Delayed headlamp lighting

[collins_dan]

On the S4, when I turn on the headlamps, they immediately rise, but often don’t light right away. May be a 5 second delay, may be 30 seconds or it may not be until I get driving. Doesn’t seem like a loose connection, because often the car doesn’t move to cause them to come on. I am wondering if the relay is going bad. It looks like a conventional relay, not what it pictured in the parts manual.
Thanks, Dan

[Lotusian]

Dan
I had the same problem.
It was the metal micro switch on the headlamp pod jamming. Changed it for a plastic one.
Ian

[alan.barker]

Same sort of problem on my Sprint. I changed a Relay but still a problem sometimes.
I think all the bullets need changing on mine + Micro switch.
Alan

[collins_dan]

Thanks Ian and Alan. I was wondering about the micro switch. I will check it out. Thanks, Dan

[oatk]

This sounds very much like a problem I had with my plus 2's headlights a little while ago. It took some time and/or several up-down cycles for them to come on - though once on, they stayed that way. IIRC there was a "double-click" from the headlight relay under the dashboard on the non-working cycles.

The microswitches were said to be working by the garage that recommissioned it (and I haven't had to do anything to them to get to where the headlights now consistently work.) In the end, I found a set of vacuum leaks - failed non-return valve, T-piece at the reservoir, and split tube - and now those are repaired the problem has gone away.

I wonder - do the headlamp pods rise quickly? In my case, it seemed that the microswitches only worked properly first time when the pods came up smartly; with bad vacuum they were much slower and unreliable.

[collins_dan]

My experience is the same. Once the come on, they stay on. I don't have any vacuum leaks right now. That's another of those odd things. Sometimes they stay down for a week, sometimes they only stay down for hours. Its very humid here right now, so I am thinking that the seal on the switch is improved by that. I need to really investigate how mine are wired. The relays are not original and it is a federal car, so I am not sure I have the microswitch on the light pod. If federal cars don't have these switches to turn lights off when they go down, and mine definitely turn off when they go down, how is that controlled? I suspect that is where the issue lies. Thanks, Dan