Pop up headlight - '88 Firebird

I have a passenger side headlight that pops up but will not close. I removed it today and connected it to the driver's side connection and it popped up and closed repeatedly. So I now know that the pop up mechanism works OK. What else could be the problem? Could it be the headlight switch inside the car that turns the lights on and makes the headlight pop up or is it something in the wire that goes from the switch to the headlight pop up mechanism? Is there anything other than wire between the switch inside the car and the pop-up mechanism? Any resistors or something we should look for?

Any ideas as to what might be causing the problem like worn wire insulation?

Reply to
Tim
Loading thread data ...

Basic electrical troubleshooting. Start with looking at the voltages in all of the connector pins. Most likely, you'll find a voltage missing to drop the light. If so, you start backtracking to look for broken wires. Not likely it's a resistor problem - there probably are no components in that circuit that you would need to worry about failing. More likely just a broken wire. As in any automotive wiring problem - always start by making absolutely sure that you have good grounds.

Reply to
Mike Marlow

Had a friend's daughter's boyfriend look at it and he checked the voltagae and said it wasn't the wires. He thought there must be a control module or something. I think there is something behind the passenger side kick panel.

Any other ideas?

Reply to
Tim

What do you mean he checked the voltage and said it was not the wires? Was there voltage present as it should be? That would point to a faulty light, but you already proved it worked on the other side. Was there no voltage present? How did he then determine that it was not the wires? I'm guessing he did more tests, but your comment does not indicate so, and your comment causes some apparent contradictions. It would be helpful to know exactly what he did.

Reply to
Mike Marlow

Not sure exactly what he did but he compared the voltages at both sides and they were the same.

Reply to
Tim

If the voltages appear the same on both sides, I would be more suspicious of a bad ground on the failing side. I am reading into his statement a bit, but if he's seeing the same voltages, then it almost has to be a bad ground. Bad grounds are the number one electrical problem in cars, and cause the most unexplainable symptoms. Circuits will feedback through other areas, and present confusing symptoms. Like you - I'm trying to think this through without the fullness of understanding what he did and what he really saw.

Reply to
Mike Marlow

Well, both sides were the same, you swapped units and problem stayed on the same side, what does that tell you? Tells me either he messed up testing, or the connector is bad.

Reply to
PeterD

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.