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Location of Retractable Headlight Actuator Connector

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Old Dec 8, 2013 | 12:45 PM
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Location of Retractable Headlight Actuator Connector

Looking for the 4-pin connector for the passenger side headlight. I've attached a pic. Is the 4-pin in the pic? Or, will I have to take off the headlight in order to access it?

thanks
Attached Thumbnails Location of Retractable Headlight Actuator Connector-dsc00011.jpg  
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Old Dec 8, 2013 | 03:59 PM
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yea that should be the one mate.
i just rebuilt one of my headlight motors the other week
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Old Dec 8, 2013 | 04:08 PM
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thanks for your help. The passenger side is stuck down. I've already looked at the 30A fuse and it's okay. I've heard other stories where actuator and/or motor aren't grounded properly ...? Have you heard of this problem?
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Old Dec 8, 2013 | 06:34 PM
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It could well be, I don't think it has its own ground. Its only connected by that one plug.
I had the same problem (passenger side was stuck down), though my car is a RHD.

What you can do to confirm its not an electrical issue, is unplug the connector.
Then spin that red **** to make the headlight go up manually.
Once its wound up - reconnect the power to the headlight that you wound up - and if it has power it should go down by itself. Or at least jerk a bit and try to go down..

I dissasembled the whole thing and built one good one out of two that I had.

From my findings, there's 2 possible things that can go wrong with them..
1. the brushes can wear out on the motor (you can change them if you can solder)
2. the electrical relay inside the circle shaped black housing can die (iv read you can buy a replacement equivilant relay, im not sure what that is though. I swapped it with the one from the second unit I had laying around..

iv still got one in pieces i could photo for you
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Old Dec 8, 2013 | 07:31 PM
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raised it manually by twisting the red ****...after I reconnected the negative batt cable it went back down again. So, I guess you think it's not an electrical issue, yes?
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Old Dec 8, 2013 | 08:19 PM
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That's right mate, im confident your electronics are fine, and either the brushes in the motor are worn, or the relay is dead.

It’s probably best to pick up a used working unit. (That’s what I did, but the used unit I got looked like crap compared to my broken unit, so I transferred all the inners from the working unit, to my nice looking unit)

If your keen to get your hands dirty, or not spend much money - as mentioned you can change the brushes in your unit (its pretty easy), and you can get a replacement relay (im not sure which one is needed, there was a thread somewhere that listed a suitable replacement, iv had a look for it but cant find it again)

I would suggest removing your motor assembly, undo the two bolts that hold the top black motor housing bit on with the magnets in it, and just check the condition of the brushes.
If the brushes are worn, replace them. You can get generic brushes from auto parts stores.

If they are fine, its probably easier to just buy a used working unit as the relay is a bit of a pain to change and involves quite a bit of soldering and messing around..but it can be done.

Im at work at the moment, but i can take some pictures of the brushes i speak of tonight if your interested.
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Old Dec 8, 2013 | 08:37 PM
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thanks for your help....that should be all I need
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Old Dec 8, 2013 | 08:39 PM
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i found the thread I was thinking of with a part number for a suitable relay if you want to go that route;

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/$1-68-fix-headlight-retractor-motor-937280/

no problem mate, good luck
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