rjensen16

Alright, I have a 79' rx7 that I own and love, trust me when I say I've tried everything but posting yet another question on here, I've read forum after forum and tried everything. My lights decided to go out a couple weeks ago, the weird thing is it was only the headlights, the running lights are fine, same with the dash lights. I tested fuses, connections, replaced the wiring harness to the headlight switch on the steering column. I don't know to much about cars and specific parts so I may miss name something. I don't know where else to look, please help, I don't have another car to use and I do a lot of night driving. Please, just don't tell me to look at a wiring diagram, I've looked, I downloaded one even. I don't get the diagram real well though. The lights do not pop up, the left one has had a blown motor for it for a while. The right one will only flip up after a long period of time and only with The center console switch this happened at the same time as when the lights went out. Any help is great, thank you

prophetjohn

iTrader: (1)

mine didnt work when i got it, and the problem was with the fusible link, little brown box on the driver side strut, tap it a few times (i used the handle of a screwdriver) with the light switch on. if they flicker, pull it off and clean all the connections, or just do that anyway. take pics so you know how to put it back together. disconnect the battery first of course.

rjensen16

Alright thanks a lot man, now you're talking about the box with the rubber seal right? Two screws, one on each side. I just need to make sure that way I'm not getting into the wrong things.

prophetjohn

iTrader: (1)

yep thats it, brown, and has 3 looped wires toward the cabin side....or should, at least.

rjensen16

Thanks man, you saved me a lot of trouble if that's the problem, unfortunately I've ran out of daylight for the night so I'll update tomorrow after I check that box, thanks again!

LongDuck

Some more troubleshooting tips for you;

Fusible Links - as noted above - are simply a stretch of wire that's designed to carry a heavy load for a short period of time along with a lighter load for the majority of the time. Our cars use these to allow the headlights to draw lots of current as they come on - then less current as they run - mostly due to the motors driving the lids up. Fusible links have quick connectors on each end, so just grab the visible loop and pull it out to check it. If it comes out in 2 pieces, there's your problem. Don't mess with the screws, as those are simply there to mount the fusible link block together with the other links. There is one specifically marked "HEADLIGHT" that you're looking for.

Inside the engine bay on each side near the corners there's the headlight retractor motor. On top of this motor is a rubber dust cover which, when removed, exposes a knurled ****. This **** can be turned (either direction) to force the headlight motor around and in doing so, to lift the headlight lid. Rotate them both to the up position, and they will stay there as long as you need them up. I recommend flipping the internal switch to raise the lids so if you fix a wiring problem, they will stay up instead of flipping down when you least expect it.

Also know that these cars have 30 year old wiring and any kind of corrosion will reduce the wiring harness ability to carry the necessary current to operate everything correctly. In that day and age, the wiring goes from the battery to the stalk on the steering wheel and is switched there and back out to the headlights - this makes for a long wiring run, lots of internal resistance, and if the stalk switch goes bad - no lights. Once you get everything sorted out with the fusible links, Black Dragon Auto sells a Relay Retrofit kit which is a plug-and-play connector and wiring harness for the front end to replace the old system with a much more efficient wiring harness. This does the switching right near the battery and takes a ton of load off of your stalk and other harness connectors without changing the stock wiring harness in the car.

Oh, and be sure to check the fuse block inside the car as there are fuses (bus type glass cylinder) that could blow out there, too. That should get you started, and good luck,

rjensen16

Alright, so it took me a while to do anything because I really haven't had much time, but I found the problem and it was a fusable link. Thanks for all the help guys! It's nice to have lights again.