1969 300's Headlight Doors Won't Drop - Where should I look first?

[bearestir]

I have had my 1969 300 convertible for forty years. I have never had a headlight door issue until a couple of weeks ago. The doors stay up. If I manually lower them using the "emergency" system, the pop up again when the car is powered up. They are up when the power is on or off.

I've never worked on this type of issue before, and any advice/suggestions/tips would be greatly appreciated.

Driving a car around with the headlight doors stuck in the up position is like driving a vintage car around with a missing hubcap.

Thanks.

 

[1970FuryConv]

I have had my 1969 300 convertible for forty years. I have never had a headlight door issue until a couple of weeks ago. The doors stay up. If I manually lower them using the "emergency" system, the pop up again when the car is powered up. They are up when the power is on or off.

I've never worked on this type of issue before, and any advice/suggestions/tips would be greatly appreciated.

Driving a car around with the headlight doors stuck in the up position is like driving a vintage car around with a missing hubcap.

Thanks.

I'd begin by checking the body ground. The grill motor has a common ground wire.

If your car is like 1970 c-bodies, your headlight door motor has 1 wire for raising the headlights and 1 wire for lowering them. Both come from a relay under the dash. The blue/yellow wire is power to raise the headlights. Black/red is power to lower them. Blue/yellow should only receive power when the headlights are turned on. Black/Red should carry power when the headlights are turned off. My guess is that blue yellow is shorted, perhaps at the bulkhead connector. You are going to see which wire is getting power and which one isn't and trace it back to the damage.

 

[bearestir]

I'd begin by checking the body ground. The grill motor has a common ground wire.

If your car is like 1970 c-bodies, your headlight door motor has 1 wire for raising the headlights and 1 wire for lowering them. Both come from a relay under the dash. The blue/yellow wire is power to raise the headlights. Black/red is power to lower them. Blue/yellow should only receive power when the headlights are turned on. Black/Red should carry power when the headlights are turned off. My guess is that blue yellow is shorted, perhaps at the bulkhead connector. You are going to see which wire is getting power and which one isn't and trace it back to the damage.

Thank you.