I have to manually push up the headlights to drive at night, how do I get them down during the day. I don't want to place to much presure to the light housing. Do I just push them down??
Thanks

The lights are opeated as we know by pneumatic pressure, but I looked in my haynes maintenance manual and this was exactly what was written. (page 12-6)

In the event of a fault or during overhauls, the headlights can be raised manually in the following way.
Open the hood and disconnect the vacuum hoses from the actuators at the rear of the geadlight.
Reach under the grille and push upward on the light hoursing. Pull the headlight door to it's fully open position. NEVER CLOSE THE HEADLIGHT DOORS BY HAND.

bill0830 said: In the event of a fault or during overhauls, the headlights can be raised manually in the following way. Open the hood and disconnect the vacuum hoses from the actuators at the rear of the headlight. Reach under the grille and push upward on the light housing. Pull the headlight door to it's fully open position. NEVER CLOSE THE HEADLIGHT DOORS BY HAND.

I read that too when I was having the same problem. As of yesterday I'm pleased to say that problem has been resolved with the replacement of the relays. YAY!

However, to answer the question, it is possible to safely close your headlamps. You have to reach up from underneath the front bumper. Coming out of the actuator is a rod connected to two pieces that have a "pin" that acts as a hinge. This is the same part that your manual is telling you to push up on. Pull down on the pin (it snaps into it's locked position so you do have to pull harder than you may think) and the lights will go down. You do not need to - nor should you - push down on the headlamps.

I will admit that when I was told how to do this, I had trouble getting it to work. Mostly because I wasn't pulling hard enough. It really helps to have someone who has done it show you in person - at least it did for me (thanks Paragon75Ray!!).

Here's a drawing that may help. I've circled in red the part that you want to pull down on. You'll feel it sort of "un-snap" and the headlight will then close.



|UPDATED|11/25/2003 2:27:03 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

If both headlights have to be manually raised and lowered you should check for a vacuum hose that has come loose. It could be a simple fix.

Hye all,
Looks like this problem is worked out, which is always a good thing,
I realize headlights are a mix of electrical and vacuum mechanical,
If the head light problem is vacuum mechanical I like to move the thread over here to "general discussion" hoping to get more exposer and help or in this case to share the great info with more people.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Cheers, T

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE HELP. It worked. In the summer I will get it checked out.

Had the same problem with my Wife's 79. So I replaced the diaphrams on both actuators and all of the vacauum hoses and they work Great !!

A little WD-40 on the linkages really helps them to go up as well as down. i found a hose that kept disconnecting - a small clamp solved the problem
Big Al