help? a whirring noise when the lights are turned on

[Get Native]

hi everyone, developed a small problem yesterday, there is a whirring noise coming from the front left side of the car when the lights are turned on, but not when the engine is running or the lights are turned off.

does anybody know what this could be? it did happen after I cleaned the car, so my first thought was water ingress somewhere maybe? but the noise stops when the engine is started, maybe the starter motor? any help would be much appreciated

Get Native

 

[grayfox]

Could be from the headlight self leveling motor, they quite often fail over time.

 

[748]

This is what you need, the one on the right is the good one, the plastic gears inside them wear out over time. Ian G can supply these at a reasonable price.


It fits in the headlamp like this, a bit of a faff to do as the headlamp unit needs to come out

 

[Cartman]

Ahh, you beet me to it

I agree

It wil be the headlight ajuster motor.

If you turn the dile on the dash to ajust the lights, you vil eventualy find the spot the light is in, and the whining wil stopp

 

[748]

If you turn the dile on the dash to ajust the lights, you vil eventualy find the spot the light is in, and the whining wil stopp

It might do, but in my case, if you look at the left hand one in the pic, the plunger had somehow wound right in and broken inside. So the motor was constantly trying drive it to a position it was never going to get to.
Paul

 

[Get Native]

thanks guys, I appreciate the responses, I'll try the headlight adjuster, and if not, my mates got a puma on his driveway for spare's after he clipped a hedge :/

oh yeh and thank you '748' for the pictures, very helpful!

 

[748]

If your mate has a decent spare headlamp it may be worth replacing the whole lot, save messing about stripping it down.
Paul

 

[YOG]

http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=10186" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Van_Dammesque]

I had a similar problem and it was a bad connection of the electrical 'head' to the headlight, try reseating it!

 

[moondustka]

Mine has been doing this on the N/S headlight ever since I bought it.

However, it stops after a few mins of the side lights being turned on. Now, both my headlights have broken brackets/clips and really need replacing.

So are my only two options to either source a decent set of second hand headlights (unlikely?) or buy new? At £500 a set they are ridiculously expensive.