Headlights do/don't pop up and tires.

I'll do this in reverse order, the rear tires on my Miata are Falken ZIEX 185x60R14s and were on the car when I got it. I can recommend them for great fun and driving enjoyment as I found during a recent rain that the wet weather traction is ZERO, ZILCH, NADA! If you enjoy going down the road trunk first these are the tires to get!

Now on to headlights.

I put on (I don't get into or out of a Miata, I put it on and take it off!) the '92 a few weeks ago, fired it up and turned on the headlights. They went on but didn't pop up, I turned them off and on again, still wouldn't pop up so I used the button on the dash and they popped up as they should. Turned them off, lowered them with the dash button and they worked fine next time and continued to work for probably 6 - 8 weeks until recently the same thing happened. Again, the dash button got them to pop up and they have worked again so far but..... last night, when I got home and turned off the headlights, the right side bounced up and down maybe 3 times before it closed and stayed closed.

Something's wrong, switch? Headlight mechanism? Any guesses?

Reply to
XS11E
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Yikes, I am about to order some Toyo's soon, and they are not cheap in

16 inch size.

Have you been parking next to a Fiero? (old joke)

Iva and Leon are the experts in all things pop-up headlight related, both having performed advanced surgery on the setups. One of them should be able to suggest something.

My guess is your headlight switch is going out since the dash button works every time and the headlights light up.

Pat

Reply to
pws

That was my thought until the bouncing right side made me wonder if it was the switch?

I suppose replacing the switch is the usual procedure, fill trunk with $20 bills, take to dealer, get back with new switch and empty trunk?

Reply to
XS11E

I wonder what the exact model of your Falkens are because I have a set that are amazing on wet roads. Specifically I have the Falken Ziex 512 "H" rated 195/50/15. I doubt that the width of the tire makes that big of a difference, but perhaps yours are not the 512's or are not "H" rated. I like these tires and think that they are an amazing value at under $200 for a set delivered by discounttiredirect.com. Other quality all seasons would be twice that price and were not rated as better in all areas. I suppose you could also have the exact same model but they are bald, over inflated, or your shocks are shot?!? It is very curious how we could have such different experiences. When it rains I feel absolutely no loss of confidence with these tires. They are that good.

Reply to
Christopher Muto

They're "H" rated.

I do, too! It's fun exiting a corner rear end first in wet weather!

Reply to
XS11E

Could the rubber be very old?

Leon

Reply to
Leon van Dommelen

I defer to Iva's vastly superior knowledge. But I do know what causes one of the lights not to go up fully. A part that you lost during a hood-lift installation got eventually stuck in the mechanism.

Leon :)

Reply to
Leon van Dommelen

That's not by problem but I did have something similar that I was able to cure last week. When I first started the car I got a very bad noise for just a minute. Then when I backed out of the driveway and put the car in 1st gear the noise came back for a short time as I began to move forward. When I looked under the hood I found a piece of a palm tree frond stuck in the right side fan, it must have somehow blown in during the really bad storms we had for a couple of days. Removing it fixed the noise.

Reply to
XS11E

I don't know how old the tires might be, they were on the car when I got it. They could be anywhere from ???? to February of '05 when I bought it but the tread looks like there might be almost 50% remaining...

Reply to
XS11E

Temperature could also be an issue. Wet AND cold on the same time can make a lot of sporty tires something best avoided.

Kind regards Bruno

Reply to
Bruno

It's also the unusual conditions here, we've gone a long time w/o rain and the streets are coated with oil and gas so until that washes off they're unusually slick however I had no traction problems or sliding driving my Jeep which I would normally not consider as good handling a car as the Miata but who knows? Your next track event you may see a Jeep passing you on the outside of a hairpin turn.... or maybe not?

Reply to
XS11E

Your next track event you may see a Jeep passing you on the outside of a hairpin turn....

only if it is a rainy day ;) and i hope that the jeep passes on the outside so that i am clear of it when it begins to roll over!

but i am still surprised about our different experiences. i know the ziex model has come in several flavors over the years and that the earlier ones were not considered to be as good. the tires should have a date code on them in raised lettering after the letters "dot" if you care to take a look.

Reply to
Christopher Muto

You wouldn't be so sure if I'd told you it's a WHITE jeep! Less photon drag you know.....

It's dark, it's hot and humid and we're enjoying a dust storm with winds blowing 40mph or better and it's going to rain. I'm inside typing away at the computer, I'm dry, out of the wind and enjoying the air conditioning. If the AC dies, I'll go look, OK? ;-)

Maybe tomorrow if I remember...

Reply to
XS11E

When I was in high school, my girlfriend's mother once had a very bad noise when she started her car. Seems her cat had gone to sleep on the crank pulley. What a mess!

Reply to
Lanny Chambers

Nasty. Since it was her pet, she was probably traumatized even more by the death of her cat than the fact that her daughter was dating a guy named Lanny. ;-)

This snake would also be fun to find. Here is a link for the one or two people left on the Internet who have not seen it.

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Pat

Reply to
pws

Something very similar happened less than 1/2 mile from me the other day but the snake was not killed...

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It certainly made me think twice about using that gas station! Iva & Vixen

2004 Classic Red No more winkin' Miata
Reply to
Iva

I would have caught it. I don't want to keep one, but I would either find the owner or sell it. Even a healthy red tail boa is worth quite a bit a 5 feet. A more exotic one can be worth a lot.

I caught a corn snake about that big at a company I used to work for. I won't mess with anything poisonous, and 8 or 9 feet is probably my limit on a constrictor before I want help, but you don't have to be Steve Irwin to catch them without getting bitten.

In any case, I would rather find a live one coming out than snake guts all over my engine. :-)

"Snakes on a Miata!"

Pat

Reply to
pws

Week 10 of 2004.

Hmmm, damn little wear for 3 years old but a LOT of wear for as few miles as that thing has in the last 3 years.... The tires were less than a year old when I got the car.

Reply to
XS11E

I do not recall specific data on tire age in my SAE references, but they are not young. Here is one maybe useful web reference for your RV Miata's tires:

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Note in particular the reference to standing in the sun over long times.

When I got Bozo, its tires were *very* dangerous in the wet, so bad that I replaced them after 2000 miles or so, "brand new." I was really scared on wet roads.

I have always guessed it to be due to having stood in a dealer lot in the south Florida sun for a year. Note that most of the traction in wet weather is not actual adhesion to the road surface, but viscous losses while the tire surface deforms to the microscopic shape of the road surface. A sun-hardened rubber would be miserable at that.

Since you mention that there has been a lot of wear, there may also be the fact that tire rubber is usually designed to be harder towards the inside already. I forgot the reason right now, I guess to keep the thread blocks in position.

Leon

Reply to
Leon van Dommelen

Sure they are, they can't vote or buy a beer, that's young! I'm sure I'll replace them before they are old enough to do either....

Yeah, but it's a dry heat!

You know there's a movement afoot to outlaw tires over a certain age? I don't think the congress will consider it seriously.... yet.

Reply to
XS11E

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