Hi,

I have an 85 TA. Last, week, something broke, and now my left headlight won't come up. (right one works fine) If I crank it manually, it will go up, but as soon as I turn the light switch off, it goes back down. My arm is getting tired, because I have to do this ritual everytime I start the car and it's dark outside. I have tried replacing the relay, but when I put the new one in, neither light will work! I have already returned three of these relays to three different auto parts stores and now I'm starting to suspect it's something else. Already tried to replace the motor. Any ideas?

~Kim

 

go to tbs top down solutions And get a headlight rebuild kit. It is in the motor you may need bushings. Same thing happend to me.

 

Ah yes, the smooth workings of the Firebird pop-up headlights!

I was chasing the same trouble as you. The previous owner had unplugged the affected headlamp motor - that would save you some labour for the short term.

There are actually three headlamp relays; an actuator relay for each of the two motors, and another "isolation" relay. That could be bad.

Before you replace the relay though, there are switch contacts in the motor assembly that open the circuit when the motor travels to the fully closed / open position. This switch was shagged in my case, and it causes a permanent open cct on the 'open' side of the motor function. They're fairly simple to remove from the motor and check once you've got the motor assembly out.

If you've got the Haynes manual, there's a schematic of the '82 through '86 headlamp system on p 10-29.

 

Did you check the bearings inside the motor. All they are, are plastic ***** that bust into tiny little peices inside and that keeps the motor from turning. There are the two bolts on the outside then a two gears with three ***** between them. I just got some regular ball bearings from a parts store and replaced them on both my motors. These are metal...much better.

 

Like was said above go to the TDS website at the top of this web page. They have a very good kit at a reasonable price. Excellant instructions. I had to replace mine. Allen