Nice Winter mod

[Mark42]

For those of us who drive their Firebirds in the winter, you know what a pain it can be to have the headlights frozen closed under a 2" deep layer of frozen slush and snow.

I was surprised to find out there was no setting in the Firebird to put the headlight doors up and leave the lights off. This is a common feature in other cars with pop up headlights (IE Mazda RX7).

I decided to make my own headlight door mod to be able to leave the doors open when snow and/or ice is forcast.

Finished the project today, and here is the end result.

Hid the switch in the center console:



When the switch is turned on, the headlight doors open, but the lights are off:



The details are documented on Shareaproject.com: http://shareaproject.com/pages/projectTut,p,543,00.html

[BigRocsFirebird]

sweet. wonder if i could just have my lights on then turn off my kill switch leaving my lights still up but not on

[Jersey Mike]

Not a bad idea. Looks fugly, but not a bad idea.

[//<86TA>\\]

not a 4th gen, but on 3rd gens, if you push the headlight switch halfway, not completely on, the lights will flip up, and stay up, but not turn on.

[Mark42]

The mod will save chipping and banging away at ice and snow, possibly scratching the paint. Most of the time, when snow or ice is forecast, I work from my home office and the Bird stays safe in the garage, but there are the times when the 'bird will get caught outside in a storm. This was a great feature on my RX7, so I just had to add it to the 4th gen.

I wonder why the 3rd gen had this feature, but dropped it on the 4th gen?

Cost about $15 for the relay and switch at Radio Shack. The crip connectors and wire I already had, but still, it should be under $35 if you buy the wire and connectors at Home Depot, and the switch and relay at Radio Shack.

[Mark42]

Originally Posted by BigRocsFirebird

sweet. wonder if i could just have my lights on then turn off my kill switch leaving my lights still up but not on

If the kill switch cuts power to the door motors, that would work. But if there is power to the door motors, the factory relay defaults to normally closed (completing the close circuit), and that will cause the doors to close.

[GP99GT]

Originally Posted by Mark42

I wonder why the 3rd gen had this feature, but dropped it on the 4th gen?

it didnt, he was saying if you just turn the switch part way, it wont make the contact to turn the headlights on but it will contact the headlight motor part

[Mark42]

Originally Posted by GP99GT

it didnt, he was saying if you just turn the switch part way, it wont make the contact to turn the headlights on but it will contact the headlight motor part

Oh, thanks for clarifying that. I thought he meant there was a position/detent for door up/lights off.

[sweetbmxrider]

thats pretty cool. when you turn the lights on with them already open, do they cycle down for parking lights only? do they try to open when turned to headlights even though they already are?

[BigRocsFirebird]

Originally Posted by Mark42

If the kill switch cuts power to the door motors, that would work. But if there is power to the door motors, the factory relay defaults to normally closed (completing the close circuit), and that will cause the doors to close.

yeah the kill switch opens the circuit right off the battery so they stay up

[Mark42]

Originally Posted by sweetbmxrider

thats pretty cool. when you turn the lights on with them already open, do they cycle down for parking lights only? do they try to open when turned to headlights even though they already are?

When the mod switch opens the h/l doors, the headlights and parking lights can be turned on and off using the factory dash switch and the doors stay open.

If the doors are opened with the mod switch, then the headlights are turned on, and the mod switch is turned off, the doors stay open until the headlights are turned off, then they close.

The relay isolates the DCM from the factory headlight switch. So anything done with the headlights does not affect the DCM. The DCM is under control of the relay until the relay is powered off.

[sweetbmxrider]

alright cool got ya. thats pretty trick

[maroman88]

Originally Posted by GP99GT

it didnt, he was saying if you just turn the switch part way, it wont make the contact to turn the headlights on but it will contact the headlight motor part

aka the switch is shot!... wen i was redo'ing the 89 formula i sold, i put in a brand new headlight switch and this no longer happened lol

[PolarBear]

Originally Posted by //<86TA>\\

not a 4th gen, but on 3rd gens, if you push the headlight switch halfway, not completely on, the lights will flip up, and stay up, but not turn on.

This was not true with my 88 but with my 91 they come up all the time. It pisses me off because you have to have the running lights on to use the fog lights but when I only do the running lights the headlights come up too and stay off. I thought it was the module but I swapped in my 88 module and it still does it. It must be a ground or wiring thing. I used to use the fogs all the time in the 88 without having the headlights come up, and then the fog relay would stick "on" and I could shut them all off and the fogs would stay on to fix it I would have to smack the fender and it would "unstick"
I never thought about a cut off switch for the motors though. I may have to do something like that

[deadtrend1]

You could just unplug the motors, and crank them up by hand.
Or turn them on, let them go up, and unplug them.

Unless its a 98 - up since the light and motors harness are all one weatherpack per side.

[//<86TA>\\]

Originally Posted by PolarBear

This was not true with my 88 but with my 91 they come up all the time. It pisses me off because you have to have the running lights on to use the fog lights but when I only do the running lights the headlights come up too and stay off. I thought it was the module but I swapped in my 88 module and it still does it. It must be a ground or wiring thing. I used to use the fogs all the time in the 88 without having the headlights come up, and then the fog relay would stick "on" and I could shut them all off and the fogs would stay on to fix it I would have to smack the fender and it would "unstick"
I never thought about a cut off switch for the motors though. I may have to do something like that

yeah, im a dick, im wrong.

I remember doing this with my 86, push the button and the lights come up but dont turn on, but i didnt remember that the sidemarkers/fog lights have to be on for this to work. I just checked, and i can get the headlights to come up and stay in any position, half up ect, but the parking/fogs need to be on.

But james, something is definitely grounded/shorted in your 91 because i can turn the sidemarkers and fogs on in my 92 and the flip ups stay down.

[Mark42]

Originally Posted by deadtrend1

You could just unplug the motors, and crank them up by hand.
Or turn them on, let them go up, and unplug them.

Unless its a 98 - up since the light and motors harness are all one weatherpack per side.

Yes,that has been mentioned a few times, and you could do that, but that is exactly what I was trying to avoid having to do.

BTW, on 98 and up models, the motors can be unplugged from the door control module.

[PolarBear]

Originally Posted by //<86TA>\\

But james, something is definitely grounded/shorted in your 91 because i can turn the sidemarkers and fogs on in my 92 and the flip ups stay down.

That is good to know. This has pissed me off since I bought the car. I think I have a new GM headlight harness for the 91/92 bird. I will have to try and find that and put it in and see if it changes.

[Nitr0racing21]

so question if you turn the switch on and off will the lights go up and down??

[PolarBear]

Originally Posted by Nitr0racing21

so question if you turn the switch on and off will the lights go up and down??

No. The whole point of this thread is to prevent the doors from changing positions. The OP stated he was tired of the doors trying to open when they are frozen or under ice/snow. Now they stay up and he just wipes them clean and is ready to go, no broken motors anymore

[Mark42]

Originally Posted by Nitr0racing21

so question if you turn the switch on and off will the lights go up and down??

Originally Posted by Mark42

When the mod switch opens the h/l doors, the headlights and parking lights can be turned on and off using the factory dash switch and the doors stay open.

If the doors are opened with the mod switch, then the headlights are turned on, and the mod switch is turned off, the doors stay open until the headlights are turned off, then they close.

The relay isolates the DCM from the factory headlight switch. So anything done with the headlights does not affect the DCM. The DCM is under control of the relay until the relay is powered off.

Hope that helps.

[Nitr0racing21]

but my question is if I did this mod as well to my next T/A would I be able to make the healights go up and down if the ligh were off

[Mark42]

Originally Posted by Nitr0racing21

but my question is if I did this mod as well to my next T/A would I be able to make the healights go up and down if the ligh were off

Yes, the headlights go up and down with the lights off. That is the whole point of the modification; being able to open the headlight doors with the lights off.

[Nitr0racing21]

ok thanks I was just wondering I think it wwould be funny to do it to one light and make it wink at people

[Mark42]

Originally Posted by Nitr0racing21

ok thanks I was just wondering I think it wwould be funny to do it to one light and make it wink at people

HA ha! That would be a funny mod. If you use two single pole, single throw relays, and use two switches, one for each relay, you could make the light doors dance because you could operate them independently of each other.