Headlight flashers?

[bonnietiler]

These work on my Tr7V8 Hussah..
But on my Sons...absolutely rust free 2 owner genuine 59k miler they flash if the lights are raised but will not raise all on their own and flash if the lights are off.
Is it a relay?
Just changed top and bottom arms on the back and fitted my old gas shocks and lowered springs This car is absolutely amazing not a glimmer of rust.
I got in touch with the original owner he had the car from new until 2006, he said that he had it "Cadulac" treated before collection...Id never heard of it...but it worked!

[dursleyman]

Could be the Pektron unit playing up. Its a kind of timer built into the headlight lift wiring and mounted by the fusebox - looks a bit like a flat shaped relay.

[supercass]

Yes the Pektron unit is usually the first port of call. Can't recall if these are fused but I suspect they will be so it would be worthwhile checking your fuses.
I remember the Cadulac treatment. Typical of the day along with Endrust. Dinitrol, Zeibart, and no doubt a few others. As far as I know only Dinitrol is still operating . Zeibart abandoned the U.K. leaving owners with rusty cars and no redress but they still operate in America. supercass

[John_C]

Or the contacts on the stalk and inside the steering column casing just require adjustment. That's the most common cause and simple to fix... but I'm sure someone else can give you the correct procedure because the two times I've needed to do mine (in over 30 years) I've just stuck a screwdriver in and pushed 'em about a bit until they worked properly.

[V8 Surfer]

My TR7 V8 had the same 'Cadulac' treatment 3 days before it was registered. I have the Unipart certificate with the date stamp.
When I stripped the car down for a full restoration in 1999 I used thinners to strip the Cadulac off the engine bay but if you stopped for 2 minutes it would solidify again. But the metal underneath was PERFECT so well worth the £230 he paid.

[XSeries]

Bear in mind that the US market cars did not have the Pektron (company founded in UK in 1964) unit to allow for headlights to be raised. It is a small black box about the size of an old matchbox.
If the car is a re-import or been worked on with donor parts from a US car their may well be no unit to have failed!

[dursleyman]

Bear in mind that the US market cars did not have the Pektron (company founded in UK in 1964) unit to allow for headlights to be raised. It is a small black box about the size of an old matchbox.
If the car is a re-import or been worked on with donor parts from a US car their may well be no unit to have failed!

That is interesting, how did the headlight flash work on the US cars then?

[XSeries]

In response to the US cars and headlight flashing - they do not use them - it is an essentially European activity! Perhaps someone from USA would care to add their experiences.

My car is built to US spec and has no Pektron unit - if I need to flash the headlights then I reach over to activate the headlamps on the central switch but usually I just wave over the top of the windscreen (when the hood is down!)

Brian

[Spectatohead]

The headlights flash when you pull back on the turn signal stalk just like any other car I've ever owned. The only difference is that on our US spec cars the pods don't raise when you do it like on your cars. The majority of our idiot drivers here have no clue what it means when you are flashing your lights at them. Some get kind of pissy about it.

[dursleyman]

Thanks for the information guys, didn't realise that was one of our cultural differences.