might also feed one of the bulbs, for example) then you could just cut the wire before it reaches the connector block. If you do that, make sure you leave 3-4cm of wire coming out of the connector block, so you/someone can fix it again later - i.e. don't cut it too close to the connector block.

Ralf S.

 

[Zeewulf]

Would be quicker just to unscrew the old motor unit and fit a new one ...

 

[Ralf S.]

Would be quicker just to unscrew the old motor unit and fit a new one ...

Aye! ... but the lad doesn't want to take his bumper off and I'm not convinced that it's possible to change the motor properly with the lights in place (although I have a JTD which has no space at all behind the headlamps.. maybe the 1.2/1.4/1.6 is a bit more generous).

But even with the lights on your kitchen table, it's still pretty fiddly to hook the ball end of the new motor into the socket/groove on the back of the reflector. The ball fits inside a nylon track and it can't come out except by moving it to the end, where it falls out.

I'm guessing/wondering if a lot of people just force the old motor ball out of the track and then leave the ball of the new one pressed against the track, rather than hooking it into the groove. The motor winding in would push the reflector but winding out, instead of pulling on the reflector, the ball would just move away from it, so the reflector would tip over under its own weight. It would still "work" but the reflector is being pushed and then allowed to fall back rather than pushed and pulled, respectively.

I also read somewhere on here someone had broken the reflector "pushing the ball into place"... it doesn't "push into place"... you hook the ball into the end of a shaped groove.

Compared to the aggro' of doing it with the lights in place, it really is a lot less drama just to remove the bumper and lights. 17 screws or bolts, I make it.


Ralf S.