Octavia Mk1 Headlight adjusters

[skudman]

Had noticed that my vRS's headlight adjusters weren't working and me being the tight wad that i am I wasn't prepared to buy new replacement motors So out they came, pretty straightforward job torx bit to undo both screws, angle the motor and they de hitch from the reflector (note: make sure you set them maximum length plunger before refitting).

Unit out of car.

There are several clips (pretty obvious) including one to support the motor and hold that in place, once they are popped the whole pcb and motor slide out.

Once you have the pcb out you can pull the motor off the Pcb, (it is held in place by brush clips-so dont worry if it seems to fall apart).

The culprit in this instance (causing the lights to wobble up and down with no adjustment) is the slide potentiometer tracks being contaminated, a hint of servisol (wd40 will work) slide the pip up and down a few times then dry out with some tissue.

you maybe able to see some deteriation to the carbon track in the image below however carefully put some 1000 wet and dry paper inside and repeat the Servisol/wd40 process again. (if you feel up to it you can desolder them from the pcb and take apart and increase the contact pressure in the pip but its fiddly.

Put it all back together making sure the shaft is fully extended and hey presto its should all now work again. The motors are nothing short of RC car servos and have rebuilt a number of those over the years.

Hope this is of some use.

[chicken_eyebrow]

Good guide, I balked at taking mine apart though and wasted £29 on a new one, if I'd known it was as easy as a squirt of WD40 and a bit of wet n dry paper I could have saved myself some money!

[skudman]

well me being tight is a good thing sometimes. Basically they play up because there typically never used. The slide potentiometer sticks on the carbon track and then when they are used a spot of carbon remains on the brush and hence they wander/or not work.

[blueriver]

This will be very helpfull when I get the motor out.......]

Ok, so I've removed the headlamp unit, undone the two screws holding the motor in, but cant 'de-hitch' the motor from the unit. if i twist it, it feels like its gonna snap or something. Any help?

Thanks

[huwants2no]

mine havent worked for an age now so will give this a go..

is there a unit for each side??

This will be very helpfull when I get the motor out.......]

Ok, so I've removed the headlamp unit, undone the two screws holding the motor in, but cant 'de-hitch' the motor from the unit. if i twist it, it feels like its gonna snap or something. Any help?

Thanks

how did you get on with detatching the motor in the end?? any other tips or hints beore i get started??

thanks

[Malcytul]

Dear Skudman, You have just answered my question about my Mk1 Octavia lamp problem. Brilliant, thank you very much & thanks for the pics too.

I'll have a go at servicing mine!!

[phazed]

I noticed that my headlights are fixed and are not moving.

I removed both motors clean the bits as described above and tested them.

Both motors work and screw the adjusters fully out.

When you adjust the switch on the dash the lights do not move. The adjusters only moved yesterday when they were connected up after stripping them down.

I checked for power at the plug to the motors and found one earth, the other outer wire was a fixed voltage and the middle wires' voltage adjusted up and down when you turn the knob on the dashboard.

When the wires all plugged into the back of the adjuster units and you move the knob on the dashboard there is no movement, motor noise or any action at all.

Any ideas on what is going on and why they don't seem to work?

[digimaan]

Hi All,

Same trouble with N/S headlamp motor, would not work at all or make a constant chattering/ grinding noise while the lights were on. Took motor unit apart as previously described but actually took the potentiometer apart (5 solder joints plus 4 bent lugs) . noticed that the carbon track had worn right through in places, you could see daylight through it - NOT GOOD!!

I bent the wipers slightly sideways so they would run on an unused part of the carbon track.

Can remember doing this on old crackly radio volume controls of yesteryear - same principle.

Also the 2 posts to the motor had dry joints, not helping either.

After refitting all worked ok.

Will see how long this lasts, before having to fork out for a new motor or headlamp (replaced the other side with new cost me £29.00 off ebay with motor unit BARGAIN!!  DEPO.

 

Digimaan.

[rjfhouston]

Good guide - pity those sliders are so cheap'n'nasty. But with any luck, they'll last a while.

[rjfhouston]

If you can't get the units out, twist them 45 degrees, there's a third T20 screw on the back of the reflector holding a fork that engages with the adjuster shaft. As remarked above, extend the shaft fully before reassembling. Have some long-nose pliers for when you drop bits inside the headlamp...