Repairing GT Headlight Rotator Mechanisms

[namba209]

Jordan, this may be preaching to the choir, but I would, in your case, if things aren't working as they should, remove the suspect mechanism and thoroughly clean the whole thing again, really good. Then, lube it liberally with a good penetrating lubricant. Operate the mechanism several times by hand in both directions ensuring the latches are locking and unlocking. As Keith stated in this thread several posts below, or above, he has had non-working mechanisms function after a good soaking in his cleaning tank. There is a lot of years of gunk and dirt that can jam up the works. I thought I had mine working o.k. at one time, but a week or two later, just playing with them, they had jhammed up on me again, so, I cleaned and lubed them again. Just checked them a bit ago and they are still working o.k. HTH.

[jordan]

well luckily with some silicon precision lubricant it now works like a charm, but the bucket removal and replacement did not go leaving the paint unscathed

[EB Mark]

Hi, I have nothing to contribute here but I was wondering how much effort should be required to make the headlights spin? I'm a newbie and my 73 is my first experience with a GT. I can make the lights work but it takes a good pull on the lever to make it happen.

[jordan]

it does require a good pull to get them to flip and lock.

[jordan]

I rewired the headlights and nothing, no power up front. The only think I can think of is the microswitch on the passenger side isn't working or hooked up, also I didnt realise that there wasn't a recessed area to pass the wire through so it doesn't crush it. Any Ideas before I rip the whole mess out again? the only thing I can think of is cutting the micro switch wires and crossing them and if they turn on it is the switch or the switch wires.

[houserc]

You can look at the cog pictures listed earlier in this thread and see that the last tooth is a half tooth. (It looks broken off.) This is to allow the momentum of the rotating headlight to break free of the rotating teeth and latch them in the open or closed position.

That is one of the reasons for lubricating the actuator arm, rod and cover, and the rotator mechanisms. This relieves the stress put on the opening rod and gives it a longer life.

[jordan]

All I achieved from cutting the switch wires was ending up with 2 cut wires. I guess Im going to take it all apart again

[jordan]

The passenger side headlight microswitch has 3 tangs for electical connectors, though I only have 2 wires to work with, as I saw with keith's post and I hooked them to the right tangs but why are there 3 spade connectors? also I have continuity at each spade either one whether the switch is open or closed. something doesnt seem right there becuase the circuit should be open or closed in one of the 2 positions. I would like to wrap this up tonight so a timely post reply would be appreciated.

[markandson]

The micro switch is a standard switch with a common and one normally open contact and one normally closed contact. So if you determine which one is the common (it should be marked) then it is easy to test the switch with a meter or a battery and a light bulb. Sounds like you might have a broken switch. I will go look at my 24 x 36 schematic, which you can also view if you have adobe reader, because I posted it in the electrical section. It says that it is a video but it is not, it is a pdf file, in color. Anyway, I believe the two wires should go to the common and to the normally open contact, either way it does not matter which wire is on which contact because it is only a simple on off switch. If I see that it should be the other way around I will re-post.

[jordan]

the only way the the circuit can be broken on the passenger side switch is if the driver side bucket is not locked in the open position (open circuit on the driver side) I am not getting any power to either light, could this all be the head light relay ironically not working or does that just control the high beams, becuase I am not hearing the click when I flip the high beams, though that may work after the lights are on and all the circuits are closed.

[markandson]

Looks like I am wrong. There should be 3 wires, one is a ground which is brown and goes to the normally closed contact. There is a grey/green wire that goes to the common, which is the wire that turns on the high beam indicator on the dash. The third wire is white/yellow which goes to the headlight relay.

[jordan]

the early model headlight microswtich on the passenger side only has 2 wires, yellow/black=normally open and black=common. though it still has 3 spades on the switch which is kind of perplexing

[markandson]

It appears to me that the only thing the switch on the passenger side does is turn on the headlight indicator on the dash.

[jordan]

could that bulb work as the charging system in many british cars (and opel maybe) if the bulb is blown it is left as an open circuit and will not charge or in this case put power to the headlights?

[namba209]

Jordan, I have the pax side rotator in my lap with the lugs marked as follows:
The lug on the side of the switch closest to the center of the mechanism is Grey/Green, the center lug on the bottom of the switch is White/Yellow, and the lug fartherst away from the center of the mechanism outboard is Brown. If you need I can post a pic, I labeled mine and put a clear coat over the labels. HTH.

[markandson]

I don't have an early schematic, but on the '73 two of the micro switches are used just to indicate that the headlights are locked in the open position. The third switch, which is on the driver side, is used to activate the headlamp relay, which is the one that does the "real" job, of turning on the lights. I would assume the early models are not to much different.

[markandson]

Do you have a yellow/black wire on one of the switches on the driver side. If you do, that is the wire that supplies the 12v to the relay to turn on the lights. To test the relay, which also runs through the high/low beam relay, you just have to put 12v on the yellow/black and the lights should come on. I believe you would not even have to have the ignition switch on, but I am not positive.

[namba209]

Jordan, you need to get hold of "nobody", Dave, he's fairly strong on the early GT headlight wiring. Markandson is using the same schematic as I am, one of J.J. Wheatley's pieces of art. FYI, there are two relays, at least on the later GTs, maybe yours also, one controls the power going to the headlights and parking lights, it is controlled by one of the left side microswitches. The power lead is a red 12 gauge wire coming from one of the 4 studs in the center of the fuse panel. Because all 4 studs, at least on the later models, are hot either from the battery or alternator through the ammeter, your lights should be on whenever the buckets are rotated open. HTH, again.

[markandson]

Jordan, in the photo gallery, under tech stuff, there is a schematic showing your car. The switches are totally different than the later model. Two of the switches in your car, including the one on he pass side control the headlight relay. The third switch, which is on the driver side controls the dash indicator. You do appear to have the yellow/black wire, which is still the wire that turns on the relay to light the lights.

[Bo Mows]

I don't have a microswitch on my passenger side of my '69. I just re-wired the car and i used JJ's print and it showed a switch on that side. I wired it leaving the pass. side switch wiring out. Do the headlights work ok just from the switch on the driver side? Any disadvantage to just one? I'm getting ready to put the rotators back and now would be a good time to find out.

Bo

[namba209]

Bo, read the post I put in here to Jordan. The early GTs only had the microswitches on the driver's side. You should get hold of Dave, "nobody" to be sure before you put the driver's side rotater back in. Just to be on the safe side and not have to take it back out.

[markandson]

The switch on the pass. side and the second switch on the driver side are both to indicate that the lights are in the locked open position. On the later cars the two indicator switches are in series so that if either on of them is not closed the light does not come on. There is no problem with not wiring the pass. side in.

[Bo Mows]

Thanks Jeff

Bo

[nobody]

This is a very wide open area when working on GTs. You can't go strictly off any one print for the headlight switching. I've seen different wire colors and number of switches during a single model year, my last 2 were both 72s and they were different. For the headlights I'd recommend the Chiltons manual that has almost all the years supplemented with a 69 or 70 FSM. Same holds true for the dash and column.

[asdasc]

Hi Keith,
First I want to thank you for such a well documented procedure to fix the rotators. Supurb work.

I have working headlights now, but they do take a little effort, and I want to KEEP them working. Can you show us where exactly to get in with the white lithium grease to lubricate things? Preferrably, with the least amount of disassembly.

I need a step by step guide like this with pictures for the preventative maintenance!

Thanks,