Head light doors are not opening. I just discovered last night that the doors will not open. I just started trouble shooting today. There is a fuse for each door the fusees are good. And that is about it. The headlight switch at the moment is open for question as I am not sure exactly how much of it is working. With the doors closed it is hard to tell if the lights actually come on. The parking and tail lights do though.
I do not know at this time if there is a master fuse that controls power to the module that runs the motors or not. I have not found where the module lives or where the motors are how how to get after them.
I am sure I will figure that out later today but if anyone has anything that would add to help figure this out it would be appreciated.
Thanks.

 

Never mind, I found it. A corroded connection on a fuse in the IP fuse junction block. The electronics in these cars can have you chasing your tail.

 

Wrong again, I now have new updated information on how it does not work.
If I use the stalk on the steering column the head lights do not come on at all nor do the doors open. The parking lights and tail lights do come on.
However if you use the same stalk to flash high beams, something that can be done to signal passing conditions etc, the doors open and the high beams come on. The doors will stay open with the high beams on and the the head lights will time out and go out and the doors close.
So it seems that some signal or another is not being generate by that stalk to both turn on the lights normally and open the doors.
I am still open to suggestions and I am going back to research things.
Thanks.

 

Sounds like a short in the switch, unc. Since it operates on the flash mode, I think you can rule out faulty motors.

 

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Yuh, I am beginning to think it is a problem with the switch after the latest go around.
That switch is part of the rotation of the stalk which means it is internal to the steering column and it does not look like an easy task to go after it.
I have been scanning the electrical diagrams that show how it it supposed to work looking for a fuse that might be blown that supplies power to the switch contacts.
The electrical diagrams are not the most easiest of lay out and of course the Chiltons/motor manual/haynes/mitchells format is not the most informative lay out anyway.
This is the point where a shop manual would be handy and I do not have one. Dunno, I just got up and am not functioning all that well. I'll get back to it some time today.
Thanks.

 

Well, if you start monkeying around with it, I'm sure you know to disconnect the battery first so the airbag capacitor can discharge and not blow out on you. That is presuming your model has an airbag. When did they become standard equipment?

 

The '93's had airbags, so I suspect his does too .........

 

I love this car. It more or less has been sitting unused for about a year in my driveway. I started getting it back to functional about Thanksgiving and it was recently I discovered the headlights were not functioning. So to day to exercise it a bit I drove it down to get the mail and surprise, the headlights magically fixed them selves. I suppose the contacts on the rotary switch that controls them had become oxidized and just using them a bit cleaned the oxidation off and things started working.
Good'O I can take that, magic works. Now I need to swap out and balance the rear tires with new Hankook's that came this week. The Goodyears finally dry rotted to the point where I am not going to use them. Too bad the tread depth was almost full and new. Damn the UV here hurts tires. Time to start sanding the body back down for another paint job, locate a gasket for the sun roof and see about swapping the dashboard instrument panel out with the one I bought here so the odometer will work again and call up Carvell and schedule having the seat re-upholstered. And check out the cam shaft that one of the members found to see if they are worth saving the money for and buying. That would liven things up a bit.
I just am not able to justify buying a new car despite the rational the Chevrolet sales manner tried to convince was valid. What was it? They don't make them any more.
Funny the concept that 1, I own it and 2 it is paid for never entered his lil'bitty mind.
And yuh, it has air bags and if I am going to spend money on this things I am going to opt for a new steering wheel. One with out air bags if for no other reason that the cover for them has gotten hard and crispy but a better one is, cosmetics. A new steering wheel with some looks to would brighten up my day and maybe even let me get the horn to work again.

Thanks
Uncljohn.

 

Heres a little logic for NOT buying a new car at this time that you might try bouncing off your chevrolet sales manager, powertrains in new vehicles are about to take a big leap in power output and fuel efficiency. The manufacturers have known for decades how, in theory anyway, to greatly improve the efficiency of the ICE (internal combustion engine).

Its a three pronged approach, of which the first two prongs have been implemented. Those are computer controls on the fuel/air mixture and the ignition timing. The third prong is valve control. Right now it is all mechanical, as it has been since the dawn of the automotive age, with a small amount of control recently with variable valve timing.

Nissan and BMW have experimented and gone as far as a limited production of engines where the cam rides on a second cam that basically changes the valve lash. At idle, only the very top of the lobe is used, as the throttle pedal is pressed, the cam begins to use more of its lobe. The throttle body is completely eliminated, the cam is the throttle.

Honda has addressed this with their V-tec engines, but that is basically just two fixed cam profiles.

Chrysler and Fiat are introducing their multi-air engines which use a master/slave cylinder between the cam and the intake valve instead of a rocker. The cam profile is a high output, high rpm cam, but a computer controlled solenoid opens a valve between the master and the slave cylinder, reducing the profile as needed for the operating conditions. The solenoid can open twice in each cycle so that it can trim duration off both the leading edge and the trailing edge of the cam profile. Initially the computer will only provide three profiles, but as this technology developes, they can have an infinite number of profiles.

One technology that is currently used in large industrial diesels is to have the valve directly actuated by a computer controlled solenoid. This would be the ultimate and all the manufacturers have been working on it. They say the hang up is getting a solenoid that would work throughout the whole range of a modern gas engine.

This eliminates the camshaft and its complicated and somewhat sensitive drive mechanisms. It would also allow a very high static compression ratio for the engine and then the valve duration and timing would control the dynamic compression ratio like the Miller cycle engine. It could even allow the engine to go into a diesel mode that uses gas instead of diesel fuel. Its very tricky to do with a mechanically controlled engine, but when it works, it gets great highway mileage.

Ultimately it could even allow the engine to operate in a 6 cycle mode for super cruise economy or even a 2 cycle mode for ultimate power. This all needs direct injection for the gas/diesel mode and the 2 cycle modes to work, and a turbo is also needed for the two cycle mode to work. You are seeing the groundwork here with the development of direct injection engines and turbocharging.

With the new CAFE requirements driving the industry to more efficient powertrains, I see this coming out in the near future and that is what I am holding out for.

 

A NASCAR MOTOR, something that is a push rod v8 will run reliably in the range of 10,000 rpm but have a life span of some where in range of 1000 miles is something that can be built using todays technologies for about $100,000. Is neither practical nor cost effective when reduced to practice in to days world and has little to no input into the modern motor other than a light weight oil to encourage some un-measurable in crease in CAFE standard fuel economy in the real world however has contributed almost 110% to increased oil consumption and reduced reliability which is not only measurable but is a plague that infects modern engines after XX number of miles to where the manufactures are considering but have yet to implement the non-servicable but throw away motors.
Where as F1 which runs at the cutting edge of the technology you are making an reference to has implemented motors that will run at twice the rpm and less fuel mileage and are sensitive to an increased loading of 20 gallons of fuel which will effect the performance measurably but also have increased the cost of these things a factor of 10+ while decreasing the reliability to next to nothing.
It sounds like a positive reason to wait for it. No thanks I am not going to hold my breath for it.
The cutting edge of technology is causing todays motors to bleed to death and I have no interest in waiting for one to show up in the show room floor powering some drap piece of iron with 4 doors and be another variation of the badge engineered choices offered by most but not all of the manufacturers, which are also disappearing as we write.
The writing on the wall is pointing at a high tech one car meets everyone's universal application. And creating a case that I should buy a new one because what I am driving isn't being made anymore? My fleet of cars that I not only own but cherish represent that. And other then my Chrysler which at the time is trying very hard to to represent something useful which is why I bought it, but also represent a company that is busy shooting itself in the foot. I have no plan to hold my breath until another variation of ill designed technology hits the road.
Todays Hybreds represent poor application of an age old technology that also can not be cost justified when purchasing one.
Run the numbers on the purchase + operating costs of the latest's hyteck and compare it to the same numbers on the non-hyteck variant and they do not justify the purchase. Leaving it to the individuals choice rather than a cost analysis. And my choice?
Not in my driveway!