CForbzy13 Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 I am currently experiencing a headlight issue with my 88 Starion. I push the button on the dash cluster to put the headlights on and they pop up but without any light. I am wondering if it is a relay under the hood or could it be the switch that is not functioning correctly. Any input would help, I need to get it inspected before I can get it back on the road. As a side note, is there a safe inexpensive way to unstick the rear brake, due to it sitting for a year or more the rear brake seems to have frozen up. To add the parking brake is off. Thanks for the help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchi934 Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 this may be a dumb question...but you are pushing the correct light button right? the top left one as opposed to the top right one? as you probably know they both pop the lights up, but only one turns the lights on... otherwise it sounds like a fuse or a relay. I'm willing to bet a fuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CForbzy13 Posted July 19, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 this may be a dumb question...but you are pushing the correct light button right? the top left one as opposed to the top right one? as you probably know they both pop the lights up, but only one turns the lights on... otherwise it sounds like a fuse or a relay. I'm willing to bet a fuse. I am pushing the correct button, it worked since I have had the car (8+ years now) but stopped working within the last 6 months. I believe all the fuses looked fine when I check them, but I will double check them. My thought was the relay, know anyone that has one for sale? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchi934 Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 yeah i figured it was a dumb question, I didn't mean to insult your intelligence or anything but sometimes its easy to overlook the obvious haha... As far as the relay..have you checked it? I don't know of anyone who is selling one, but anyone parting out a car will have one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH! I had a similar problem at one point. Have you checked the connections to the bulbs themselves? Sometimes, with the car sitting for long periods of time, the contact points get all green, and the lights get really dim and sometimes won't work at all. Never hurts to check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NotStock88 Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 my headlights turned off while driving at night one time (SCARY) and it turned out to be the green fusible link being nearly fried in two. Its the green wire next to the battery. replace it with one from DAD and you should be all set. http://starquest.i-x.net/viewtopic.php?t=1180&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight= Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JAinsworth Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 From Mike_c: First, check fuse #1 (top/left corner) since it feeds power to the headlight relay. Make sure it's contacts are good too. I think it feeds the dome light and interior lights too so if they work this probably isn't it. Fuse 9 also gets involved so check it as well. The headlight "fuse" is really a fusible link - look for a green link on the end of the fusible link box by the ignition coil. The links are those little loops of wire for those that don't know - they are a special wire and their diameter determines the amp rating - don't replace them with generic wire! Check the contacts on this link and look for any signs of burning/melting in the insulation. Relay A44X controls the headlamps themselves... if you remove the battery and the metal plate between it and the fender you'll see a pile of relays. A44X is the 3rd relay back from the front of the car, on the row of relays closer to the engine. It should be one of the smaller relays. Swap it with the one next to it and see if your headlights come alive while your taillights crap out. Try this: check your "flash to pass" function by pulling the stalk towards you with the headlights off. The pop-ups should raise, the lights should go on for a moment, and a few seconds later the pop-ups should return closed. The flash to pass-pass has its own relay that must be CLOSED for the normal headlights to work; if this relay fails relay A44X won't operate. It's the relay mounted to the firewall by the brake master cylinder. Unplug it and look for a direct short on the relay pins that line up with wiring harness wires blue+white and blue+yellow. A relay is made of two parts: an electromagnet coil that pulls on a "wiper" arm for the switch. When the relay clicks you know the electromagnet is moving the wiper a bit - and that the stuff controlling the relay is working... but is the wiper moving far enough to touch the other contacts? Are the contacts clean and making good connections - if the relay switches high current (like headlight relays do) it's typical for some arcing to happen. This slowly burns the contacts away and/or causes deposits which don't conduct very well. That's why I suggested swapping with a similar relay as an easy test. Trace the wires to the appropriate pins, then unplug the relay and use an ohmmeter to verify zero ohms between the two relay pins. This tests two of the three contacts of the relay wiper part. Before you spend money on the passing relay, try this: unplug the relay. Use a jumper wire to connect the blue+white to the blue+yellow harness wires. This simulates the passing relay in it's normal position. The headlights ought to work now if the passing relay was the bug. Can you feel relay A44X click when the headlights are turned on/off? That's one way to isolate the problem - we can cut the headlight circuit in half depending on your answer. If it clicks, then the headlight switch, passing relay, fuses, etc. are working because the relay is getting its signal. The problem is the fusible link, wiring to the headlamps, or their ground. Look at the ground wire attached to the passenger strut bodywork; the wire should be on the front side of the bodywork (near the airbox). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelby Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 the head lamp doors have nothing to do with the head lamps them selves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starwolf Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 I had a similar problem myself...after reading and searching for a long time I was getting desperate. Mikec pointed out that the horn relay i believe could cause them not to work..sure enough it was blown. To this day i SWEAR i checked ALL fuses like 15 times...oh well mikec is my hero Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
averse Posted July 20, 2011 Report Share Posted July 20, 2011 Do the lights work on bright setting by chance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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