First of all, I did a search and didn't come up with anything.

As some of you know, I am currently looking at an 82 RX-7. The car is 500 bucks canadian, and really only has the usual wear and tear. It has had the rats nest removed, air pump removed, and a few other things. Anyway, my question is about the headlights. They won't pop up. I was just wondering about the fuses. The guy says that there is a fuse on each motor. This design was changed in 83 to having one fuse. Is this true, and if so,is it hard to fix this?? Are they one of those "Fusable links" that everyone seems to hate?

 

Yeah, theres a fuseable link that controls both headlights. Its on the drivers side inner fender attached to the strut housing thingamajig area. Theres three of them, and they should be labled.

~T.J.

 

Yeah check the fusible link wire and replace if necessary.

 

your vacs diaphram might have a hole in it, cause i know little animals love to chew on those, if it is not the fuses.

 

Where do I get fusible links if I need them??

 

Fusible links are available from Mazdatrix for about $7 each, IIRC. Also, you can try a quick test with the headlights and engine off to verify that this is truly the problem.

First, go and look at the headlight lids themselves and be sure that nothing is blocking their paths to flip up and down. Now open the hood and take off the rubber boot at the top of the motor assembly. Mazda engineers designed this so that if your lamps ever stopped going up and you had to drive at night, you could bypass the electrical hookup and twist the ***** to get them up by hand. Rotate each know in the direction of the arrow to get them to raise on each side.

You may notice that once they get to their 'full-up' position that the motors will kick in and immediately drop them and they'll stay closed. This is a definite that your fusible link is bad.

Next, go to the 'washing switch' inside the car that raises the headlights for you to be able to wash them. Click this switch to leave them up, return to the engine bay and look at the front of the driver's side shock tower. Here, below the rack that holds the coil leads, you will see a brown block with loops of wire coming out of one side. This is your fusible link connection for Main Engine, Headlights, and Electrical. Remove the Main Engine fusible link and the Headlights fusible link and put the Main Engine link in the Headlights recepticle. Headlights should go up and down correctly with the switch. If they do, then you know what the problem is - replace the Headlight fusible link and leave them cranked up by hand to drive at night.

Be sure that you reorder the correct color, as Mazdatrix will list both Brown and Black. I think the one you're looking for is Brown, but check this under the hood. Get spares - just in case. They're cheap, and even though your old one may test okay with a multimeter (voltmeter), they can still be bad.

Fusible links work by allowing a high current flow for a short period of time, then carrying the load at a lower level. When you raise your headlight lids, the motors put a big stress on to get started, then load drops as the motors finish their job. Same with retracting lids. This is why when the fusible link goes out, the lids will no longer raise.

Post back and let us know if this works,

 

Well, the fusible link is dead. I tested the lights with the engine fusible link and they would only go up with the washing switch. They wouldn't go back down. Is this normal??

Is there a way to replace the fusible link with a normal fuse???

UPDATE: I spent a little time, and used a little courage, and narrowed it down to the fusible link for sure. I used a paperclip, and connected the two terminals. Lights worked wonderfully. I didn't like using the paperclip, because if I just happened to have a power serge, I would have fried the motors. Anyway, I figured it out. Thanks for the help.

 

What's the correct gauge wire to get? I bought some wire a few months ago and can't remember what it was.

 

Judging from the thickness of the wire inside the outter coating of the fusible link, it would be about a 24 or higher gauge wire, if thats what your talking about using the wire for.

 

DO NOT USE STANDARD WIRE!

Fusible links are specially designed to carry a heavy load for short periods of time, then burn out if the heavy load is continuous - as may be the case if you have a motor short out. If this happened, the fusible link would blow, preventing a CAR FIRE...

Do not replace fusible links with heavy gauge wire - this is asking for trouble down the road.

Most fusible link issues are due to the links getting old or corroded and no longer carrying the current. Replace with new parts (Mazdatrix) and be done with it. If you really must go the extra mile - go to your local autoparts store and ask for heavy duty fuses there and they can give you something designed for this that you can wire in.

If you attempt to bypass the safety systems built into the car, you may just find it smoldering in the parking lot.

 

Yeah, I meant fusible link when I said wire. heh. I can go look on the link in my car cuz it's printed on it, but it's dark out now. I can't remember where I got it from, blue/red color logo..god I am horrible at remembering things.

 

In a pinch you can remove the covering on the fusible link and twist the two halves of the wire back together.

 

I don't even think there is anything left in the one fusible link. I can't feel any wire in it.