sleejay

OK this might turn out long, who knows...
let me start from the beginning

bought me car for $0. 1989 s5 rx7 gtu. headlights worked fine, so did high beams.
about 2 months into driving it, when i clicked on the high beams, the headlights would just turn off, so i would have to go back to lows to have lights (bulbs are fine.)

about 1 week after that, the highbeam switch did nothing. didnt turn em off, but didnt turn highs on either. no little blue 'high beam indicator' on the cluster any more.

ive been driving like this for about a year, just lows and fogs.

the switch works fine. ive gone through 3 just making sure, and every time:
when the lights are off, and i hit the high beam switch, the FTPs work fine. just no high beams.

so today i pull the 5 prong connector (blue) from the relay on the bumper. its corroded to hell. excitedly, i run it inside to clean it.

cleaned the male connectors on the relay real good so they shine again. pull the rubber cover off, and take the top off the relay. rust rust rust.

scraped off all the rust. cleaned it all up with a toothbrush so it shines again. the little activator peice that is attracted to the coil under power to make the connection (if you ever opened a relay youll know what i mean) moves fine.

so i put the rubber back on, and plug it in. still, nothing.

put a DIFFERENT relay on that i pulled from the junkyard one day... a nippondenso 056700-5950, off of a completely stock s4. NOT the headlight relay, but a 5 plug that was on the far passenger side of the bay, on the corner where the fender meets the bumper. 12v and everything. what happened with that relay? with the LOW beams on, the high beam indicator came on! i got eager and started pulling the switch, and nothing. the indicator never turned off, and the highs never turned on. then the relay started smelling like burnt electronics.

i pulled THAT relay, pulled the rubber off, pulled the top off, everything is pristine inside. so im going to chalk it up to the fact that its not the proper relay and couldnt handle whatever i was giving it.

so ive got the old, cleaned relay in there (probably still has some rust on it where i couldnt reach) and that one doesnt stink or get hot or anything.

what should i do? anyone have a part # or the relay manufacturer and there part #? i work at a carquest parts store so i can order it if i have the right #'s (meaning something specific to the relay, not mazda's number because cross referencing mazda is impossible with our books and mazda never tells me anything except their own part #'s)

also am i entirely wrong in thinking this relay could be my high beam problem? i started thinking it was because the other relay i put on there made the indicator light up.

also, i need to solve this VERY ASAP... inspection time and we dont pass without high beams

thanks, i hope i made enough sense so someone can answer with 100% accuracy and this can actually become THE high beam thread (yes i searched and searched, none of this is covered)

if you need more info about this to answer, just ask!

thanks
tj

speed_monkey

Click the button once. You made four of the same threads.

WAYNE88N/A

You need to do some troubleshooting- for starters, make sure the relay contact and coil is even getting voltage from the headlight switch. If they are, then you can start to suspect the relay.

You also need to know that the dimmer relay (the one you're playing with) has an internal diode, to prevent backfeeding into the cluster switch. This makes it a unique relay...

You could also jumper the relay contacts (with the plug disconnected) for the high beam circuit to verify that all of the wiring is good, and in fact the relay is bad. On an S4, do this by jumpering the red/green contact to the red/white contacts on the PLUG, using fairly beefy wire, then turning the switch on...

Troubleshoot, guys...Saves you money and headaches

sleejay

i kept getting POST 520 errors or something, didnt mean to quadrouble post

back on topic... its an s5, and could you help me figure out how to jumper it to test? i am a wiring buffoon and i like to make sure im doing it right and not just frying circuits that i dont need to be frying

have you got a part # at all or any way i can order a new relay just to try it?

WAYNE88N/A

Since you're S5, I can only hope that your headlight circuit wire colors are the same (and the relay setup, for that matter). If they appear to be the same (the colors at the plug for the relay you're playing are what I said they were), then go ahead and try to jumper the two terminals I said.

Depending on whether the plug terminals are male or female, you'll have to manufacture a jumper wire to bridge the two terminals together, just like the relay contacts would do if they worked...

Make sure the jumper wire is at least as big (in diameter) as the wiring at the plug...

sleejay

ok heres what i did... i REALLY cleaned the dimmer relay, the contacts were rusted so i cleaned them good as hell... put it back in, BAM! high beams work! the highs turn on, the fogs turn off (just like they are supposed to) etc etc...

still a problem... the high beam indicator on the cluster doesnt turn on. if you read my original post, it was coming on with the 'wrong' relay... what does that run from? is it still the dimmer relay? do i need to clean it more? is there a contact in there i dont know about?

WAYNE88N/A

On the S4's anyway, the high beam indicator light is fed by the same circuit that powers the high beams, controlled by the same relay contacts. So, either the bulb is out, or the wiring is open...

Or, from what you said about it coming on with the "wrong relay", the wiring is screwed...

Or, the S5's circuit is different, and I don't know what the hell I'm talking about

sleejay

im going to crack it open AGAIN and have a go at it...
this is quite aggravating, the only thing pushing me on, is that the indicator went out at the same time the high beams did (originally) so its a good chance that it IS the relay

WAYNE88N/A

No, the indicator wiring doesn't come from the relay contacts, but splits off of the wiring that runs to the headlights from the relay. In other words, if the hi beams are working now, consider the relay good. Find the splice that feeds the indicator, or look at any funky wiring "mods" that might have been done in that same circuit.

Again, this is from the S4 schematic, I'm still hoping the S5 is the same

sleejay

ok it randomly started working. i dont understand