How do I test a pop up head light relay?

[z t top]

Hi, first of all, I am new to the forum and have just bought me a 480 ES, I use to have a Turbo back in the day but have never worked on one before.

I want to test the pop up relay but have no electrical know how what so ever. One of my pop ups works (OS) and one does not (NS) I have replaced the damper and the motor. Could some talk me through how to test the relay in lay mens terms (i.e put a wire from 30a to 86 and the NS lamp will pop up). Many thanks, Mark.

[DanDCowan]

if you remove the relay you can take the top off it and carefully put it back in, then there is 2 plates in side that make a contact and spin the motor for the headlights (one for each) if it looks wet or corroded then i new one is in order, but if not its tracing the problem rom the relay to the headlight, also the bonnet needs to be shut for them to work on the switch... 2 days it took me to realize that!
good luck!

[z t top]

Ok, so it's not the relay and it's not the motor? Whats next

[glasgowjim]

Okay can you fill us in with some detail please?

Did you bridge across the various terminals and get the popups on each side to go up and down ?

If you did and both popups worked then the fault lies further back?

Did you remove the relay cover jam the bonnet switch down and then check the operation of the relay ?

If you did and the relay was seen to work we need to know as this makes for a more interesting conundrum

[z t top]

I relpaced the motor with one I knew 100% worked, and took the cover off the relay I pushed the conact on the top part and the working headlamp went up and down and pushed the contact on the lower part and nothing happened. Was this the rightway to test it?

[glasgowjim]

Right how do you know absolutely that the motor is 100% ?

Assuming that the motor is okay you need to do 3 checks ,


Do Number 3 first !!!!!

one from the relay box to motor.

the second to check power to the relay connection.

three remove the relay and take a piece of wire and bridge the relay socket directly with the wire , the relay has the connections marked on its body. Listen carefully because if you short the wrong connection the fuse in the fusebox will blow (you will hear it blow). This has happened to me before and you can not do any damage elsewhere !

I absolutely need to know if the popup works or not with this method , I dont care if the relay was poked prodded or stabbed with a screwdriver I need to eliminate possibilities in order to come to a solution quickly.

post up your results oh and tell what numbered connections you used.

[Phil T]

Hi everyone, I would like to continue this thread on pop-ups!
Did the advice succeed? Do your pop-ups work now? If so how did you fix them? It seems that sooner or later all 480 owners drop on this problem!
I have the same, one pop works the other is dead. I have followed the instructions given by Glasgowjim,just up to the point he says"the problem is further back", where further back? Could the bonnet microswitch create a malfunction in just one side of the pops? If someone could assist with my cycloptic 480, It would be most appreciated.

[glasgowjim]

ok Phil T can you confirm that the popup works on both sides when you brifge the relay as described in the post above.

if the bonnet switch malfunctions then it affects both sides equally

[Phil T]

Thanks for the reply, Jim, I nave aready followed your previous advice, bridged the contacts & can at least verify that the suspect motor does indeed work. But, the RH light will not raise or descend as it should! Strange phenomena earlier this evening, on turning the headlights on & off several times I notice that the RH light raised about half of an inch at each turn, so it will raise if the switch is turned on & off 50 times or more.
Is this possibly an earth fault?
Thanks for your help