FD headlight motor availability
 

My mechanic was unable to find FD headlight motors anywhere in Canada.

Are the parts still available somewhere?

Hopefully they still are in production, when I needed a new left side I was told it was the last one in worldwide inventory and that was 3 years ago. I’d check with Ray Crowe.

Thanks, I'll give Ray a call.

Ray can't ship to Canada, so I'll have to find a different source.

They seem to be available at Mazdatrix and Atkins Rotary... not sure which is better (particularly re: shipping to Canada).

I received product from Mazdatrix recently.


Don't throw out your old motor (or any used part, for that matter).

Ask Goodfella to be a Goodfella.

Thanks for the recommendation.

I'll keep the old motors in case they can be rebuilt or given to another FD owner.

Some of the items Mazdatrix took money for they did not actually have but turned around and ordered from Mazda in Japan. Japan Mazda is having big problems with filling orders due to Covid, etc.

It seems NOS is not a priority atm.

Meanwhile some of the regular ebay suppliers based in Japan get me stuff virtually overnight.

Ray said there was only one left side motor available in Japan. I hope they're still in stock in some places.

Set of headlights (RHD) on ebay last night C$1000. Grab em while you can.

Cars are coming out of storage and people are pushing to get them up to saleable condition.

This is happening worldwide.

Asia suppliers like Malaysia and Thailand have dried up.

Parts costs in Hong Kong are ridiculous.

Try some of the Australia guys, but watch out for fake ads.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/265190232197...AAAOSwxBxgwIpP

Of course RHD shine to the wrong side of the road.

As you know, you can hand crank the lights open if you need to.

Leave em up. No one will notice.


Better yet, get one of those Tein shock adjuster motors and affix atop the hand crank knob.

I think the motors actually work on my FD... it's just that the left side one was flipping up and down (it stopped eventually).

I made a thread on the question last November: https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-gen-gene...-down-1148602/

So it's possible that I can get by without the motor, but my mechanic was trying to source one and couldn't find any.

If the light is going up and down, it's not the motor, but there's any number available on yahoo, usually included with complete headlights.

Did you inspect the harness as suggested last time?

Cpu2 is involved with headlight operation too - it might be going out - but normally both lights will flap up and down.

I'll check it out. The FD was dead for months this year, but now is the time I can work on it.

Did you ever check the contact plate like I had suggested in your previous thread?

Vince

I'll check it if I get that far. Going to test the lights this weekend (the mechanic determined that it wasn't causing a battery drain).

Two headlight assemblies
 

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/194211781197?hash=item2d37ec9a4d:g:-kgAAOSwrZVg0dFR

Price out the components separately, aggregate price does not look so bad.

Thanks!

I'm going to try and get it fixed with only the necessary replacement parts... not sure how bad it's going to be yet.

Not sure if anyone mentioned it, but you could check if the NA miata motor would work for you.

Yes, they are an exact fit, will work, and are readily available used or new. Part number NA01-51-SAX.

About two years ago, I bought a new one to replace my passenger side motor. If I recall correctly, and it's been a while, I think I might have had to reconfigure one of the wires? But if so, I don't recall it being anything difficult.

From the link: "Lights, Ballasts and Wiring harness are not included"

If that means light bulbs with ballasts and chassis harness connectors not included, that might make sense.

Thanks, guys.

My mechanic wanted me to ask the forum if there have been updated parts for the assembly.

I told him that everyone seems to be using the original OEM parts, aside from kits like the SakeBomb upgrades.

It's likely that the motors are fine... it's whatever is telling the motor to stop that is the problem (it kept going up and down, but closed properly eventually).

No changes for the motor. The headlight itself changed later, suspect that would be probably down to a different manufacturer or something else trivial, than any upgrade....FD headlights are pretty crap no matter the year.

Thanks. I'm thinking about getting all the headlight parts just to have backup parts, even if I don't need them right away.

I'll also think about upgrading the headlight bulbs, but the OEM headlight works well enough for me (I don't drive at night very often), especially considering what I've read regarding the upgrade bulbs' longevity (e.g., Sylvania Silverstar, GE Nighthawk, PIAA, etc.).

The SakeBomb kit looks awesome, but I prefer to keep the stock look and it's overkill for my driving habits.

Turns out I posted a thread on the bulb question 9 years ago :scratch:: https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...other-1019469/

And found this one re: LED headlights: https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...ights-1123661/

The Drive halogen bulb roundup: https://www.thedrive.com/reviews/288...eadlight-bulbs

The Osram H11 long life bulbs look like the ones for me.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...77d2f94e98.jpg



Day comes to night, Moose's delight!

You know what decides where the motor stops??

The contact plate I've mentioned more than once in this thread....

It's only 3 screws holding it to the motor and there are no loose parts to get lost.

If you keep ignoring the answer you will NEVER solve the problem.

​​​​​​​Vince

Also, now I haven't tried this personally, but I was browsing rock auto and it looks like you can send your headlight motors in and have them serviced.