S13 headlight problem.

[jjf123]

ok ive asked this before. my headlights used to not go up or down. then i managed to get it to the point where if you put them down manually you can use the switch to pop them up. they dont go down. ive looked at all i can, i thought it was a bad switch. i got one from the junkyard and its the same thing, headlights just stay up. any ideas?

[daemonyk]

The switch is probably fine - with the pop lights what tends to happen is over time the contacts inside the motor itself that make the motor system work get corroded or burnt or w/e and don't make good contact anymore. The "down" contacts probably got burnt first, and now the "up" ones are scrubb'd too

Check your wiring btwn the switch and the headlight motors, but odds are the mechanism inside the motor is goobered. Dunno if they can be opened up and cleaned or w/e, if not you may have to replace the motors. But check your wiring first. If you're lucky it might just be a bad connection. As for what wires to check, it's all in the FSM

[jjf123]

The switch is probably fine - with the pop lights what tends to happen is over time the contacts inside the motor itself that make the motor system work get corroded or burnt or w/e and don't make good contact anymore. The "down" contacts probably got burnt first, and now the "up" ones are scrubb'd too

Check your wiring btwn the switch and the headlight motors, but odds are the mechanism inside the motor is goobered. Dunno if they can be opened up and cleaned or w/e, if not you may have to replace the motors. But check your wiring first. If you're lucky it might just be a bad connection. As for what wires to check, it's all in the FSM

But how come when the headlights are down. When I put them down manually, the switch pops them up? Before it didn't even do that, I connected a wire near the harnesses by the motors and it worked.

[daemonyk]

If you got the headlights to work by directly applying power to them, and they went up and down from you directly applying power to them, then see if you can borrow someone's known working switch. If THAT switch still doesn't work, then check the wiring, connectors, and relays associated with that system. Old wiring is old in old 240's, and wires can come loose, get corroded, become frayed, all kinds of things.

For now, try to get a hold of a known good switch, and in the meantime, trace those wires and look for problems, maybe you fix it w/o another switch.

[jjf123]

If you got the headlights to work by directly applying power to them, and they went up and down from you directly applying power to them, then see if you can borrow someone's known working switch. If THAT switch still doesn't work, then check the wiring, connectors, and relays associated with that system. Old wiring is old in old 240's, and wires can come loose, get corroded, become frayed, all kinds of things.

For now, try to get a hold of a known good switch, and in the meantime, trace those wires and look for problems, maybe you fix it w/o another switch.

Well I did get a switch but from the junkyard. Idk if its good ir not. Yeah I'm gonna test all my fuses and relays with a test light

[daemonyk]

Well I did get a switch but from the junkyard. Idk if its good ir not.

That's exactly why you try to find a switch that you KNOW works to test with... Or figure out how to test the switch.

Also don't just test the relays and fuses, check all the related connectors and wires, too. Problems can exist anywhere on the circuit.

And invest in a multimeter.

[jjf123]

Well I did get a switch but from the junkyard. Idk if its good ir not.

That's exactly why you try to find a switch that you KNOW works to test with... Or figure out how to test the switch.

Also don't just test the relays and fuses, check all the related connectors and wires, too. Problems can exist anywhere on the circuit.

And invest in a multimeter.

Update, i used a friend's switch and same problem. so i can rule out the switch

[daemonyk]

From here what I'd do is pick one end of the circuit, and follow it. Look for shorts, frays, places where insulation is worn thru, and check all connectors for looseness, corrosion, bad contact, etc.

If both lights are having the same exact problem, and still did it with a known working switch, it's probably the wiring somewhere.

Still invest in a multimeter

[mechanicalmoron]

New switch or not, have you tried cleaning it?

My headlights don't go up when I turn the lights on, but when I turn on the brights, or when I press the button, they pop right up. They go down when I turn them off, but.... not always, and jerkingly, because there's a bad contact in the collumn switch, and sometimes it takes jiggling (or, in wet weather, it usually works perfectly).

If I press the button with the switch off, they pop up and go back down, unless the collumn switch is misbehaving, as I assume it has a ground or something that tells them to go down, whenever the lights are off.

I assume that proper operation is as I described, only with them going down when you turn them off. I'd guess that you need to clean your switch, as do I.


I thought you had a silvia front end? If you switch to it perminantly, I might be interested in buying your whole stock front (hood aside, for shipping reasons, unless you like, work at UPS), thereby alleviating your light problem for good

[jjf123]

New switch or not, have you tried cleaning it?

My headlights don't go up when I turn the lights on, but when I turn on the brights, or when I press the button, they pop right up. They go down when I turn them off, but.... not always, and jerkingly, because there's a bad contact in the collumn switch, and sometimes it takes jiggling (or, in wet weather, it usually works perfectly).

If I press the button with the switch off, they pop up and go back down, unless the collumn switch is misbehaving, as I assume it has a ground or something that tells them to go down, whenever the lights are off.

I assume that proper operation is as I described, only with them going down when you turn them off. I'd guess that you need to clean your switch, as do I.


I thought you had a silvia front end? If you switch to it perminantly, I might be interested in buying your whole stock front (hood aside, for shipping reasons, unless you like, work at UPS), thereby alleviating your light problem for good

Thanks ill look into it. And if I have a Silvia front end? No I don't. I have a stock body, shark nose bumper which sags I'm working on fitting it properly it looks like ima have to get one from the junkyard. The Silvia front end is too expensive for me

[mechanicalmoron]

Ha, my bad, for some reason I thought daemonyk started the thread, as she was a frequent poster.

But, the rest of what I said stands.

Figure out why it sags, and fix it? I'd assume somebody didn't bolt it in right, because they where being lazy.

[jjf123]

Ha, my bad, for some reason I thought daemonyk started the thread, as she was a frequent poster.

But, the rest of what I said stands.

Figure out why it sags, and fix it? I'd assume somebody didn't bolt it in right, because they where being lazy.

It sags because of the part under the headlight. It like popped off. So I may need to get another one. I've taken it off and bolted it on again. It's the same