Pop-up headlight question

Shenck · 08-17-2009, 07:08 PM

The lights turn on fine, but wont flip up when the push button is pushed in. I can crank them up manually, and when I turn the lights off they flip down fine. I also crank them up manually and push the button in to keep them up and they will stay up even when I turn lights off, and go down when I push the button again. So my question is - what could be preventing them from flipping up? The driver side is kinda hard to crank manually so I pull up on it to make twisting the knob easier. All fuses look fine. Any and all help would be great. Thanks

vr4choke · 08-17-2009, 10:43 PM

maybe your just misusing that button? all it does is pop your lights. if you press it while the car is off they still pop up. if you press it while the headlights are off and the parking lights are on, they pop up but dont come on

Shenck · 08-18-2009, 07:27 AM

Thanks for the advice. I tried a bunch of different ways. Bottom line is they wont pop up. I did find a diagram for the plug connection that I'm going to try a few "tests" on to see what I can figure out. Thanks again

Girly VR-4 · 08-18-2009, 08:05 AM

spray the little gear thing with WD40. One of our old 1g 3/S had a problem with the headlights going up and down. It was just kinda seized up from not being used for a long time (the car was sitting for quite a while before we got it). Soak the little gear in WD40 and it should loosen it up.

vr4choke · 08-18-2009, 10:51 AM

are the lights coming on even though they arent coming up? thats called snake eyes!

AutostradaVR4 · 08-18-2009, 02:16 PM

"crank"?
I was under the impression that the knobs just control how fast they raise and lower...so if you crank them to far they wont raise/lower at all.

Stealthee · 08-18-2009, 02:59 PM

No, the crank is to manually pop them up or lower them. There is no controlling how fast or slow they rise or lower.

Shenck · 08-19-2009, 07:49 AM

UPDATE- After playing around with it. I found the relay to be the problem. I disconnected the relay and ran a jumper from the + lead into it to the pins for the left and right head light. And the lights go up and down no problem. So I'm putting my money on the relay being bad. Thanks for all the info.

Stealthee · 08-19-2009, 10:32 AM

Actually, I'd put money on a bad fuse.

Shenck · 08-22-2009, 07:09 PM

Ya, normally I'd agree with a bad fuse. But I checked all of them and switched some and nothing worked. It wasn't until I played with the relay that I got results. Trust me I wish it was as simple as a fuse. Unless there is a secret fuse location I haven't found yet.

Shenck · 08-25-2009, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stealthee

Actually, I'd put money on a bad fuse.

OK, still no luck. I swapped the relay with the door lock relay (same) and still no head lamp doors working.

So other than under dash and under hood behind passenger head light where could some fuses be?? I would have bet money on the relay but I lost. ANY Ideas

Stealthee · 08-25-2009, 07:55 PM

When you dont know, check them all, you might be surprised.

An example I was helping my cousin diagnose why his Neon shut off and would restart. I had bypassed the fuse box for the fuel pump because of a previous issue and we verified it was getting fuel but had no power to the coil.

After lots of testing of relays etc, I started running a test light across the top of every fuse. It just so happened we had left the fuel pump fuse in after the bypass. When I got to it it had power on one side, but not the other. I pulled the fuse and of course it was blown. I kinda got that Sherlock Holmes "Hmmmm" look and my cousin was like "what?" I told him to hand me a fuse, I put it in and sure enought the damn car roared to life.

No where in any diagram did I find where the coil was given power by that damn fuse but now I know it does.

The reason I am inisting on a fuse is the fact that you are powering the relay and its causing the lights to work. This tells me power is not getting to the relay. You need to get a test light and start probing.

Shenck · 08-30-2009, 02:08 PM

FINALLY!!!!!

This is why I hate previous owners doing their own "tricks" and not telling anyone when they sell. I took off the covers from around the headlights and after looking at the pop-up motor area I found a strange wire tapped into one of the motor wires. After tracing it to the other head light and finding the same thing I started to get the "I'm a dip-shit" feeling. Tracing the wires back under the dash I found a toggle switch that when placed "on" the pop-ups work normal!!!!
Can't wait to tell my nephew in law who I got it from, he had it and never figured it out. He just used to put them up manually every time he needed them. ha ha ha

Thanks for all your help and I surely learned a thing or two. Thanks again. ED.

vr4choke · 08-30-2009, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shenck

FINALLY!!!!!

This is why I hate previous owners doing their own "tricks" and not telling anyone when they sell. I took off the covers from around the headlights and after looking at the pop-up motor area I found a strange wire tapped into one of the motor wires. After tracing it to the other head light and finding the same thing I started to get the "I'm a dip-shit" feeling. Tracing the wires back under the dash I found a toggle switch that when placed "on" the pop-ups work normal!!!!
Can't wait to tell my nephew in law who I got it from, he had it and never figured it out. He just used to put them up manually every time he needed them. ha ha ha

Thanks for all your help and I surely learned a thing or two. Thanks again. ED.

sounds like a snake-eyes switch. with the switch off the lights come on, but not up right?

Shenck · 08-31-2009, 07:53 PM

Yep, thats exactly how it worked

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