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Headlight problems (suggestions)

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Old Feb 15, 2010 | 12:05 AM
  #1  
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Default Headlight problems (suggestions)

My headlights will work fine during the day when i turn them on they pop up. But at night they wont pop up the lights themselves will turn on the the actual light housing wont pop up out of the hood. Sometimes i have to actually get out and manually raise them and sometimes if i play with them long enough they will work. Either way its embarrassing when i am pulling away from a restaurant and i have to manually put my lights up.
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Old Feb 15, 2010 | 12:24 AM
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very strange! so they pop up perfectly during the day but not at night?

what is the state of your twilight setting on the car? the only thing I can think of that would make such a difference is if the twlight option is turned on and something is malfunctioning so when that system detects that the lights should come on it is in fact preventing them from working.
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Old Feb 15, 2010 | 12:43 AM
  #3  
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Originally Posted by mcgilles
very strange! so they pop up perfectly during the day but not at night?

what is the state of your twilight setting on the car? the only thing I can think of that would make such a difference is if the twlight option is turned on and something is malfunctioning so when that system detects that the lights should come on it is in fact preventing them from working.
I agree with this.
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Old Feb 15, 2010 | 01:27 AM
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twilight is the same as "auto" on in other vehicles. it should never in inhibit manual (switch) operation of the headlights.

There are 4 electrical areas that often causes headlights to fail:

- faulty fuses
- faulty relay(s)
- headlight control module (under passenger headlight)
- multifunction switch
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Old Feb 15, 2010 | 02:39 AM
  #5  
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Default Same Problem

I haven't noticed the daytime vs night time difference. Mine pop up sometimes and sometimes they do not. Mega-embarrassing having to raise them manually.

I've changed the fuses, bought the relay device and still the same. The lights come on immediately but pop ups are intermittent.

My ears are wide open on this post.
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Old Feb 15, 2010 | 08:59 AM
  #6  
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Strange. This is new to me also. Here's a bump.

-Alex
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Old Feb 15, 2010 | 11:28 AM
  #7  
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Originally Posted by VETSTYL
I haven't noticed the daytime vs night time difference. Mine pop up sometimes and sometimes they do not. Mega-embarrassing having to raise them manually.

I've changed the fuses, bought the relay device and still the same. The lights come on immediately but pop ups are intermittent.

My ears are wide open on this post.
I'm betting your headlight controller went out. It's a black box under your passenger headlight that tells the motors when and how to operate. It's "sealed" to be weather resistant, but over time the sealant breaks down and water can get in an screw things up.

Try pushing your multifunction switch to the high beam position THEN turn on your headlights. This will work for a little while until you can find yourself a module.
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Old Feb 15, 2010 | 09:19 PM
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Default Headlight fix

I just fixed mine...same issue. Pull the H/L control module under the R headlamp. There's a sticker on the module that says "replace do not repair". Take a small screw driver and open it up. You can re-seal it later with a tube of silicone. Inside the module is a relay. Gently pop the clear plastic cover off of it. Take some very fine sand paper and run it through the contacts on the relay. Blow a little compressed air through it. Reassemble, reinstall and your problems should be over. Hope this works for you like it did for me. I took pic's, but haven't figured out how to attach them to this thread. Send me an email and I'll forward them to you. cbilly1@bellsouth.net
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Old Feb 15, 2010 | 09:34 PM
  #9  
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Originally Posted by CBILLY1
I just fixed mine...same issue. Pull the H/L control module under the R headlamp. There's a sticker on the module that says "replace do not repair". Take a small screw driver and open it up. You can re-seal it later with a tube of silicone. Inside the module is a relay. Gently pop the clear plastic cover off of it. Take some very fine sand paper and run it through the contacts on the relay. Blow a little compressed air through it. Reassemble, reinstall and your problems should be over. Hope this works for you like it did for me. I took pic's, but haven't figured out how to attach them to this thread. Send me an email and I'll forward them to you. cbilly1@bellsouth.net
Good post. Now go get a photobucket account, it's free. Upload those pictures and then copy and post the link under your photos with the insert image button in the message box.
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Old Feb 15, 2010 | 09:38 PM
  #10  
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Originally Posted by CBILLY1
I just fixed mine...same issue. Pull the H/L control module under the R headlamp. There's a sticker on the module that says "replace do not repair". Take a small screw driver and open it up. You can re-seal it later with a tube of silicone. Inside the module is a relay. Gently pop the clear plastic cover off of it. Take some very fine sand paper and run it through the contacts on the relay. Blow a little compressed air through it. Reassemble, reinstall and your problems should be over. Hope this works for you like it did for me. I took pic's, but haven't figured out how to attach them to this thread. Send me an email and I'll forward them to you. cbilly1@bellsouth.net

Did the same thing to mine 6 months ago,haven't had a problem since.
Mine didn't have the sticker,but I'd have opened it up anyway-almost anything that clicks when you put power to it has a relay in it,and relays can usually be cleaned up to work like they're supposed to.
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Old Feb 15, 2010 | 09:47 PM
  #11  
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Sounds like it is a faulty headlight control module. (unless you have the "Solar powered headlight mod" installed.
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Old Feb 19, 2010 | 12:43 PM
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Try something simple and cheap ... make sure your battery terminals are tight to spec. I had similar problem and it turned out to be the negative terminal was not tight enough. A quarter of a turn, and it solved my problem.

Jerry
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