Headlight motor failure...

[SuperMiniOne]

Hi guys,

Recently the headlamp motor on my LH lamp has ceased working. The RH unit works as normal when you turn the lights on but the LH unit sits in the rest position. I've performed a search, but there doesn't seem to be a fix other than swapping the lights out. My car is now out of warranty so I'm hoping to fix this myself if possible.

After experimenting I have managed to get it working by removing the wiring from the rear RH unit. I then turn the ignition on followed by the lights. This seems to bring the LH unit back to life and it works for a few journeys and stops working again. If I repeat the above it begins to work again.

Is there a relay for the motors that could be sticking? I've taken a look in the manual but there isn't any info.

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

[acande1]

Quote: Originally Posted by SuperMiniOne

Hi guys,

Recently the headlamp motor on my LH lamp has ceased working. The RH unit works as normal when you turn the lights on but the LH unit sits in the rest position. I've performed a search, but there doesn't seem to be a fix other than swapping the lights out. My car is now out of warranty so I'm hoping to fix this myself if possible.

After experimenting I have managed to get it working by removing the wiring from the rear RH unit. I then turn the ignition on followed by the lights. This seems to bring the LH unit back to life and it works for a few journeys and stops working again. If I repeat the above it begins to work again.

Is there a relay for the motors that could be sticking? I've taken a look in the manual but there isn't any info.

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers

Can you go a little more in depth into the temporary fix you found? How did you come upon the fact that removing the RH wiring harness would cause the LH motor to work? What exact sequence of events has to happen in order for the LH to start working again?

[SuperMiniOne]

Hi there,

Quote: Originally Posted by acande1

Can you go a little more in depth into the temporary fix you found? How did you come upon the fact that removing the RH wiring harness would cause the LH motor to work? What exact sequence of events has to happen in order for the LH to start working again?

I'll try....

1. Disconnect wiring from the functioning light (RH in my case).
2. Turn on the Ignition.
3. Turn on dipped lights.

I discovered the fix purely by accident. In an attempt to discover what was causing the fault I disconnected the harness from the RH light to test the terminals with my Multimeter. I asked a friend to operate the lights and the leveling switch from inside the car so I could measure the voltages on each pin. I intended to compare the readings with the other side to see if there were any differences....

As soon as the lights were turned on without the RH lamp connected I heard the motor in LH light spring to life. I thought this was the end of my troubles so I connected the RH light back up and all was well for a couple of journeys....

The fault is very intermittent as both units have worked perfectly for 2 whole weeks and then the LH unit ceases to work. On other occasions it could last for 1 or 2 journeys, very mysterious. There doesn't seem to be any noticeable pattern to what causes the failure.

My initial thoughts were that the motor in the LH unit was faulty, but this has proven not to be the case as it begins to work when the procedure above is carried out. This leads me to believe that a relay or something else is at fault and it is being reset somehow when the power is removed from the functioning light.

Hope you can help.

Cheers

[Jim Ray]

Hi,

I don't have a wiring diagram for the Xenon lights, but am guessing based on experience that the two lights are wired in parallel. I would suspect a connector or crimp in the RH connector. Give a sharp tug on each wire going into that connector, and see if any are loose.

Let us know what you find. Good luck.

[raptor]

If you messed with the wireing then it started working it's gotta be a loose connection somewhere in the harness. Turn the lights on then start wiggleing wires, when it moves then thats the bad spot.

I may be wrong here but the power probably goes to the right headlight then over to the left as they work together as if it were one unit. If it was a relay or a fuse they would both not work unless they are on seperate circuits. I assume that because you said it started working when you unplugged and pluged in the right harness. The problem is most likely in the plug.

Good luck and let us know what you find.

[acande1]

Quote: Originally Posted by SuperMiniOne

Hi there,
I'll try....

1. Disconnect wiring from the functioning light (RH in my case).
2. Turn on the Ignition.
3. Turn on dipped lights.

I discovered the fix purely by accident. In an attempt to discover what was causing the fault I disconnected the harness from the RH light to test the terminals with my Multimeter. I asked a friend to operate the lights and the leveling switch from inside the car so I could measure the voltages on each pin. I intended to compare the readings with the other side to see if there were any differences....

As soon as the lights were turned on without the RH lamp connected I heard the motor in LH light spring to life. I thought this was the end of my troubles so I connected the RH light back up and all was well for a couple of journeys....

The fault is very intermittent as both units have worked perfectly for 2 whole weeks and then the LH unit ceases to work. On other occasions it could last for 1 or 2 journeys, very mysterious. There doesn't seem to be any noticeable pattern to what causes the failure.

My initial thoughts were that the motor in the LH unit was faulty, but this has proven not to be the case as it begins to work when the procedure above is carried out. This leads me to believe that a relay or something else is at fault and it is being reset somehow when the power is removed from the functioning light.

Hope you can help.

Cheers

I briefly skimmed some posts regarding similar issues and it seems that many people with MINIs from the 2002 model year (or right around there) had problems like yours. While its not much of an answer, try searching for "Xenon" or "Headlight leveling" to see if you can extrapolate a solution from those other threads.

I would suggest unplugging the battery for 15 mins so the BCM (body control module) resets but if your car is from the 2002 timeframe and you're only just seeing this problem, it is most likely a degenerative hardware issue of some sort. Hardware doesn't necessarily mean the light assembly itself, it could be the wiring harness, just as the other two people suggested.

Do you have access to an oscilloscope? Under most circumstances, motors are moved by applying the power to it in a PWM (Pulse WIdth Modulation) scheme. That just means that the computer turns the motor by turning its power supply ON, OFF, ON, OFF, etc...the computer does this to regulate the speed at which the motor turns.....you probably wouldn't be able to see this on/off behavior with a multimeter. The whole point of the oscope thing is simply to try and identify which pin is most likely driving the motor (on the GOOD light) and then compare it to what's happening on the bad one.

You know what, just try identifying faulty wiring....its a quick and dirty test....and if you've reached your wits end and you can't pay a dealer to fix it, why don't you just wire a toggle switch inline with your GOOD HL's power supply. Being able to selectively turn off the power supply to the GOOD HL should be the same as unplugging its wiring harness....which is what you did in STEP 1 of the above procedure. It's not the optimal solution but if this is your only option, you could put the toggle switch inside the car and you wouldn't have to open the bonnet every time the lights stop working.

Best of luck in finding a REAL solution !

[SuperMiniOne]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for all the help and advice.

As sugessted I've taken a look at the wiring and connectors. There doesn't seem to be any noticeable problems with the wiring or connectors on either side and wiggling the wires doesn't seem to have any effect.

Also, something I've noticed is simply unplugging the wiring on the functioning headlight does not cause the other to work again. The unplugging must be followed by turning the lights on so it must not be wiring related.

I'll see if I can borrow a scope to investigate further.

Cheers

[Tracie]

Try PM The Mighty Imp..he had a similiar problem a few months back.

[MrBandit]

i experience the same problem just today. I notice as i was pulling up behind a car that the LH was dead and the right was working. I figure if i turn it on and off that maybe it would jump start the LH. didnt work. So i have a silver package deal from the dealership that say's anything related with electrical..they'll cover..
Im from Long Beach California. I notice the word Mum was used a lot so i figure most if not all here are from the UK?

Let me know what i should do (im a newbie)

[OzKluger]

Also have left hand (sometimes right hand as well) headlight adjustment motor problems on a 2002 Mini Cooper. The workaround seems to be to turn the ignition on without starting the engine, then turn on the headlights. Both lights then go through a reset sequence. All goes normally for a while - days or weeks, then you'll have to go through this sequence again. BMW wanted to replace the whole headlight...

[MNEEE]

sorry to bring up an old thread but....

i have just had this problem on my drivers side headlight. i read all the threads and was resigned to buying a new one so i set the adjustment on full up and used the manual adjustment screw on the drivers side to bring them level until i buy a replacement. to my amazement the leveling motor magically started working again so i wound the levelling screw back to its original position and all is well again