Had a damaged drivers side headlight, the frame was bent, and as such the headlights were in the up position when I bought the car, so installed an entire new (used) unit, door, frame, headlight door, headlight and all. Hooked it up to the retractor arm, aligned everything, cranked both headlights down manually, flipped the headlight switch, both headlights went up. Victory...or so I thought. Turned the switch off, the drivers side light retracted, but passenger side stayed up. Yup, the lights went off, but the passenger side would not go down. Yes, the arm is connected correctly.

So, what the heck is going on? Could it be the retractor will only go up, not down, it's in the motor maybe? Of could it be a fusible link? I checked the wiring on the passenger side light, it all is connected tight.

And as strange as this sounds, the ignitor, the tach, the dash lights, all these little quirks make me like this car all the more, fixing these little problems make it worth it all. Sick and twisted I know.

Thanks for any ideas you all have...

Phil
69 AMX
73 Charger
85 GS
98 Ford F150

 

My friend's Fiat X1/9 does this. All the more reason for him to like it.

 

Almost bought an X1/9, until I helped a buddy of mine pull the cylinder head. OMG what a nightmare! Made working an Mazda a breeze!!

 

Did you check the fusible links?

 

The ones on the drivers side fenderwell with the 3 goofy wire things. Yeah, checked them, no visible sign of damage, and I swapped the back and forth, I will do it again tomorrow. If I took off the bottom one, no change, and if I swapped it, no change. I also cleaned the two sets of connectors on the passenger. It's strange...headlights go up...passenger side won't come down. Any other ideas...

 

Yeah, even my rotary MG Midget project, while cramped for space, is quite a bit easier than an X1/9. I did an engine+tranny swap from one X to another and don't plan to ever do it again. However, a rotary in an X would be cool. I'd make an exception to my rule for a project like that. By the way, the trans can handle 150HP if applied smoothly (no dumping the clutch at 6k RPM etc). Sorry to keep going on about the X... it's just been a while since I've done anything major to one.

Good luck with your light motor. It's usually the ground on an X light bucket that prvents them from lowering by themselves.

 

Here's four ideas:

1. Swap the top and bottom fusible links.
2. Disconnect the fusible links and play with the manual adjust ****, then try again.
3. Check the relay on the motor.
4. Put the light back down maunally and see if it will go up again.

 

Already did 1, 2, and 4...3 or 4 times now. The relay on the motor, is that what is under the rubber protector right next to the motor? How would I check that?

 

Check the voltage readings coming off the relay on the working one and match it up to the non-working one, or look it up the wiring diagram in the service manual and check to make sure power is going where it should. Then use process of elimination to determine whats at fault.

 

What about swapping the known good relay for the unknown, put the drivers side on the passenger side and vice versa. If the passenger side headlight suddenly works and the drivers light doesn't, then I would know I have a bad relay, right?

 

Sure, but if it's not the relay then it could be the motor or the wiring or something else, I'd just break out the multimeter and make things a little easier on myself.

 

Yeah rake out the multimeter, but process of elimantion is another way to tackle the problem

 

Well, it's not the relay. I swapped them left to right, drivers side still goes up and down, the passenger side only goes up? At this point, I'm thinking it has to be the motor. What else could it be, there is no fuse for this right?

Perplexed in Idaho

 

Same thing happened to me..I accidentally found the problem by wiggling the connector, it suddenly went down by itself. I think you said you cleaned the connector, however. Its a PIA, but if you could swap the entire assembly, side for side, & see if the problem follows or stays with an assembly.
Good luck!

 

I'm going to pick up a used motor this next week, I'll probably just swap that in and see if that fixes the problem. Tried wiggling all the wires I could find on that passenger side. Maybe I'll check the connections again, just for the sake of hoping...maybe...