So i turn my car over at a gas station tonight, and as teh headlamps came up, one just dropped down again.

The lights on, and you can lift it with your fingers, and you can feel there is nothing attached to anything anymore.

it was too dark to look at tonight, but its a project for tomorrow

is there a diagram or picture somewhere that will show me what a functioning headlight looks like? it would help me figure out whats broken that much faster.

thanks

 

The head light lifting mechanism has two flat bars that are fitted with plastic couplings on each end. The plastic couples slip onto a metal ball joint to make the connections with the lift motor.

Check these, one of them probably slipped off. If the plastic isn't broken, you can just line it up and push it back on. If the plastic is broken I think you can still get the replacement at Mazda. Or from a parts car. All you need is the little plastic part, I think Mazda sells the whole bar with two new plastic parts.

It would be a good idea to clean up and lubricate all these joints while you are at it, I use white lithium grease from a spay can fitted with the thin plastic tube to get the grease on the joints.

Ray

 

^ what he said. And the white lithium grease lasts quite a while, as those parts are relatively shielded.

 

i have the shop manual, and the haynes manual, and the diagrams in both weren't totally clear to me, so i asked if anyone had a better one.

i just checked troicoid's sig in case he has a different manual than i have, and his sig's gone

 

Every summer I pull my headlamp assembly apart to clean and relube them, just because they get a little funky and it keeps them moving oh so quickly.

 

Yup teh exact piece was to blame, one of the couplings had broken and thats all she wrote, now to see if i can source a prelacement before monday

 

Somewhere I remember a discussion on this and that they were using some sort of a replacement for the failed plastic bushing that was found at the hardware store.

 

Try this

Headlight arm rubber grommet size is...

1 1/8" outside diameter, 5/8" inside (for the longer arm, anyway). 85 cents @ Abauchon Hardware. It looks too large but fits perfectly once you get it in there (I use that line a lot). It's much easier to install with the arm off (your other plastic grommet is about to break anyway - buy two per problematic side). I replaced both on the passenger side about 50 miles ago - so far no problems after repeated up and down cycles. If either end drops off I'll report back in, but it seems pretty snug. I may safety wire the arm (or try a creatively knotted rubber band) just be safe.

So far I have not been able to get anyone to make replacement end bushings in polyurethane. Billy Waits are you listening?

 

I had the same problem and had no intention of paying money to fix it since it was a donor car. I (don't laugh now...I'm a southern girl) put a peice of duct tape around the metal ball joint and it worked for a few months with no problem...LOL I would not do that to a car I intend to keep, but it was a quick fix while I got my keeper ready for organ transplant...LOL Just an idea while you wait for the replacement part to get there!

 

It's now 1002 usages for Duct tape,lol.
That's actually a gread tip!
Think of someone that is driving home at night and this happens and they have hundreds of miles to go.
You can get duct tape anywhere including all of the convenience stores.