headlights won't go down.
 

I did a search for this issue and found that a few folks have had this problem but there were no solutions.


89 GTU, I am using a known good retractor motors, switch and fuse. they were all taken from my old car that I drove every day until last night. I installed the switch, motors and fuse into the new chassis and and the lights come on and the motors raised the lights but they will not go down when the switch is turned off.

any help is much appreciated as I hate driving around with my lights up all the time 'cause I know everybody is pointing and saying "...look at that guy and his busted up ghetto-ass RX&..."

Thanks

my friend had about the same problem, his lights wouldn't go up or down though. So it's somewhat different. What you can try is there is a nut that you can tighten at the very bottom of the extension arm. When the problem happened with his car, there was something preventing the light to go down, and when the motor ran to try and force it down, it loosened the nut enough so that it wouldn't work. It was a pretty easy fix, just reach down and tighten the nut.

To keep it from looking ghettofied, just retract them down and use the flash to pass lenses as headlights for the time being, or just make sleepy eyes.

and having light going through the FTP's or sleepy eyed is less ghetto?? I think not...

I might look at the switch itself.

Theres a button on my dash for the headlight washers, if it is switched on when i try turn the lights off the lights will go off but not down. I dont mean to take you for fool but i know i've been caught out by this before.

sorry for not being clear. there is nothing blocking my lights, I can manually move them up and down just fine. the headlight washer switch will not allow them to go down either. when I turn the lights off there is no click or indication at all that the lights want to go down. lights through the FTP's is ghetto and I hoping find the fix and not something temporary. Scott, the switch I have on there has worked perfect for almost 2 years, I made sure there that the switch has a good connection at the harness and they are the same retractors from the same car the switch came from.

anybody else have an idea where to look? I know this has happened people......whats the fix?

Thanks

Not only is lights through the FTP ghetto, it's also dangerous and stupid. Fix it right the first time around.

I would love to get these fixed right, I wish somebody had some ideas.

check to see if you getting any current at your headlight motor terminals

I am getting power to the motors as they will lift the headlights from the down position if I put the fuse in. I just don't know why or how they aren't getting the signal/power to go down.

anybody know what wires to check?

please?

Please don't make dumb suggestions like this. Safety comes way before looks, and attempting to drive with significantly reduced lighting is not safe.

Spraintz, the fact that both headlights won't drop points to the headlight switch being the culprit, not the motors. There's a relay in the switch that raises and lowers the headlights. If this relay has failed in the closed position (which seems a bit unlikely), the headlights will not drop. I suggest swapping in another switch if you can, just to see what happens.

I also suggest you get Icemark's attention. He knows FC electrics better than anyone else here. :)

I put in another switch and I get the same result. I put this switch back in my other car and it operates correctly, I'm stumped.

So I guess that eliminates the switch. This could be a motor problem, but it seems highly unlikely that both motors would have the same problem at the same time. They're wired in parallel so if only one malfunctions the other should still work normally. Try checking the continuity of the wiring harness between the switch and the motors. Match the colour of the wires at the motors with the wires at the switch, and make sure there are no breaks.

Try and find some wiring diagrams for your car and then bust out your test light and DVOM. Start at the fuse and work your way all the way through the circuit. It may take some time and effort but it will find your problem. You need to be patient but you will find your prob. (crawling around with a test light can be a bother but hey...)