70 charger headlight door motor

[eightbarrel]

i am working on a 70 charger. the headlight doors open when you turn the key on but when you turn the lights on the doors go shut and the motor starts clicking. any ideas. customer took car apart about 10 years ago but someone else put it back together. now i get the fun of figuring out what is wrong. any help would be great

[70 sublime]

Try switching the two power wires that go to the motor
Sounds like something has been reversed

[Kern Dog]

There is a relay under the dash that sometimes goes bad.

[mopar Robert]

I had that problem with my 70 when I bought it. I changed the relay under dash and that solved it

[darbgnik]

The only 2 headlight motor issues I've ever had, were loose(dirty) connections at the relay, and the splice point at the firewall...... no help here.

[b5blue]

  First check that the ground connector is on it's prong at the top of the motor. (A connector tab attached to one of the screws.) If that is good unplug the motor's electric 2 prong plug, it's just off the side. Run a 12 volt + jumper over and touch it to one of the motor's leads. With the motor fully installed and grounded you should be able to put 12 volts + to open and close the headlight doors by contacting one prong at a time. (They should stop at the up and down limits automatically.)
  If the motor works doing this then check the supply side of that plug for 12 volts + on each prong lights on and lights off. (With ignition full on or running.) Here is a link to what is going on inside the motor: http://www.1970chargerregistry.com/mboard/index.php?topic=548.0

[eightbarrel]

b5blue. have you worked on several of these chargers? i may have some more questions. where is the horn relay located ? i looked in the service manual and couldn't find where it was. when i googled it it keep showing it under the hood. i thought my 70 super bee was under the hood

[darbgnik]

  First check that the ground connector is on it's prong at the top of the motor. (A connector tab attached to one of the screws.) If that is good unplug the motor's electric 2 prong plug, it's just off the side. Run a 12 volt + jumper over and touch it to one of the motor's leads. With the motor fully installed and grounded you should be able to put 12 volts + to open and close the headlight doors by contacting one prong at a time. (They should stop at the up and down limits automatically.)
  If the motor works doing this then check the supply side of that plug for 12 volts + on each prong lights on and lights off. (With ignition full on or running.) Here is a link to what is going on inside the motor: http://www.1970chargerregistry.com/mboard/index.php?topic=548.0

B5 is right in this being the best way to rule out the motor itself. One side of the double prong connector at the motor opens it and the other closes it. You can leave the power jumper connected, and the motor should stop where it is supposed to, due to the fact that there are limit switches inside the motor itself, telling it where to park, if it's functioning normally....

[b5blue]

b5blue. have you worked on several of these chargers? i may have some more questions. where is the horn relay located ? i looked in the service manual and couldn't find where it was. when i googled it it keep showing it under the hood. i thought my 70 super bee was under the hood

That link is to the 70 Charger site, join and hang out there also.  Pretty sure 70 has no horn relay but not 100% certain. 

[eightbarrel]

got the horn problem fixed. relay was fried. still working on the headlight door motor

[b5blue]

Hang in there.

[eightbarrel]

if i switch the two wires on the headlight relay going to the motor it works fine. maybe someone soldered the wires on he motor wrong. all i know is it works now. does anybody know what amp circuit breaker goes on the relay. somebody removed it

[70 sublime]

So all it was is the two wires got swapped  
Always nice when it is a simple fix

[eightbarrel]

i guess not really sure. i took the two wires in the plug on the relay in switched them. it works. i need to know what size circuit breaker hooks to relay. somebody has taken it out and the service shows
it and talks about it but don't say what size it is

[b5blue]

Read here: https://www.forcbodiesonly.com/mopar-forum/threads/headlight-relays-with-hidden-headlights.32159
Learn to Google different terms to search key words. Use words in searches like "images" or at eBay, even in Amazon to find info related to problems. 

[AKcharger]

I changed out the relays on both my Chargers' it's a common issue.

[eightbarrel]

so now i've wired in the bosch 5 prong relay. it works as should except when the doors go shut it has a racheting noise coming from the motor. any ideas

[70 sublime]

Not a good sound
Inside the drive is a white plastic gear
Could be some of the teeth are starting to wear off ?

The white gear has a couple bumps on it to open the circuit switch at the end of the cycle so maybe it is grinding on the gear to try to go far enough to open the switch if the stops on the head light doors are a little short on travel 

[Y1CHARGER]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1970-Mopar-Plymouth-Chrysler-Dodge-Charger-Headlight-Motor-Gear/232923355865?hash=item363b505ad9:g:yjcAAOSwv0tU6gQn:rk:1:pf:0

[eightbarrel]

is the travel adjustable

[Nacho-RT74]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1970-Mopar-Plymouth-Chrysler-Dodge-Charger-Headlight-Motor-Gear/232923355865?hash=item363b505ad9:g:yjcAAOSwv0tU6gQn:rk:1:pf:0

He is ( or was ) member around here and at then 3rd gen Charger board

[70 sublime]

is the travel adjustable

Think I would take the rod off the head light doors ( just a simple clip ) and mark the rod ( piece of tape with a dot on it ) close to the motor at the spot when the doors are closed
Then run the motor open and closed to see if it wants to stop where you think it should when closed or is it trying to go a lot farther around

You might have to open the gear part of the motor up and do some tweaking on the electric switch part
Had to open mine three or four times till I got it to work right  

[eightbarrel]

everything i read says don't operate headlight motor when unhooked

[b5blue]

Mine are doing the same thing, a kind of rapid on-off fluttering sound at the closed position. They were working fine until a grill/bumper swapout with new harness install. The doors move very fast compared to previous speed of operation. I just left them up and unplugged for now. It's been hot as hell here all summer and these are a low priority. It will involve adjusting limit contacts inside as outlined above. Map orientation/movement someway and remove/inspect for adjustment.