73 headlight issues, Lights pop up, won't turn on Options

[pastormacman]

So I searched and read through this thread:

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...eadlight++relay

But it didn't quite cover what I was looking for. But I did notice a couple of people asking if the car was a '73. Mine is a '73. But I didn't see anyone say why that mattered. Is there something specific about the '73 model that has headlight issues?

Anyway, here's my issue: With the battery connected and the ignition switch on, when I pull out the headlight switch, both lights flip up but neither lights up.

A little history: This is the same car that you all have been helping me get started in this thread:

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...eadlight++relay

Part of the problem this community helped me figure out was that my ignition switch was broken. So I replaced it with a new one. So I have a new, working ignition switch.

I thought that maybe the high beam/low beam relay had gone bad, so I bought a new one from Automobile Atlanta. Like you can see in the pic, it has five posts, and the description says that it fits 70-76 914. However, when I removed the old one from the car, it only had four posts and four wires connected. So I connected the wires to the corresponding posts on the new relay and left the fifth post empty.




After installing the relay, I still had the same problem: The lights flip up, but won't turn on.

Another monkey wrench: my turn signal stalk is broken. The internal mechanism flops around all over the place and the turn signal swings loosely. I know that the turn signal stalk is also the high beam/low beam switch so I'm wondering if that could cause the lights to not turn on.

What are your thoughts?

[Spoke]

A test light is a good first step. You should use a digital multimeter and measure voltages. If you don't have one, they can be purchased at any FLAPS, Home Depot, Lowes, HF.

Looking at the schematic of the '74 914 below, if your headlights work on high beams, then the headlight switch is ok. There's only one wire from the headlight switch to the hi/lo beam relay. You should measure voltage at the relay on pin 56a since that is where the low beam voltage comes from. One could say that you can measure the same voltage at fuses S3 and S4, that could be the first measurement.

You know the low beams do not light up. You have measured voltage at fuses S3 and S4 (Both sides I hope). If no voltage at S3 and S4, measure voltage at the relay at pin 56a. You know there's voltage at pin 56 since the high beams work.

[lierofox]

A test light is a good first step. You should use a digital multimeter and measure voltages. If you don't have one, they can be purchased at any FLAPS, Home Depot, Lowes, HF.

Looking at the schematic of the '74 914 below, if your headlights work on high beams, then the headlight switch is ok. There's only one wire from the headlight switch to the hi/lo beam relay. You should measure voltage at the relay on pin 56a since that is where the low beam voltage comes from. One could say that you can measure the same voltage at fuses S3 and S4, that could be the first measurement.

You know the low beams do not light up. You have measured voltage at fuses S3 and S4 (Both sides I hope). If no voltage at S3 and S4, measure voltage at the relay at pin 56a. You know there's voltage at pin 56 since the high beams work.

@Spoke well summed up. I also got my 56a and 56b terminals reversed in my troubleshooting steps, I was going off this pinout description which is opposite to the description in George's post.
(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/uploads_offsite/i.imgur.com-18880-1587012448.1.jpg)