My headlights are being goofy. Came home one night, then left about and hour later and the headlights would not go up. They turn on, but will not go up. With both light switches in off, you cant crank them up. After 5 cranks, the motors will do a cycle, go up then down. With either switch on, you can crank them up. I though maybe relay, but my relays on the car dont match up in the manual I have. So I get the idea to switch out the realys with my buddys Fc, well the realy arnt the same. Where he has a headlight realy, I dont. I am so confused..... Any have the slightest idea as to whats going on here?

Also, my rear defrost does not work. Swaped out fuse, still no good. Anyone know whats up with that?



Thanks guys, Joe

 

Check the 30A main fuse (the one closest to your left fender) and make sure 1)That it isn't blown, and 2) that it isn't loose.

 

Could be those headlight switch gremlins we seem to get a lot...

 

I am sure the fuse is good, I swaped it with another. What would be wrong with the switch? I hit that side of the console really hard repeatedly, but my redneck ways didnt help.... Is there a common switch problem?

 

you crank them and for a while and they then go up and down on their own?
well, a smart man once told me that if you run at the car with a sledgehammer with the switch in whatever position you want the lights to go to it should work...
are you sure the headlight motors are good?

 

i dont think that they are bad....for they still work. Yes they do up then down if you crank them for awhile when both switches are off. I dont think its the motors for a number of reasons. They still work, and it was something that just happen. They have worked fine with no problems until the problem. and its both.

 

OOOH I GOT IT!!! BAD WIRING or BAD GROUND!!!

 

I have traced every wire known to man coming to and from the motors. I havent found any exposed wires yet. I dont know what wire is ground, but if it was a bad groud I dont think they would work at all. Correct me if Im wrong.

 

The 86-88 cars had/have a retractor relay, at least all three of mine do. Other members on this site say their 86-88 do not have those relays. See another post by me this day that describes the part number an link that shows it.

It is very doubtful that both your relays would go bad at the same time. The one on the right side (relay) is mounted on the bulkhead that holds the headlight assy. It's on the rear of the bulkhead. I posted a picture of the relay on the other thread. You should be able to hear it click when you manually move the headlight assy towards either full up or full down. Take the relay apart and clean the contacts. It's self evident how the relay comes apart.

 

This is interesting... because my friend has an 86, and has 2 realy as you describe. My car does NOT have these relay. We were going to swap them out but ran into this problem.

 

Anyone else have any ideas before i "gulp" go to the mazda dealer......?

 

test the headlight switch, the contacts inside tend to burn out due to bad connections from cold solder joints.

the reason they are rotating back down is because the switch is in the off position, when the switch goes open(headlights up) when the switch is off they rotate back down.

another thing you can try is turning your headlamp switch slowly and try to find a spot where they will go up and stay up, this goes hand in hand with the headlamp switch problem, you may be able to find a spot where they work with the switch but not if you use it as you normally would, just flipping it on.