Headlight goes up. Won't go back down., What is broken here? Options

[VegasRacer]

Both headlights pop up as the German engineers intended. Only the left one returns to the down position with the dashboard knob. The right one will go down using the knob on be back of the motor.
What is causing this malfunction? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/confused24.gif)
There are no obstructions. The usual suspect pivot is intact.
Is this a sign the headlight motor is going bad?

[fixer34]

I concur with the electric wiper/contacts inside the gear assembly. Have never had mine apart, but it appears to be a similar design to windshield wipers. I had to disassemble/clean the gearbox in a couple Chevy SUVs. Wipers would stutter, stop, not park, etc. Cleaning the contacts and applying a light coating of grease got everything working.

Clay, I looked at your wiring digrams. If I read them right, the headlight motors will not work without the ignition being on.
My -6 pops up the headlights and turns on front/back/side parking lights without the key. Headlights do not come on though, as expected.

[Ron914]

I concur with the electric wiper/contacts inside the gear assembly. Have never had mine apart, but it appears to be a similar design to windshield wipers. I had to disassemble/clean the gearbox in a couple Chevy SUVs. Wipers would stutter, stop, not park, etc. Cleaning the contacts and applying a light coating of grease got everything working.

Clay, I looked at your wiring digrams. If I read them right, the headlight motors will not work without the ignition being on.
My -6 pops up the headlights and turns on front/back/side parking lights without the key. Headlights do not come on though, as expected.

FWIW my 1976 -when I operate the headlights with the key off the running/parking lights come on but no lift or operation of the headlights.

[ClayPerrine]

I concur with the electric wiper/contacts inside the gear assembly. Have never had mine apart, but it appears to be a similar design to windshield wipers. I had to disassemble/clean the gearbox in a couple Chevy SUVs. Wipers would stutter, stop, not park, etc. Cleaning the contacts and applying a light coating of grease got everything working.

Clay, I looked at your wiring digrams. If I read them right, the headlight motors will not work without the ignition being on.
My -6 pops up the headlights and turns on front/back/side parking lights without the key. Headlights do not come on though, as expected.

FWIW my 1976 -when I operate the headlights with the key off the running/parking lights come on but no lift or operation of the headlights.

If your headlights are down and the key is off, they won't go up or turn on. But if they are up and you turn them off, they will go down. If you manually turn the knob on one headlight to make it start going up, it will go up and immediately go back down. So the motors are powered all the time, but the power to raise them is only powered on when the headlights and the key are on.