mazdafaacka

Greetings,

I'm a new owner of a blue '90 rx7 5speed convertible. Bought it with a few electrical gremlins and looking for some good advice from you fine people.

The headlights don't work and the brights work only when you pull back on the stick but not after letting go. The motors both work and as far as I can tell the fuses are good. The running lights also work just fine but no headlights to speak of.

The bulbs are good and I tested for continuity from the back of the headlight to the switch on the instument panel and got a good reading. I also did a voltage drop test on the bulb connectors (hi & low) and got barely a drop from batt voltage. Grounds are good.

What's the problem?

I went as far as sending 12v from a motorcycle battery I had lying around though the switch connector and was able to get them to power on for a few seconds but then they died out and now I don't have brights either

The fuses are still good and i'm leaning toward the dimmer relay, headlight relay or the switch itself but i'm just not sure and I don't feel like spending money for nothing.

Besides the headlight thing and the fact that my drivers door window motor is mysteriously missing the car is great and i'm looking forward to beating the hell out of it all summer long.

Nice to meet all of you, hope you guys can help me out.

KhanArtisT

iTrader: (2)

Hi,
Have you checked the relay? Under the hood behind the radiator (towards the front of the car) there is a row of relays, if you switch the high beams on and off and listen to it clicking you can find out which one is for the headlights, or just look in the service manual.

You can switch it with another relay and see if that fixes your problem. Mine shorted because of water in the relay.

ITSWILL

iTrader: (12)

my bet is on the headlight switch.

InsomniacFC

iTrader: (4)

Dude, you probably just need new headlights. Take 'em out and replace them. I had to drive a 7 home with just high beams once because of the same issue. Replacing them fixed the problem.

mazdafaacka

The bulbs are good for sure. I did try swapping a couple of relays with no success. I'm pretty sure it's the switch too, where would I find a new one at and which years will fit?

Thanks for the help.

ITSWILL

iTrader: (12)

i would post in the 2nd gen parts section. There are always people parting stuff out and im sure if you just post "wtb headlight switch" someone would be willing to help.

Another option would be the junkyard but good luck finding one there.

And the other option would be the dealership, but that will be pretty pricey.

Good luck, and welcome to the forum.

mazdafaacka

Ok, ok, I know you've all been waiting in anticipation for the results of my headlight testing. Well wait no more, i've discovered some new **** for you to rack your brains on.

I downloaded a manual from the site (thank you to whomever put up that link) anyway, I tested the relays and I believe the headlight one is bad along with the other two identical relays. The dimmer relay tests good.

To the best of my knowledge, to test the relay you send 12v to the relay and then you should be able to get continuity across the other two connections. Remove the 12v and the continuity should disappear correct? Either way i'm seeing 65ohms powered or not on all three relays up near the radiator except the five pronged dimmer relay which is playing nicely.

So what I did was jump the connections going to the headlight relay and presto i've got headlights and hi beams and the dimmer switch is working like a charm. Seems simple enough right, replace the relay and I should be good to go. But wait, there's more. The headlight cluster was unplugged at the time. I plugged it back in and regardless of what position the switch is in, the lights remain on.

With the switch connected, I can power the motors and running lights but the headlights remain on regardless of the position of the switch. Is this because i'm jumping instead of using the relay or is something else going on?

I'm getting close, any advice from the electrical gurus out there would be most appreciated.

ITSWILL

iTrader: (12)

Yeah if you are just jumping the power wires to turn the lights on the switch would have no effect. The switch passes a lower aperage power source to the relay which in turn opens the gate so to speak. I would try taking out the jumper and just see what happens. It seems unlikely to me that 3 of the relays were bad unless they are filled with water.

Goodluck!