Headlight Wiring Problem... I think
 

Ok, before I go ahead and tear apart everything here is my trouble. I am putting in my new sleek headlight kit, when I find that my lights don't work. Let me put this more specifically, my high beams don't work, my low beams don't work (with or without the headlight motors activated) but the flash works. I plugged my old headlights back in and the same thing happened. I check with those current testers and I get nothing except for the flashers. I try pluggin my motors back in, and they work, but the same problem. I would rather tear up specific areas of wiring instead of all of it. What and where should I look? I checked the relays by the way, and they look good, though I am not sure which one is for the headlights, and I checked the fuses by the driver's feet. and they are good. Is there another place for fuses that I have not checked, relays? I have no diagram, and specifications of where to check exactly, just where I "read" which doesn't get specific enough for me.


Shawn

There is another fuse box in the engine bay... It's next to the battery (well, that's where it's at in my car anyway). Check there. If no power is coming through the headlight wiring, my guess is one of those fuses is shot. A simple, and very inexpensive fix. ;-)

... this was a double post I deleted...

Well, my battery is unluckily in the back end of my car (I don't like it it there) and there are three "fuse" boxes that I see. One on the drivers side next to the strut that has mostly relays and 3 fuses. Then near the driver's side headlight is a relay box, and right up front, above my intercooler in the middle is a relay box. I only know of THREE fuses in the engine bay and the rest are relays. I tried all these out and they all seem to work good. I checked the fuses near the driver's clutch pedal, and I replaced one (did nothing still). Plus I must not know what label to look for, meaning which ones are for the headlights, but I checked all of them, including the one that said "HEAD." If you could give me a heads up and maybe pictures of which fuses are for the headlights, it would be helpful.

I then checked in the front wheel wells and there was some rubbing damage on both sides that were fixed. On the passenger side there was a blue sheathed, thicker red and black wires that were cut. Thought my problem was there, and it wasn't. So I have done a lot of good maintenance on my car, but still haven't found the power. By the way I did check the grounds and one was loose, so I hooked that back up to the frame. No dice, but my flashers are brighter.


I also checked the plug that goes to the switch, and all the wires were good on both ends. My dad seems to almost surely bet that it is something with the switch. I am doubtful, but there was a wire behind my cd player that looked old with bare wires that I had no idea where it went to... maybe?


This is getting frustrating as these worked last Oct/Nov time, and it's been sitting since. I have only messed with relocating the turbo timer under my cd player (from above the steering column), and taking off the fenders/bumper which I put back on. And I also installed another driver's side door handle. Grrrrrr...

Shawn

Electrical problems can be tough to diagnose over the internet, but let's see what we can do...



1. Have you tested the headlights separately? Try wiring them directly to the battery. You can use some medium-sized speaker wire (14-18 AWG).


2. You should get a digital multimeter, and learn how to use it. It will be very helpful to be able to measure volts (DC Volts) and also continuity (many meters have a 'beep' function, so you can check if two ends of a wire are connected or not).


3. With your meter, check that you're getting battery voltage (12-13V) at the headlight fuse (with and without the headlight switch on), and check the wires for the headlights also. I'll check the Mazda wiring diagram and get back to you with what you should measure next.



I'm not checking this forum very often right now, but I'll try to get back to you in a day or two.


Hope this helps,
-s-