Headlight Vacuum

[stuartgb100]

A recent post on headlight upgrades in the Elan forum was a big help (thanks), but a question (common) remained outstanding ...........

With engine on and headlamps raised, if the engine is turned off ............ what is the likely time interval before the pods start to drop ?

My UK lh pod is up for a good 45 mins and then sags quickly, but the rh pod has had it after 30 mins or so.

No other Elan to compare it with, so advice most appreciated.

Regards,
Stuart.

[handi_andi]

Hiya
Don't think mine stay up for that long, so think you are doing quite well. What I have noticed is after repairing mine that when I push the vacum switch in I get a reassuring pneumatic sound and then the headlight go down relatively rapidly. If it helps, my headlights draw a steady 18psi as I have fitted a cheap vacum gauge in the nose cone plumped in between the reservoir and the switch I think which allows me to trace vacum problems quickly, a wel spent ?15.
Cheers
Andy

[rgh0]

The headlights on my Elan will stay up for days. The lights on my plus 2 which has fail safe pods which come up on loss of vacuum will stay down for 6 months with the engine off, I know because I had the car off the road for that time a few years ago while I waited for a new rear screen to be shipped from the UK and the lights never moved.

If you have no leaks in the system and a good tight sealing check valve they should stay up or down for a very very long time.

cheers
Rohan

[stuartgb100]

Thanks Rohan,

that's what I suspected. Better do a "" leakdown "" test then !!!

Regards,
Stuart.