sandmstreet3

I cannot get my lights to work. They flip up and down properly, the fuses are good! Any ideas on what I should do to fix this problem?????

CrackHeadMel

iTrader: (2)

are the bulbs good?

Silkworm

Headlights good?

high beams work?

It may be a bad headlight relay, not sure if that would let the motors work or not though..

PaulC

Icemark

Check the fuse???

mazdaspeed

I would say it is your headlight relay over everything else mentioned. I had the same problem many times in my 88 vert and i think it is a common problem aswell. From what i have heard it wasnt a problem with 86's though. Or if it was you can only use a relay out of a 86.

Silkworm

Really? I think it's the actual lights themselves, personally.

PaulC

sandmstreet3

bulbs are good! i used an elec. meter and didnt get any juice from the wires that connect to the bulbs. Does anyone know if the switch could break, making the switch the problem?

HAILERS

Try high and low beams, please, and see what happens. So the fuse is good in the engine bay. Different one than the pop up feature I think. Need a schematic??

HAILERS

HEADLIGHTS JPG:

mazdaspeed

The problem im thinking of is more for interior lights and taillights. My guess would be a fuse?

HAILERS

LOCATION OF STUFF JPG:

Icemark

Ground the wht/blue at the headlamp relay, if they come on then trace it back to the switch from there.


But I doubt it's the switch... the switch only throws a low current (50Ma) ground.

Amur_

HAILERS, I don't think I've said it in a while, but...

YOU ROCK!



And I, too, don't think it would be the dash switch. If it was, the lights wouldn't even pop up. My switch went for a crap 2 year ago. I didn't have headlights, pop-ups or even marker lights. Turned out the contacts had worn down.

downwinddave

More light problems:
When lights are on, OK flick to high beam, high beam stays on for about 1 secong then goes back to lo beam.
Changed both the headlight and dimmer relays, same result.
New problem last night: No insturment panel, radio button lights, side markers or tail lights.
Brake and turn signals work.
Thanks in advance...later off for second half US World cup!

89rxchic

And I, too, don't think it would be the dash switch. If it was, the lights wouldn't even pop up. [/B][/QUOTE]

Not true. I had that same problem with my first FC, no headlights, makers, or dash and my lights went up and down no problem. There was a contact in the dash switch that had somehow fried and melted part of the plastic and of course there was black residue all over making most of the other contacts bad.

HAILERS

Could be the filiments in the low beams are short. I had a similar problem once and the lights would work in high beam but not low. Check the filiments in both lights and they were shot. Got new bulbs. I've no idea why both went at the same time. Never found out why. Its not a likely scenario, but everybody already took the obvious ones.

sandmstreet3

ive checked the low and high beam lights and still nothing. Its so anoying to come home as it gets dark out to switch cars with my parents! I am gonna follow the wires from the headlights and see of there is any physical damage to them however i doubt that anything is wrong with them. Thanks for the wiring diagrams!!!

HAILERS

Hey! Go to that headlight relay(one of the jpg I attached earlier has the location graphicaly displayed) and take its plug off. Then look for 12v on the red wire on the plug with the headlights on. If you have 12v, see if there is agroung on the white/blue wire. You need both if the headlight switch is on.

sandmstreet3

i dont know if i understand you totaly on the relay thing, but i did get the lights to turn on by skipping the relay... I connnected a few wires together and they turned on. I was wondering what the relays cost??? P.S. i ran 2 wires to the interior, to act as a light switch that works by connecting the two wires, which i find hillarious. Thanks for all your helpful info!

HAILERS

RElay at the wreck yard about one to five bucks. A new one? I don't have the foggyest.

Yeah....I can't spell. I meant to say," see if the white wire with the blue stripe had a good earth on it". It came out *agroung* instead of *a ground*. Sorry 'bout that. No ground results in the relay not pulling in. Just a variation of what Icemark suggested above. It might not be the relay, just the lack of a ground being put on the white/blue wire when the headlights are turned on.

sandmstreet3

i took apart the relay and when i push this part of it (when it is connected to the wires) the lights turn on, is it possible that that part of the relay went bad or just got too big of a gap to function properly??

Icemark

why are you taking apart the relay??? there is nothing you can fix in it.

You need to trouble shoot the system, not play around with the innards of the relay or breaking it for sure.

Have you grounded the wht/blu going into the relay yet??? You need to make a jumper wire and test by grounding that wire at the relay.

Did it light the lights when you did??? It should have if the bulbs and fuses are good.

If it didn't and you are sure the bulbs nd fuses are good then it would be the relay.

But if they light up when you ground that wire, your problem is at the switch or the wire between the switch and the relay. So the next step would be to ground the Red/wht at the switch. If it lights the lights grounding there then, you need to see if the switch is sending out a ground on the Red/wht.

This isn't rocket science... its very easy to check.

SpYdEr

Same EXACT thing happened to me, took it to Mazda, turns out it's a headlight wire harness, and switch.

Harness runs around $300, switch around $150 (I think)... + install, I ended up paying about $650 total to get the damn things working again.

Apparently the really crappy wire job (thanks Mazda) done on the RX-7, causes the harness to fault and somehow melt, in part taking out the switch with it.

Might not be it, but there's a chance it is.

Icemark

Actually you see plug failure from corrosion on the plug connections. Its not the actual switch or plug, it’s the connection between the two. Mazda wiring has really very little to do with it.

This happens more in climates with extreme weather conditions, high humidity, very low temps (causing condensation), leaky convertibles, etc.

But either way sandmstreet3 needs to test the relay first, if he hasn't bent the contacts playing with its innards.

Matlock

Not true. I had that same problem with my first FC, no headlights, makers, or dash and my lights went up and down no problem. There was a contact in the dash switch that had somehow fried and melted part of the plastic and of course there was black residue all over making most of the other contacts bad. [/B][/QUOTE]

Agreed, personal experience the pop-ups worked on mine and so did my headlights. But no interior lights or rear lights and side markers.