82 headlight inquiry

[mwr44]

http://s3.amazonaws.com/ephotospace/193619.jpg

I did this in paint so I could clearly show all the parts I'm talking about on my car because the terms are confusing (running lights vs fog lights etc)

Ok, well I've done some searching on this forum but I'm still a bit confused on this headlight issue my car has. For those who don't know the order of my(and all 82s?) headlight switch is this:
1st click headlights go up
2nd click running lights(# 2 and side markers) on
3rd click headlights on, also the only time I'm able to turn on light #1 is when I have these headlights on via a switch in my center console

and when you go backwards from there, the clicks:
1st click back headlights off, running lights remain on, headlights remain up, but light #1 can no longer be used
2nd click back all lights off, headlights still in up position
3rd click back, goes to normal with nothing on and headlights down

When I first purchased my 82 P, I was able to switch on the running lights (# 2 in the photo) by twisting the headlight switch fast through the first two clicks, if i did it fast enough the headlights wouldnt move up at all but the running lights (#2 and side) would be on. I could also go fast through all 3 clicks and this would give me the same effect as switching through the first 2 fast, except now I was able to also turn on light # 1, because this light only comes on when the headlight switch is at 3rd click AND I've pressed the console switch to on.

Now, last year I needed to replace my alternator so I had an ordinary local auto shop do this for me. When I got it back, they changed the headlight wiring somehow. Now, I cannot skip past the 1st click, even if I do, the headlights still come up. I brought the car back and asked if they had changed anything with the wires and they were all clueless and I dont think they deal with our type of car very often.

Now what I'm trying to do is to modify the wiring such that I can have light #2 and #1 on, along with the side marker lights AND have the headlights down, like I accomplished in the past by switching to the 3rd click very fast and pressing the console switch.

I've found 3 different mods through the search feature and I'm sure one of them is what I'm looking for, but I dont want to go cutting some wires and end up without the desired output at the end. 1st I came across this thread:

http://forums.celicasupra.com/showthread.php?t=15415

Member canonbeach1 made the post I'm interested in:


If I understand correctly, the following is what you're after.

Courtesy of... Jeff Tamulis

Remove your steering wheel shaft cover. Find the 5 wires that power your running/headlights. Should be: Blue, White, Brown, Red, and green.

Cut the blue wire and leave cut. This will give you...

Clicking on:
1st click - nothing
2nd click - running lamps come on
3rd click - head lamps pop UP and turn ON

Clicking off:
back 1 click - headlights STAY UP and turn off (running lamps stay on)
back 2 clicks - runninglamps turn OFF and the headlamps stay UP (but off)
back 3 clicks - everything off.

Running lights on by themselves or with headlights -or- leave the headlamps up with everything off, in case of ice, etc.

I did it in my '82. Works perfectly.

Next I came across two different mods on Dean Anderson's page of modifications.

http://www3.sympatico.ca/dean.anderson4/mods.html#fogs

http://www3.sympatico.ca/dean.anderson4/mods.html#fogs2

So, if there is any other person with knowledge of this specific subject I'd like to hear some input about this matter. Appreciate it.

[dannymk2]

doing deans mod will make the fog lights totally independent. they will only work via the switch in the center console then you would just use the headlight switch to turn on the side markers and thats it. i believe thats what you want, correct?

[mwr44]

yes, that is what I want, except I want to have the running lights(lights #2 and side) and fog lights(light # 1?) on while the headlights are in the down position. Doing deans mod will fix the fog light(light # 1 correct?) part of the problem, but I still wouldn't be able to put the running lights(lights #2 and side) on with the headlights down. So maybe I should do deans mod AND the Jeff T mod?

[scorpmatt]

ok, first off, 82 is the only year i've seen the 1st click on the headlight switch to make the headlights pop up. 83-86 don't do this as far as I know. Would getting another switch fix this? I'm not sure as I don't know if the relays are different... etc. etc. etc.

What probably happened is that the alt was not always receiving the call from the stalk (headlamp switch) to flip the lights up as it was slowly dying. This new alt is receiving all the signals properly, thus allowing the car to operate normally, for an 82. :)

[dannymk2]

yes, that is what I want, except I want to have the running lights(lights #2 and side) and fog lights(light # 1?) on while the headlights are in the down position. Doing deans mod will fix the fog light(light # 1 correct?) part of the problem, but I still wouldn't be able to put the running lights(lights #2 and side) on with the headlights down. So maybe I should do deans mod AND the Jeff T mod?

yes, forgot about the whole '82 thing. you need to do both mods.

[mwr44]

What probably happened is that the alt was not always receiving the call from the stalk (headlamp switch) to flip the lights up as it was slowly dying. This new alt is receiving all the signals properly, thus allowing the car to operate normally, for an 82. :)

I'm not so sure that is correct. Before my alt replacement, I could switch fast through the clicks such that the headlights would stay down while the running lights(#2) came on, and I could also then turn on the fog light(#1) with the console switch if I went to the 3rd click. However if I didn't go fast enough I would get the "winking eye" effect with the headlight only coming up a little bit, this would range depending upon how fast or slow I went through the first click. Also worth noting is that the headlight itself never came on unless it was fully up, even with the winking eye it was off at 3rd click.

[mwr44]

I'm wondering if someone can confirm that this is the blue wire that leads to the running/headlights.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/ephotospace/196568.jpg

[turbogoo1]

My blue wire was on the other side under the stalk for the lights. Not that side.

I did the blue wire mod. Works great.

[mwr44]

Ok, thanks. I'm having a little trouble removing those covers..theres a screw thats way in the back and its like inside the dash, impossible to reach. This diagram shows it clear, the screw in the way back of the cover. I wonder why in the world toyota decided that screw was necessary? Makes removing the column cover 5times more difficult.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/ephotospace/196577.jpg
Taken from one of my repair manuals

[turbogoo1]

Yea its a pain.....(dont tell....I didnt put that one back in) lol

15 min job turned into a half hour....!@#$%

[donkita]

I did the "blue wire clip" on my 82, and everything works great, but maybe not as mwr44 is wanting. The wire is on the left side of the column, in the tight little bunch of wires leading into the headlight stalk. I just cut open the sheath around these wires and dug around for the blue one. Clipped it, capped it, and put it all back together. All of this may be obvious to most, but it always helps me to have as many different descriptions as I can find.