Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hi Ben

The rods are instead of the standard rods that our cars have. They are just longer I believe and replace the Euro one's whith the system empty. I believe this was for the USA market where the hydraulic oil lifters/adjusters were deemed illegal for road use. With my oil leaking out even though the circuit pipework has been replaced for new recently, the lifters are at their bottom setting and thus my lights need full adjustment on the screws to get them to legal UK road height.

I am hoping to have these by next weekend. Have me covers off at the moment as with the current adjustment of beam the covers are over the bulb nipples so don't want to refit them and distort them.

Cheers
Steve

Surely Roger Tyson, unless Britain's wimbledon quarter finalist from 1974 is in the Porsche spares business!

Steve I'm not certain I think I only had to remove liner when I replaced the adjuster motor on electric system. If you don't remove liner, but just take off headlight by undoing 2 bolts on yoke and popping out ball joint at base then there may be enough room to install the rods from the top. Not sure though.

My old 88 S4 had the distorted headlamp cowl on one side as hydraulics knackered. Very annoying in dark as you couldn't see tell tale nipple on one side, and distortion of cowl was very obvious from silhouette!

Drummer from queen?

Hi Guys
Seems I was listening to too much Rock & Roll today! :):)
Apologies Roger....Tyson it is!!! :):)

I will have a go at takin the Light lens off first, but I will have the inner Wing liners removed anyway.

Cheers
Steve

Hi Ben

Got my new actuator rods from Roger this week and am looking how to fit them this morning????
They seems completely different to the actuator rods that are shown in your photo? They have a very small ball on one end and a fitting that seems to locate into the outer White ring of the actuator pod - but am not too sure on how this fits at the moment?

I wonder if anyone knows how this part fits - part 928.631.201.02 - as I can't find any disgrams or drawings anywhere of how it fits?

Steve

Not sure Steve, as I've never seen or used them.

But I do remember that the ball joint is extremely tight. If you look at the 3rd photo down you can see there's a black plastic securing ring that snaps over the ball joint. Just make sure you pull this of before you try and pull out the ball

Hi Ben

Yes, the little locating ring comes off OK and the ball popped out pretty easily for me........

Well just taken a look at the job & its only taken me 20 mins to do the first side - including any head scratching! Will now get the second side done, in 10 mins or less I think.....hope.

Its a really nice modification/conversation. As Hilton described, the replacement rod fits where the actuator cylinder goes.

I did all this from above the car. Will do a write up later, but with headlights up, ignition off, remove the 2 nuts holding the headlamp to the frame, carefully pop off the locator ring and pull the headlamp unit off the ball. Then, using 2 screwdrivers, gently prize the support down away from the frame until the roller wheel is below the location ridge. This allows you to be able to turn the actuator cylinder and then remove it. Rotate the actuator body anticlockwise and remove it backwards. Then fit the new conversion rod, from the back and press hard whilst rotating clockwise. Locate the headlamp lens back to the frame, with some careful manoeuvring you can spring the ball into the socket - making sure the headlamp frame edge is over the "Stop" screwed onto the base of the frame - locating the ball as you lift over the stop. using your fingers you can just about get behind the lens to squeeze the safety ring over the lugs and your done. Readjust your headlights to your marks on the wall that you made before you started........and then replace the cowl - nipples showing proudly!

All done. Took longer to write this than it did to do the job.

Thanks everyone for their help & guidance....am going to do the other side now and then take her for a spin.

This means I can prepare for my HID conversion now the headlights are focused and adjusted correctly. :):)

Cheers

Steve

I have a weary S2 whose hydraulics have been vandalised by a PO. I like the facility to adjust the height of the beam when driving other cars with it, and I'd like to fit electric to my car. Can any one tell me the make and part number, not the Porsche number for the motor and any ideas on which cars they might have also been used on?
A good picture would be really helpful as the PO has destroyed anything he didn't understand, which in the case of a 928 gave him plenty of scope!

Many thanks.

Hi

I seriously doubt our hydraulic system parts were ever fitted to any other make.... so its Porsche or nothing.... and as already said earlier in this post....the hydraulic system is a nightmare and not worth fixing...as far as converting to the electric system, that would be even more of a nightmare, I would think

Don't bother is the answer... i thought about fixing mine years ago, but the thought of a lot of money and days of work, for something that usually failed within weeks was a no no for me...

All the best Brett

Unfortunately my headlight adjusters system has failed again after a few years use.

The hydraulic actuators under the lights are leaking from the front probably due to perished internal seals which can't be accessed as they are sealed units.

However, unbelievably, the whole headlight adjuster systems are still available from Porsche for only £148. - So I ordered one.

I doubt I'm going to be able to thread the system through the bodywork so I'm going to dismantle it and reassemble it in situ. (much as I did before)

Will post pics when I get round to it. (The parts won't be here till late next week.)

Ben

I have now received the new headlight adjuster system from Germany.

I've noticed a couple of things.

1 – The maximum extension of the actuator arm is a lot less than I anticipated. When I first started working on this system I'd never seen a working example so had to guess what what range of movement the actuator went through. I assumed that when the lights were set to 0 the actuator arm would be at its maximum extension of about 20mm but this is not the case as you can see from the measurements I've taken - it only extends about 5.5mm's. This may have resulted in over pressurisation of my system the first time round.

2 – There is a 'click' stop at 0 position. This seems to be absent or broken on my current control set.

I'll carry on and try and get everything working again.

I might even do a Youtube vid if all goes well.

Hi

Wow good stuff and great graphics

I await the result with interest...

All the best Brett

Holy old thread revival Batman!

Ben it is amazing Porsche still sells this, and relatively cheap too for such a specialised/weird system.

The hydraulic adjusters was the only non-working system on my previous 1988 S4 that I didn't attempt to fix, so it's great to see how you get on!

I posted earlier in the thread about replacing motor in my current S4 which uses electric system which is in principle far more reliable, but I will still follow this with great interest so thanks for posting.

Adrian

I've finished installing the new system and everything is now working correctly.

I've made some further important observations.

1/ I didn't re-assemble the control knob properly the last time which is why it wouldn't 'click' in position 0 - I now know how to re-assemble the control knob in the correct sequence and alignment.

2/ I have devised a better method of re-filling the system which negates the need to hold the actuators in an extended position. More details later.

3/ The silicon oil doesn't have to be so heavy (50Wt) - I used heavy oil before to reduce the possibility of leaks but this isn't necessary. I used 10Wt this time and it far better and more in keeping with what the manufacture has used.

I have a few other jobs to do on the car to get it ready for the MOT and I'm back at work next week so I don't know when I'm going to find the time to produce a step by step guide with photos, graphics and videos - but I will at some point in the near future.

Ben

Hi all. This is my first post....

Porker928, thank you for an excellent description of your work with the height adjusters. I have been struggling with these for a while, and I must agree with your advice NOT to try to repair these. However, I am determined to get these to work one way or another. Most of the job is figuring out how to actually do the repair. I had many tries before I finally figured out how to do it, and how to fill the system in the best possible way. It is very important that there is no air in the system. For everyone else i suggest these two links with valuable information:
http://rennlist.com/forums/928-forum/77 ... rhaul.html
http://jenniskens.livedsl.nl/Technical/ ... Tip148.htm

Much has been said about this system and how to do it, so I will only provide additional information I have found to be important for those attempting this repair:

- The nylon tubes are extremely brittle after 25-30 years of service. I accidentally broke off a piece about 10-15 cm (4-5 inches). Be careful. Also, I found it hard to push the actuator brass nipples into the very hard nylon tube. I actually drilled the tube end with a 2.5mm (0.1") drillbit, to make it easier to push the actuator nipple all the way in. I purchased additional nylon tube from a local supplier just in case I have to replace the tube

- I used a vacuum hand pump with a reservoir to fill the long tubes completely and to avoid any air bubbles

-When filling the control, I set the wheel in the #3 position (or further back if you can) and pushed the piston all the way in, with a thin needle or other through the brass nipple. It is not spring loaded, so without the pressure from the system it will not go all the way back in by itself. Also make sure you fill it without any air bubbles. I filled mine with a syringe with a needle in the upside down position until the fluid flooded out. I also mounted the vacuum pump through a filled piece of tube, and operated the control back and forth until I got all the air out of it. Every time an air bubble escaped, I had to wait for the bubble to reach the pump so that I did not push it pack into the control. Hope this make any sense. Sorry I have no pictures of this setup.


Porker928, any more info on your better method for refilling the system without having to hold the actuators extended? Any info on this is greatly appreciated.


Cheers
Arnljot

Btw: Cars: 1980 911 Turbo and a 1989 928 GT. Location: Oslo, Norway