I know this question has been asked before somewhere but i cant seem to find a thread that is close to what i need.
I have a 83 t/a and I have replaced all 3 relays for the headlight motors. I cant get them to go up or down. sometimes when i turn the switch on and off the motors seem to work (down only) for about half a second. sometimes one may even react trying to bring the light down when i turn the lights on.
I have checked the fuses and none are burnt out.

could it be one of those gray boxes on the fuse panel?

Is there another relay for the motors besides the 3 (one attatched to each motor and a single mounted next to the radiator by the battery)?

I am really lost and would appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks in advance
James

 

Could be the headlight switch.

There are only 3 relays.

Do the motors work in both directions?

Matt

 

I can raise and lower them manually yes. hopefully its the switch. i just find it hard to belive i have 3 bad switches.

if any of you can think of anythign else please suggest it no matter how small the detail.

thanks again
James.

 

Well raising and lowering them manually dosent necessarilly mean they are good. Check and see if 12+ volts are present on each of the red and red/white wires on the relays on the motors. I know that even if there is not 12 volts present there the motors will still retract, just not open. Also, inside the motor there is another switch which may go bad, unfortunatly GM discontinued it. Its called a High torque switch.
First be sure 12 volts are there at all times.

Matt

 

well ive tried replaceing the headlight switch with a good one. it has enabled me to diagnose a new range of problems.

When i turn the lights ON the passenger light goes DOWN. and no motion from the drivers light.

When i turn the lights off the passenger side does nothing and i have no tension on the passenger headlight motor at the manual gear. but the drivers side motor goes down.

also i can hotwire the passenger motor and the light will go up and down.

when i try to hotwire my drivers side motor it will go down and not up.
im guessing this is the high tourq switch.. where can i get one if its discontinued?

what can all of you make from this?
James

 

Hmm. Your motors 3 or 4 wire?

Could be that the high torque switch is bad in both. No one I know of sells them, they only sell the entire motor. I know you can get used motors for like 25-50( i dont remember what i paid for mine).

BUT, first lets get the power issue settled.
First, make sure 12 volts is present at the red wires at all times.

If 12 volts is present at all times then go to the next part.
This is how the power is distributed to the motor. This is specifically for the driverside, the passenger side is the same except the blue wire has a white stripe i think. Check the voltage on these wires under theses conditions.
------Blu---Grn---Gry
up: -------(+)------(-)

dn: (+)---(-)

Obviusly the last part is for 3 wire motors. If you have for wires then there are 2 hot wires and 2 ground wires. The hot wires will switch, one will be hot when the lights are on, then the other will be hot when the lights are off.

Mattt

 

Ill try out the power thing. I belive my setup wouild be conciderd a 3 wire system. it has 2 wires from the relay a the motor and one wire coming from the harness. i believe that worire goes tot he relay next to the radiator. so i guess i have 2 questions now.

if i dont have the 12 volt source what is the most likely source of the problem?

and this high tourq switch.. is there any reading material out there that i could get so i know what it looks like, its location and other various information about it?
THanks
James

 

http://members.tripod.com/FieroDough/hedlight2.htm is the inly site i know that has some info. The high torque switch is located inside the headlight motor. Take off the panel that is held on by 3 screws and right there is the switch.

If there is no power the most likely source if the problem is blown fusible links.

Also 3 or 4 wire style can be determined from looking at the number of wires going into the motor itself.

MAtt