1988 Accord retractable headlights

[Bill Grego]

I turned off my headlights and the retractable "buckets" stayed open.
They were working fine until this happened. I checked all the fuses and they were OK. I also took off the plastic caps on top of the motors and turned the knob counterclockwise. The motors ran, closed and they opened again. I assume the motors are OK-- since they both responded a full 360 degrees. What should I now check to find out why they will not close? When I turn off the headlight switch the lights go off, but the "buckets" stay open. I could not manually close the "buckets."
I am calling them "buckets" and this may be the wrong name.
I will appreciate any information regarding this problem.
Thanks in advance.
Bill Grego

[Tom_91_LX]

You've probably already done this, but have you checked the 'manual override' switch on the dash, to the right of the steering wheel? If it's pushed in, the lights will stay in the up position even when the headlight switch is turned off.

Tom

[Bill Grego]

Originally Posted by Tom_91_LX

You've probably already done this, but have you checked the 'manual override' switch on the dash, to the right of the steering wheel? If it's pushed in, the lights will stay in the up position even when the headlight switch is turned off.

Tom

Tom, for some reason the switch was stuck in the push in position. I kept tapping the switch in to break it loose. When this didn't work, I sprayed a small amount of electrical contact and lube material into the switch and it popped out. This solved the problem.

This was a car my son purchased a week ago. The retractable worked when it got the car. Somehow either my son or his wife got the switch pushed in and it stayed there. I did try pushing it in today and thought it was OK. After reading your post, I decided to check it again.
I was wrong earlier today, because it was stuck.
Thank you for the quick solution to the problem. This is a great forum.
Bill

[Tom_91_LX]

You're welcome, glad it was an easy fix.

Something for you and your son to watch out for: the main problem with those retractable headlights wasn't the mechanism, but the wiring harness that leads to the back of the headlight bulb. After years of flexing from the up-and-down motion of the headlight, the wiring wears out and breaks and/or short circuits. I used to own an '86 and one night when I turned on the lights, as the lights popped up, the left headlight went very dim and the high beam indicator on the dash came on, even though the high beam switch wasn't on. The wiring harness had worn bare after 11 years and was a mess. There was just enough extra wire length to allow me to cut out the worn section and splice it all back together. The repair lasted about a year, and at that point, I installed a $5 universal headlight plug with its own wire leads and it never gave me any trouble after that.

I really miss those retractable headlights. One of the reasons the '86-'89 is one of my favorite Accord generations.

Tom

[87Hoopty]

hi
I am having the same problem with my 87 Accord. The wires are worn, dim driver lamp high beams the same thing, somebody attempted to repair this in the past. Where can I find the "universal headlight plug" that you speak of?

thanks

[gmurphy]

OK, so maybe the other guy had an easy fix, but I have the same problem and I'm certain its not the override switch. I drove down the road to rent a movie. Had to turn on the lights to get there. When I arrived, lights off, retractable headlights stay up. Never use the override switch, but of course I tried it -- goes in and out fine. Any other ideas? Is there a motor that fails? Some way to diagnose it? Thanks a lot!