so i recently bought this 87 n/a and it had no headlight motors. well one. but relay was gone, and arm was gone. and heres the question. i bought two used motors with arms and relays and everything is good. however. when i hooked both up to test. just used open plug on driver side. they both like moved a little. or reset basically. and then nothing else. didnt move when i turn lights on. any help.

 

not sure but maybe it grounds by being bolted in the car?

 

you know i never thought of that. cuz i was holding both when i pluged in. big mistake that was. the first one bit me.. pinched my thumb so good i had to manually move it to get my thumb out...

 

All S4's and S5's come with a headlight relay and a dimmer relay but some of the early S4's also come with an additional two relays that are for the headlight motors themselves. Which of these relays are you talking about?

 

well from the motor itself was some wired with a rectangle plug. that went to a little box loking component that mount to body then from there another plug. but round this time. to a stationary plug.

 

Ok. So new problem. They work. However. Headlights switch does not lift up or down. Instead they are stuck up now. And if i manually adjust them. I can hardly adjust befor its caught and motor pulls it down. Then right back up. I'm so lost

 

Using the 1988 wiring diagram, which might deviate from the 87 wiring schematic, indicates that when the Red/Yellow wire at the headlight motor has voltage the headlight will go down and when the Red/Blue wire at the motor has voltage the headlight will go up. If by chance the wire color coding is different on your setup then use a meter to measure which wire has voltage when the headlight is up and then you'll know pretty much know which wire should have voltage to make the headlight go down. If you isolate the wire which has voltage w/light up then remove the plug from one of the headlights and place a voltage on the wire which should have voltage when the light should go down and see if this sends the light downward.

 

ok but that doesnt answer why my switch does nothing. they way that sounds. is it would be backwards. when i turn my headlights on or off. nothing happens.

 

If only one wire has voltage voltage w/the lights up then turn the switch to the down position and then see if any of the two wires has voltage on it. More importantly see if the wire that has voltage on it w/the switch in the up position still has voltage on it or not when the switch is turned to the off position. If it doesn't then measure for voltage on the wire that "should" have voltage on it when the the switch is in the down position. Once you do this you'll be able to take the diagnosing aspect another step further.

 

ok. but here i forgot to mention. these motors are from an 86 and ihave 87. does that make a difference or not at all. i didnt forsee it being a problem. cuz i didnt think there would be much difference between the two

 

It's a good question since some of the S4's came with headlight motor relays which are not seen on all of the s4's or any of the S5's but if there are only four wires running to each motor then there should not be a problem. There should be four wires running to each motor. One wire is Black for ground, another wire has "constant" voltage which is White/Green and this wire is powered by the Retractor fuse in the engine fuse box. If this fuse is pulled then the W/G wire will lose power. The other two wires are Red/Yellow which should have voltage when the motor puts the lights down and then the Red/Blue wire would have voltage to put the lights in the up position. So see what you get related to which wire has voltage w/the switch in the up position and the down position.

 

ok. will do. and that should help answer why switch set to on or off dont make it do anything?

 

The problem could be due to a relay in the headlight switch which determines whether the Red/Yellow or Red/Blue wire gets voltage or it could be a faulty wire connection and so on. You stated that the light will go up when you are manually trying to put it down so that likely rules out the Retractor fuse being blown but either way it is a simple check to prove one way or the other.

 

well it goes up and down. it just messes with me im guessing. but yeah ill look into it in the am. and the only realy i can see for the motor. is like i have the round female plug which i plug male one into and the male then runs to another plug. but rectangle shaped male. and it goes into female on something idk what it is. guessing relay but its got a rubber case all the way around it and then a metal tab at end to mount to car. is that a relay and if so is that the only one i have for the motors?

 

The motor relay would be encased in rubber and it bolts to the fender and there would be one for each motor.

 

ok yeah then thats the relay i was referring to. and then when i check wires. should i check before round femaile plug. and see what its trying to do then after. then after the relay? that sounds like it might answer questiions

 

Both sides would be helpful. Remember, the Red/Yellow and Red/Blue wires come from the headlight switch itself and govern whether the headlight is in the up or down position so you need to verify whether these signals are making it to the relay and if they are then are they able to pass through the relay. If I understand your problem correctly it is one where "both" headlights are not operating properly as opposed to one is working correctly, but the other is not, thus it is apparent that the motor relays are likely good for the chance that both are damaged is not as likely as just one being damaged.

 

yeah both aren't working properly. i only have one mounted and hooked up now as iundid other one. but ihad went out and picked up both of them from a used parts place. they pulled them both from ame car which had gotten rear ended and totaled. they gave me 90 day warranty n said both worked before removed and even tested them so yeah. who knows

 

You still need to check the wires in a proper manner that lead to the relay and if that checks out then properly check the wires after the relay. Until that is done, you won't have a clue as to the cause of your problem.