Headlight Covers

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jon schapiro
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Headlight Covers

Post by jon schapiro »

My headlight covers open very quickly and make a loud bang noise. They close quietly and stay closed for multiple weeks . I haven’t use the headlights for sometime but when I turn them on I noticed a loud bang and compared to some YouTube videos I’ve seen are you open much quicker. If my memory serves correct I remember them opening slower and much more quietly as a luxury car should. Are there rubber bumpers or something that cushions the doors when they open? Any help is appreciated
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jon schapiro
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Re: Headlight Covers

Post by jon schapiro »

Anyone??
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Re: Headlight Covers

Post by jon schapiro »

I improvised I’ve made some cushions to act as stoppers and the headlights open quietly now
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Re: Headlight Covers

Post by jon schapiro »

I improvised and made some cushion stoppers and now they close and open quietly
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Re: Headlight Covers

Post by Dan Szwarc »

jon schapiro wrote:I improvised and made some cushion stoppers and now they close and open quietly
I was going to suggest this.
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Re: Headlight Covers

Post by frasern »

I have no experience with your car, but years ago, I had a 71 Mercury with one vacuum motor, and linkage between the doors, And now, I have a 75 Merc without linkage, and a vac. motor for each door, I don't know which system you have.
On the 71, there are bushings in the cross shaft which can wear, causing clunking while in operation. On mine, one door was higher than the other, because of the worn bushings. I can see where a failed bushing could cause faster operation, as the linkage's drag could be lower.
With my 75, the doors open smoothly and quietly, in about 2 seconds. they take longer to close, but will stay closed all winter. Less linkage, just a rod from each motor to its headlight door, so less to go wrong.
Not a "Lincoln" answer, but I hope it helps.
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Re: Headlight Covers

Post by jon schapiro »

Thank you. Everything seems to be working fine except my doors which would stay closed for six months now open up after 10 minutes. All vacuum lines seem fine as does the headlight switch and the manual vacuum switch by the headlights. Always something.
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Re: Headlight Covers

Post by TonyC »

I've had my share of experience with vacuum systems; the takeaway I carried was, if everything seems fine in a malfunction, something is lying to you. First, you'll want to check every component in the system again, individually, by applying plugs and a vacuum pump. A 5-minute wait period for each piece will suffice; if the pump gauge doesn't move at all the piece is fine, if the gauge drops any that piece isn't fine. After you go through all the components, next will be the hoses, which is what I already suspect. If it takes 10 minutes for the covers to open, it must be a slow leak at a brittle piece of hose. Rule of thumb is, the harder a stretch of hose feels, the more suspect it is to bleed out vacuum...and you cannot always really tell the condition of a vacuum hose just by eyeballing it, unless you luck out and spot a physical break in a brittle hose.

My experience was with the power locks on my grand's Man-Of-War. When I checked everything to make sure nothing was loose or missing (there were some loose hoses and missing check valves), the system would work only when the engine was running. I could not figure it out, and even Ron Baker couldn't help any. Finally, on a hunch, I replaced all the vacuum hosing to the system on the engine-bay side, from reservoir to firewall, and that cured the problem. The engine-bay hosing had gone bad, though it didn't at all look bad.

Your eyes can deceive you; don't trust them...at least, not in diagnosing vacuum hosing that hasn't physically broken.

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Re: Headlight Covers

Post by jon schapiro »

Well the culprit appears to be the little plastic bypass switch to manually open the covers. With the engine running I opened and closed the doors about seven times and then turned the engine off. The covers have been closed for two hours now whereas previously they started opening up within five minutes so I think I will keep playing with this little switch if they open again. I doubt that switch is available as a replacement part but I think it still still good.
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Re: Headlight Covers

Post by frasern »

If you spray a generous amount of silicon lube into each vacuum pod, the engine will draw the excess toward it, treating everything along the way.
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Re: Headlight Covers

Post by Dan Szwarc »

jon schapiro wrote:Well the culprit appears to be the little plastic bypass switch to manually open the covers. With the engine running I opened and closed the doors about seven times and then turned the engine off. The covers have been closed for two hours now whereas previously they started opening up within five minutes so I think I will keep playing with this little switch if they open again. I doubt that switch is available as a replacement part but I think it still still good.
There's o-rings inside that switch that harden over the years. Sometimes, it's best to remove it altogether and just use the HL switch to open the doors. I've tried servicing those switches in their various forms, but never had success.
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Re: Headlight Covers

Post by jon schapiro »

Dan Szwarc wrote: There's o-rings inside that switch that harden over the years. Sometimes, it's best to remove it altogether and just use the HL switch to open the doors. I've tried servicing those switches in their various forms, but never had success.
.
I hear you Dan and that makes a lot of sense. I think I have lucked out as the headlight doors are still closed as of noon time today!
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Re: Headlight Covers

Post by jon schapiro »

Well, over 2 days and staying closed. I’m very happy!
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jon schapiro
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Re: Headlight Covers

Post by jon schapiro »

Well now they have stayed firmly closed for four days and I am very happy. I think the key to my success was exercising that emergency switch back-and-forth many times with the engine running to smooth out the O-ring inside. A simple solution
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1973 Lincoln Continental Coupe
1958 Cadillac Sedan De Ville
1981 Corvette
2004 Mustang GT
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