Hey guys thank you for reading this. I just recently purchased an 87 TRANS AM and when I flip the light switch the lights turn on, but the headlights won't open. If I manually open them and turn the switch off, they will close. My car does not have a headlight control module, even though the GM manual I bought says it should. It looks like there are some relays up by the headlights so maybe my car is configured like the 86 models? I'm fairly confident my car never had a control module because there aren't any lose connectors hanging by the firewall where the module mounts. I guess I would just like to know where to start if anyone has advice. Could it be the switch? Relays? Motors? Am I way off and it's something else? Thanks guys.

 

The headlight control module slides into a bracket that is screwed to the firewall. It is located between the brake master booster and the windshield wiper motor.

If it were wired by a previous owner for the older style headlight actuators then you'd have 3-wire motors instead of 2-wire motors.

I have seen some strange wiring done to our cars, (including mine) by previous owners. My 88 Formula had a KLUDGE swap of a 3-wire motor for the correct 2-wire motor when I got it. Guess what? It didn't work.

If you are not familiar with what the headlight control module looks like, I am posting a link to a picture of it.


Lon

 

Lon,
Thank you for the information. I disassembled the headlights today and discovered the motors are in fact the 3 wire kind so according to you I don't need the control module. Great news! I cleaned the 3 relays hoping that would fix my problem but it didn't. I'm guessing it's the switch or the motors. Is it possible for the motors to be bad if they still close the headlights? I will know more tomorrow as I'm planning on testing these things. Thanks again and wish me luck!