The_Gray_NA

Okay first off I have searched all over both the site and my haynes manual and I cant find exactly what I'm looking for.

First off I just purchased an 84 GSL-SE and the previous owner said that the headlights flickered a few time and then went out completely. Okay no big deal just a fuse or relay of some sort.

I have high beams when I pull back the stalk but no low beams or constant highs in the forward position.

I started by checking fuses and this is where things get muddled up. Both my Haynes and owners book shows the car with the old cylinder or tube style fuses. I crawled up in the drivers side foot well and discovered only the newer blade style fuses. Is this common or has the car be revamped with a new fuse block?

Second I cant find an answer on where the headlight relay is located or how to get to it. Could someone get a picture for me so I can get my headlights working?

Thanks in advance,
Adam

LongDuck

Okay - here we go; this is actually a pretty common problem reported over the years as our cars get older. It's mostly because there isn't a headlight relay - yes, you read that right - the headlights are powered through the switches in the steering column, leading to high voltage loss and flickering/dim headlights.

Dragon Auto (aka Victoria British) still offers a 'headlight relay wiring harness' that adds new leads, grounds, and relays to both the standard beams and brights, and uses the original wiring to the steering column for the triggers for the relays. In theory, this would fix the problem, bring the car up to the current 'standard' of lighting, fix the flickering and dim lighting issue, and prevent any further decay of thin wiring carrying the load for the headlights. My own 84SE has the flickering issue, but mostly when you're first turning the lights on, they are slow to go bright, and even with the buckets up and ready, there is a mysterious delay before light shoots out of the bulbs, but I digress.

So, to fix the problem once and for all, I recommend wiring in some relays using the standard wiring harness for the triggers. Either get the Dragon Auto plug-and-play version for about $40, IIRC, or wire in your own relays, grounds, and (fused) feeds, if you're apt.

Edit: Also check the 'Headlight' Fusible Link at the driver's side strut tower (front facing edge), and be sure that's solid and carrying current. One is for the motors which drive the retractable lids, and the other is for the beams, IIRC.

On the blade fuses under the dash, this is standard in the later generations, but our early first gen cars still has bus fuses (glass tubes). If yours has blades, then it's been retrofitted, but to be honest, I'd have to go look at my fuse block to be certain on this, and my car's at home in my garage. (Maybe someone else can confirm)

So, there you go; weekend project coming up!

deadphoenix52

iTrader: (2)

archives
https://www.rx7club.com/1st-gen-archive-71/electrical-easy-fix-4-your-headlight-headaches-590507/

The_Gray_NA

Part #72-040 is what your referring to longduck? Thanks for the help. I take it getting to the original relay is to difficult to be time and cost efficient?

Kentetsu

There is no original relay. A major fault in the design, as Longduck already stated.

Read up on the Archived link that deadpheonix posted. Chances are, that will get them working again. But if you also want to improve the lighting, then consider installing relays which is a very nice upgrade. I made my own system from scratch, so I could use even heavier gauge wiring the the Black Dragon kit has, and I am very happy with the results.




.

Sgt Fox

iTrader: (3)

As stated above, you will need to spray some electronic contact cleaner into the switch contacts in the stalk. Adding a relay to the headlights will prevent this from happening in the future.

The_Gray_NA

Outstanding guys thanks. That'll be my project tom.

Thanks for being patient...I'm a bit thick at time.

The_Gray_NA

I did the contact cleaner trick and it got the low beams working but still no highs. I may not have gotten that contact very well.