Although the headlight controller module on 87-89 firebirds says that it can not be repaired, in many cases it can. My son's lights would not work reliably. Sometimes one would go up but not down and the other almost never worked. Now both lights go up and down all the time. Here's how we fixed it. Remove the module from the car.

First you need to pull the flat back cover off. There are two little locking tabs on each side holding it together. Just use a small screwdriver to pry the outer plastic away from the tabs and pry up the flat cover. The back cover and front are water proofed using black butyl rubber. You can remove and replace the rubber, or just leave it there as it remains soft basically forever.

Now, with the cover off, remove the circuit board. Notice that right in the center of the board is a relay. At this point, you may want to clean off the metal contacts on the board with a pencil eraser or some fine steel wool. Now put the two connectors under the hood back on the board (without the plastic covers in place so you can see if the relay is working). Have someone turn the headlights on and off and see if the relay contacts move. If they don't then this fix probably won't help you. If the relay contacts do move but the headlights still don't move then proceed.

The relay is a four pole double throw type. That means it has four sets of four contacts. The center part that moves has four contacts on each side. These contacts get corroded and don't make good contact.

Look at the sides of the relay. You will see that the clear plastic cover is held in place by two small tabs in the base. You need to remove the plastic cover. The easiest way I found to do that is to break off the small clear plastic section of the case below the black tabs and bend or break them off. Then remove the plastic cover.

There is a small plastic piece shaped like a comb that isolates the contacts from each other. Simply grab this small plastic piece and remove it, noting its orientation for re-assembly. Now, get some 400 grit or so emery paper, cut a thin strip, and sand all sixteen contacts. Just run the paper past each set 8-10 times, and that should do it.

Now, put the comb shaped piece back in, slide the plastic cover back on, and give the board a test. Once the contacts are cleaned it should work. You may want to put a small dab of silicon to hold the plastic cover in place, although it probably doesn't matter, it isn't going anywhere and since the case is sealed anyway, it really isn't even needed.

Put the case back together, put it back in the car, plug the wires in, and it should work. Ours does now.

Hope this helps someone else get theirs running, and save some bucks in the process.

 

Thanks man. I am going to try to fix mine tonight. (I have two of them now) I knew there had to be a way to repair these things, but never heard of one until now. So if this works I owe you a steak dinner.

 

Early third generations are not equiped with this module you spoke of. They began equiping them in '87. Do you have any ideas for me? I'd appreciate it.

 

I would guess that you could do the same thing with the relays, but I don't know for sure. I believe there are three relays. First see if they are clicking back and forth when the lights are turned on and off, and if they are then try taking the relays apart and cleaning the contacts. It might fix them.

 

Heres the module on my 89. It opens the doors but does not close them.

The new one i bought from the dealer doesnt open or close the doors.

so i have 2 now. I'm going to disect the one from the dealer first.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by little P
[B]Heres the module on my 89. It opens the doors but does not close them.

The new one i bought from the dealer doesnt open or close the doors.

Was there a grease on your old module anywhere? Actuator relays require a conductive grease to work properly. It could be a similar problem with your new module.

 

I discovered a way to test the earlier headlight relays, the ones that I have. All of them work, with the exception of one that I just bought from advance auto parts. I came to the conclusion that this one was the only that was dysfunctional because it was the only one without a conductive grease on its contacts. I've tested the motors, they work. I've come to the conclusion that the problems in the wiring.

 

Make sure the relay you bought is the proper type. There are single pole single throw (SPST) and single pole double throw relays (SPDT). If you got the SPST and need the SPDT, it won't work. The way to tell is to check for conitnuity between contacts. There should be three terminals on the relay connected to the contacts. With the relay not energized you'll get contact between the common and the NC (Normally Closed) contact, and with the relay energized you will get contact between the common and the NO (Normally Open) contact.
Unfortunately, some of the relays that are SPST also have all three contacts, but the NC contact isn't actually connected to anything.

I think you need the SPDT for the 82-86 lights (could be double pole double throw (DPDT) too), but I'm not entirely sure. The module in 87-89 has a four pole double throw (4PDT) relay.

 

By the way, I doubt "conductive grease" has anything to do with it.

 

What would be the side effects of having switched the SPST, SPDT, and DPDT relays? What would I see go wrong? I did some research and I found a site for troubleshooting a Pontiac Fiero's headlight systems. Pictures on the site shows the exact motors used in firebirds, this isn't surprising. The site talks about a fusable link for the headlights. If this fusable link malfunctioned would it cause the temperamental lights of mine? I JUST FOUND IT!!! This website has a list of diagnosis'. This guy has the reasons for every possiblity and combination of problems. Thanks for the help.

The Fiero site is
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...lr%3D%26sa%3DN

 

I just checked the schmeatics in my Haynes manual. If they are correct (most likely are) then you need DPDT relays at the lights. If you lose fusible link then the associated light will not go up or down. It looks like the isolation relay is a bit more than just a relay as it has a diode in it. If your lights are intermittent then it is likely corroded relay contacts. If both lights are behaving in exactly the same way (e.g. both open but neither closes) then it could be the isolation relay.

 

The relays are good i've checked them thoroughly. The driver side i believe has a fusable link problem, doesn't work at all. The passenger side rarely works when it does, it doesn't do the full task of opening or closing.