Headlights go up....but don't go down..
 

My 1980 is still in the body shop. One thing I noticed the other day while at the shop, the headlights go up but do not go back down. You have to manually roll them back down.

I am trying to get some ideas on what to check... I don't have the car with me now, but need to repair this issue as soon as I get her back!

Ideas???

Is the "up" switch on the console in the up position?

If not, and if it's both headlights, you've got an open connection somewhere between the combo switch and the first headlight motor, on the "down" signal wire. Could be a bad contact in the combo switch, loose connector pin, or a bad splice, or a pinched wire, or the "up" switch on the console could be disconnected or bad.

RW lead out of the combo switch, goes to the "up" switch on the console, leaves there as RY, goes to the headlight motors.

As a test, put the lights up, turn off the combo switch, disconnect the battery + connection, pop the connection on the "up" switch, and put +12V on the RY lead of the "up" switch connector. If the lights go down, the problem is somewhere from the "up" switch back. If not, it's somewhere in the harness out to the lights.

Console switch does not lower the headlights either.. Could it be one of the fusible links under the hood? When/if I ever get it back I can check these things...

I expanded my above a bit.

The same fuse link feeds up and down, so probably not. There was a guy on the boards here had the same problem; turned out to be a corroded splice in the harness behind the main front chassis brace (that round tube visible thru the grille.) tape had leaked, splice got wet, corroded away to nothing.

I was looking at the wiring diagram and I appears that the motors get power from two different fusible links.... Need to find what else might not be working!!

Yeah, the motors themselves has their own fusible link (bottom one on the shock-tower block, IIRC); the signal for telling them to go up and down is sourced from the Main link.

I forgot about that (blush).

That bottom link's the one that the stickers on the motors tell you to pull before attempting to operate them manually. But your problem can't be that link if they go up under power, as it powers the motor for both up and down operation.

im suscribing to this thread! I was just about to post a thread on this exact problem and i saw this! Perfect timming. I am having the same problem i just installed both side motors since both didnt work and now both go up just wont go down!

Well let us know if you find out anything!!!

does the console sitch flip them up? I'd try and clean the connections and look at the wiring from there. I had a simular issue. Looks like somone tried to sleepy eye my car at one point. I've come accross alot of ghetto wiring in this little bugger. It was the switch wires were spliced like 4 times. I turned that to two times and never had issues.

But my point is if its disconected at all they will not retract. I'd also look at you retractor fuseable link, and all your fuses under the dash. good luck. The console swich is the secound fuse I beleve. dont quote me.

another question if you try and manualy raise your lights with everything connected do they override and go up and back down on you?