84L69TA

I have an 89 T/A GTA. My headlights sometimes dont go up, and when they do go up, sometimes one or both of them wont go down. Very embarrasing as I just did a beautiful black paint job on this baby, and lights sticking up dont add to the beauty. I put new motors on each side but that didnt help. Ive heard of headlight modules or relays, but where are they? Im getting sick of cranking them up manually in the rain! THX

AmorgetRS

iTrader: (6)

They relays on my 1990 Firebird I think are off on the driver side around the battery. That does sound like a relay jamming or starting to go bad...
Good luck!
Douglas

turbo497

my headlights on my 1989 TTa were also having this problem it turned out to be the light switch on the inside of the car

84L69TA

really? thats weird because sometimes when i keep turning the switch off and on really fast, both lights will go up or down. I heard there is no relay, but rather a "module" for each light that costs $165 each!!! i hope this is not the case. any other ideas will be appreciated also

86ZRICHIE

A friend of mine had the same problem with his '83 TA, replaced the switch and it worked fine. If you can find a good one at a yard fairly cheap, you might as well give it a shot.

86ZRICHIE

A friend of mine had the same problem with his '83 TA, replaced the switch and it worked fine. If you can find a good one at a yard fairly cheap, you might as well give it a shot.

84L69TA

a bad switch could cause only one light to go up or down? they both never stop working at the same time. its always one that decides not to go up...or down for that matter. oh well, i guess ill try it! THX

kamac

Before you spend anymore money, pull one of the headlight assemblies out and open the gear case. 87-92's use circular gear driving a worm gear to raise and lower. There are three plastic cylinders that fit into the large circular gear to make it move. All that was left of mine was white powder whne I opened it up. A guy name Rodney Dickman sells a repair kit for Fiero's that will work in Firebirds. 9 bucks for both headlights, including S/H. I don't have his web address handy, just search for his name. This is an easy and much cheaper fix than buying new headlights. Hope this helps out.

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1989 Firebird 2.8L MPFI
K&N filter w/modified airbox
Flowmaster 2.5in Cat-back
Accel Cap, rotor, coil, 8mm wires, Rapidfires
Energy Suspension bushings
Edlebrock springs
Bilstien Shocks & Struts
Shift Kit
265/50-15's on stock rims (really)
Lots of TLC

kamac

Another tip on headlights for you is to "refresh" the switch. Pull it out and check the contacts as you flip it back and forth. The copper arms inside it get bent back over time, and if you carefully bend them bcak, the switch should work good as new. I used to have push mine just right, just to get them to move. Once again, good luck. If you need the address for the headlight kit, email me and I will find it for you. kamac@bellsouth.net

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1989 Firebird 2.8L MPFI
K&N filter w/modified airbox
Flowmaster 2.5in Cat-back
Accel Cap, rotor, coil, 8mm wires, Rapidfires
Energy Suspension bushings
Edlebrock springs
Bilstien Shocks & Struts
Shift Kit
265/50-15's on stock rims (really)
Lots of TLC

84L69TA

hey thanks a lot guys. ill try your suggestions and post the results.

ddsmith

I know this possibility is long overdue but I found something out while trying to troubleshoot a headlight problem of my own. Hopefully this will help someone out. I pulled the gear drives apart on both of the motors and replaced all the chunks of plastic with steel ball-bearings. If you had one apart you would know what I'm talking about. So I knew they where good and they functioned flawlessly after the repair. One day the passenger side headlight door stayed open when the lights were turned off. If I turned the lights back on and went out to the motor manual operate **** and turned it just a little and then shut off the light they worked correctly. Futher, investigation in the factory service manual explained how these gems operate. When the lights are turned on the headlight module applies operating voltage in the direction to open the doors. When the module senses a stall condition due to increased current draw(open against the stop)it removes the ground so the motor stops. The same is true in the shut direction. This module on my 87 Firebird Formula is on the firewall above the brake booster. You'll see two four wire connectors attached to it. If the motors stall for any reason the module thinks the headlight have reached the stops and removes the ground. If the motors are receiving voltage but the gears are the problem, the motors will keep running because they never get to the stall condition. If you hear the motors running after you get out of you car fix the gear issue before the motors get trashed. If no motor noise is noted, look toward the module/light switch as good possiblities. The light switch inputs to this module through one yellow and one white wire and in addition two fusible link through two red wire on the same connector provide voltage. If one wire going to the motor experiences a ground(chaffing through the insulation)it will provide a flow path and the motor will keep driving it against the stop making it real tight in one direction only. Then when the headlights are operated in the opposite direction some operating voltage will go to ground and some to the motor. The module thinks this is a stall condition and removes the motor ground. The headlight may not move at all. I believe this is the problem I had. I played with the wires to the motor. Just moved them a little and the problem is now gone. There are some sharp edges that these wires pass which could easily cause others major headaches. Good luck to all on your headlight problems.


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1987 Formula 305,1971 Corvette 454, 1966 Chevy C30 Flatbed Dump, 1989 Pontiac 6000 STE AWD.

okfoz

After installing my TPI, my headlights would turn on but not go up, I bounced the car and they went up...hmmm, I was perplexed until I found the ground by the passenger side in front of the Air-intake box on the radiator core support.

John

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G O D BLESS AMERICA

http://www.3rdgenformula.com
87 Formula 5.1 TPI Auto Modified (Yellow/Black)

87 Formula TPI (5 Speed) Yellow/Gray STOCK

14.8sec 1967 Buick Riviera
1990 Buick Riviera (driver)
83 Camaro
83 T/A