Troubleshooting electric headlight motors on a 67 Charger

[Spartycus]

hi gang,

I have been messing with the headlights today. They haven’t worked reliably in years and lately I have had the battery dead when I have tried to start it.

Today, they would rotate or partially rotate. Sometimes one, sometimes both and sometimes open but not close or not work at all.. Eventually I got them both to close and gave up.

Later on, after the car sat for a while, I heard a clicking noise. I got close and it was coming from near the headlights, probably the drivers side one. The car didn’t have the keys in it so Power wasn’t on it other than just the battery. I unplugged the motors and let it sit with a Charger on it just to make sure the battery wasn’t drained. The battery does hold a charge.

I heard this noise before but thought it was the car cooling down, now I wonder if a relay or something else is bad and causing the battery to drain when I don’t disconnect it and let it sit for a few days.

The click is definitely coming from the headlight area in the grill.

Anyone with experience with these electric headlight motors at all? My 69 Charger with the vacuum lines is a snap, these electric motor driven headlights are a headache...

Thanks

 

[Demonic]

I know there is four limit switches, two per side. These stop the motor in the two positions, open or closed. There's a metal tab that catches the limit switches. The switches frequently go bad. You'll need a wiring diagram, look on MyMopar. Not sure if the headlight diagram for 1st gen Chargers is there. There is a guy that rebuilds the motors, and makes new switch assemblies :

https://headlightmotorman.webs.com/aboutus.htm

 

[happyjackdaddy54]

hi gang,

I have been messing with the headlights today. They haven’t worked reliably in years and lately I have had the battery dead when I have tried to start it.

Today, they would rotate or partially rotate. Sometimes one, sometimes both and sometimes open but not close or not work at all.. Eventually I got them both to close and gave up.

Later on, after the car sat for a while, I heard a clicking noise. I got close and it was coming from near the headlights, probably the drivers side one. The car didn’t have the keys in it so Power wasn’t on it other than just the battery. I unplugged the motors and let it sit with a Charger on it just to make sure the battery wasn’t drained. The battery does hold a charge.

I heard this noise before but thought it was the car cooling down, now I wonder if a relay or something else is bad and causing the battery to drain when I don’t disconnect it and let it sit for a few days.

The click is definitely coming from the headlight area in the grill.

Anyone with experience with these electric headlight motors at all? My 69 Charger with the vacuum lines is a snap, these electric motor driven headlights are a headache...

Thanks

Ah, the joy of ownership of a 66-67 Charger!

 

[Spartycus]

Thanks for the link. These have been a pain for 35 years and now that I have it under the same roof I want to be able to drive this thing later than 8pm once in a while, lol

 

[Spartycus]

Ah, the joy of ownership of a 66-67 Charger!

You know, I was going to replace the reverse lights on her today too. My 69 is easy, 2 screws and I pull the assembly out. I tried figuring out this one and haven’t quite figured out how to get a wrench up inside the bumper to get at it...

 

[twecomm]

Get your motors refurbished by "The motor man"

 

[happyjackdaddy54]

hi gang,

I have been messing with the headlights today. They haven’t worked reliably in years and lately I have had the battery dead when I have tried to start it.

Today, they would rotate or partially rotate. Sometimes one, sometimes both and sometimes open but not close or not work at all.. Eventually I got them both to close and gave up.

Later on, after the car sat for a while, I heard a clicking noise. I got close and it was coming from near the headlights, probably the drivers side one. The car didn’t have the keys in it so Power wasn’t on it other than just the battery. I unplugged the motors and let it sit with a Charger on it just to make sure the battery wasn’t drained. The battery does hold a charge.

I heard this noise before but thought it was the car cooling down, now I wonder if a relay or something else is bad and causing the battery to drain when I don’t disconnect it and let it sit for a few days.

The click is definitely coming from the headlight area in the grill.

Anyone with experience with these electric headlight motors at all? My 69 Charger with the vacuum lines is a snap, these electric motor driven headlights are a headache...

Thanks

Spartycus, I have been dealing with this myself as had all 66-67 charger owners. I've had motors rebuilt, replaced limit switches with known good ones.I still have your problem with battery going dead. I found the one adjustment screw frozen and cant get it unstuck. That's not letting limit switches work properly. At this point, I'm ready to sell. And headlights is only problem. Just hang in there and take your time and be patient with it.

 

[Gpuller]

Check this site out.
Your problem could be the motors, limit switches or the control relays behind the glovebox.

Topher AkA headlight motor man can fix up your motors and get you new limit switches.
[email protected]

A383Wing can get you a set of new relays to replace your old ones.
Both are members here.

You might want to post something in the 66-67 forum too.

 

[Flo_Berlin]

sorry for hijacking, but a related question...

I just got done disassmbling, cleaning and relubing my headlight motors. Before I put them in, I want to make sure, if I am really "done" or need to send them out the the headlight motor man.
The motors on the work bench with nothing attached to them, are drawing 7 to 8 amps when run on a 12V battery. Is this normal? Should they need less for just operating themselves and the little gearbox inside?

Greets
flo