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[mitch1204]

First check the fuses that run through the control unit. Pull the cover off the fuse panel by the battery. Check the fuses marked HLM, MAIN and HEAD.

Then let's do a test. Unplug the headlight motor. Hook you two jumper wires to the battery. Hook the hot/12v to the brown wire. Hook the ground to the green wire. The headlamp should raise and stay there. If it still jumps around the problem is in the motor. If it acts right then the problem which I suspect is the connector (moisture again). Or it can be the control unit behind the center console. That's what swaps the hot and ground around.

Now reverse your jumper wires. Hot to the green and ground to the brown wire. The headlamp should close and stay there.

If it's the connector scrape the contacts with a knife or sandpaper if you can. Then put a dab of dielectric grease on them. Dielectric grease will not conduct current so you dont have to worry about shorts. It keeps the moisture out and future corrosion away. You can buy it at Advance or other parts store by the silicone, gasket sealer tube aisle. A 4 oz tube will do your whole under hood connections.

[JJ]

Then put a dab of dielectric grease on them.

I have some... couldn't find it. wanted to use it. wonder if that white connector worked loose... or maybe now my washer fluid bottle is now leaking all over it...

[blueamber]

Well.............Mitch1204, that jumper test won't work as described.  A red/green =12/gnd connection will make the motor run forever.  It does test motor function (brushes, etc) but it bypasses the cam inside so it never stops.  The motor also only runs in one direction, voltage is never reversed, just like a windshield wiper motor never reverses direction.

Your motor just running up and down indicates the controller is not receiving position signals from the motor cam (those 'fingers') indicating dirty or shorted cam, a bad connection between the motor and controller, or the controller is bad.

Make sure your white connector is really pushed together for a good contact of all wires.

So far as no lights is concerned, if both headlights are out then suspect a fuse or the switch, just one out is a bad bulb or bad connection to the bulb...

[mitch1204]

That was one of the diagnostic test from the manual.

What is the control unit they describe? Every time I cycle my lights I hear a clicking sound in the center console area. Plus the manual shows the shape of the control unit plugin. It has 17 pins.

[blueamber]

Not sure what manual you are looking at, I tried your test on a known good and known bad acting headlight motor, they both just ran on and on with 12 volts applied. 

The control unit indeed clicks.  Those are internal relays that switch power on and off to the motors. 

With the headlights down, the controller senses from the motor cams, via one of two sense lines per motor, that the motor is in the down state.  That is the purpose of those non-copper areas of the cam, at the headlight up and headlight down physical positions.  If the headlight switch is off, it keeps things in this state, headlight down, motor power off.

When headlight switch is turned on, the controller senses an out of balance condition, that is, the lights are on and the headlight is down.  The controller then energises the relay, supplying volts to the motor, click.

The controller continues to monitor the cam position lines.  When the motor is raised fully, the sense line indicates this, and the controller de-energises the relay, turning off volts to the motor, click.  Headlight on, headlight raised, controller is happy.

Same thing happens now when the switch is off and the headlight is in the raised position.  Power on, headlight eventually sensed 'down', power off, click click.

Those 17 pins are power lines out to the motors, grounds, inputs from the motor cams, inputs from the headlight switch, pull-to-pass, console switch...

Relays in the conroller are real manual switches,  and can go bad, it's just that I've dealt with and heard about many headlight issues, and only once was the controller at fault...

[mitch1204]

It's called a rotary switch. The controller relay senses the break. Another thing the controller relay senses is the position of the head light switch. On it cycles the motor/rotary switch and off it cycles. The break in the rotary switch de-energizes the relay coil. Up and then down is considered one complete cycle. Flip flopping current is kind of irrelevant but is used in other cars for the mechanical linkage. I worked on a Porsche that flip flopped S1 and S2.

I see what you are saying and appreciate the post. The Capri is new to me and I rely on other experiences. One of the reasons I thought it flip flopped current is the manual knob to raise the headlight. I haven't tried going past the fully up position. The linkage looks like it can cycle 360°.

It's raining cats and dogs here. I'll go out and prove myself wrong tomorrow.

[JJ]

i had to unhook the wire today and raise it manually. turns a bit slow, so took a while. kept spinning past highest point, didn't do anything or start back down.... unless I didn't turn it long enough but should have.. for what it's worth...