Im restoring a 89 gta se. when I got the car the lights wouldn’t move.

before and after




after a complete overhaul of the headlights they go up when I turn them on, but wont go down when I turn them off.
they both do the same so I asume the problem is somewhere else.
any ideas?

 

Here's what you should check, at your headlight door module (a black box with the word GUIDE on it that's mounted next to your windshield wiper motor) find the white wire. With the headlight switch in the off position the white wire should have +12V on it , as per the diagram below. If there is +12V on the white wire your module has failed. If there is not +12V on the white wire, the headlight switch has failed or the wire itself is bad.......

 

PS, as per the diagram above, if your taillight fuse is bad, the lights will still go up (the yellow wire) but won't go down (the white wire) . I figure your taillights are working cause you'd have asked about them along with the not closing headlights, but just in case I thought it deserved mention

 

thanks for the help Orangebird. Im new att this so sorry for the dumb questions. but does the ignition needs to be “on” to check for voltage? and when checking the white wire with the multimeter the positive end goes in the white wire and the negative on a ground bolt, right?

 

Hi Alex, No, the ignition does not need to be on for the white wire to have +12V with the headlight switch turned off. And yes, the meter's red (+) lead will measure the white wire and the black lead(-) must be touched on a good ground. It'll be easiest to unplug the connector on the door module and carefully probe the terminal on the connector that corresponds to the white wire (with the meter's red wire) .

PS, your taillights are in fact working when you turn the headlight switch on, yes?

 

ok, so te meter is giving me a reading of 000. that means the problem might be the switch or a bad cable.
by switch you mean this one?:

 

We gotta lay a bit more groundwork here before we can go there about whether or not the switch is bad. My question I've quoted above, as yet unanswered, is part of the diagnosis......

 

yes, the tail lights turn on with the headlights.

 

Whily you have the headlights apart, I would look at the rebuild kits at TDS. inside the motor housings are bushings that disintegrate over time. Yes, I said disintegrate. They turn to powder, as they are some form of soft rubber-like material. The kit is cheap as long as your large white gear is still in good shape. The hardest part is keeping the motor brushed depressed while reassembling. A paperclip and some time worked best for me.

https://www.top-downsolutions.com/he...ght-repair-kit

 

yes, that was done to the motors. and you are right when I opened them all I found was plastic sand.
when I got the car the lights where stuck in the open position. now they go up when I hit the switch, but wont go down so I have to do it manually.

 

Ok, now that we know that your taillights do in fact come on when you turn on the switch, that means that the orange wire on the headlight switch is getting +12v , so that's not the reason for no power on the white wire at the module when the lights are switched off. Since your sure the white wire at the module has no power with the lights turned off the next test will be to remove the headlight switch from the dash and with it's wiring connector still plugged in and the switch turned off , "Backprobe" the white wire right where it comes out of the connector. If it's got power there, the wire is bad somewhere between there and the headlight doors module. If there is no power there (and there is on the orange), replace the switch.....