Pop up lights, up or down?

[freerange7]

My car pops the lights up when I use my side lights but only illuminates the side lights in the bumper, H reg 1.6

My girlfriends car will not put the lights up until you use the switch on the dash between the heater vents. The headlights light up dimly when the side lights are used, J reg car.

Do the cars vary on different years?

[Munter]

Yes they did change this at one point. Look up Flash to pass mod I think.

[GravelBen]

Mine are a bit erratic, sometimes they pop up when you turn the lights on but other times you have to use the button on the dash. Same story going down, sometimes they'll pop down when you turn them off but more often you have to push the button many times before they go down.

I suspect something may be wrong with it

[Kinky]

Munter said:

Yes they did change this at one point. Look up Flash to pass mod I think.

As he says.

And simple to do (IIRC).

K

[miniman]

But is this the flash-to-pass mod the OP is talking about? He mentions the lights popping up when the sidelights are switched on - mine certainly doesn't do that, but does have the flash mod.

[freerange7]

Thanks, very helpfull.

[MX-5 Lazza]

My 98 Mk1 used to pop the headlights up with sidelights. I think it's a UK road regulation (another stupid rule) so might only be UK cars.

[Fruitcake]

MX-5 Lazza said:

My 98 Mk1 used to pop the headlights up with sidelights. I think it's a UK road regulation (another stupid rule) so might only be UK cars.

I thought this was the case, too.

Mine does it - '95 car.

[Herman Toothrot]

my '97 Eunos doesn't pop the lights up when sidelights are on.

[Munter]

Herman Toothrot said:

my '97 Eunos doesn't pop the lights up when sidelights are on.

My 1997 Uk iS doesn't pop up on sidelights either. I thought it was only the early cars that did.... But Lazza's old car suggests otherwise...

[snotrag]

Nope, my 94 import doesn pop the lids when I switch the sidelights.

Works off the button, or when turning main beams on.

Also got the flash to pass thing done, they pop up for 2 seconds or so off a pull of the stalk. Very satisfying

[franv8]

Mine's a 1990 Eunos, no lights up with sidelights on (unless you had the headlights on then dropped the switch to sidelights, extinguishes headlights but leaves the lids up). Got the flash to pass mod, very satisfying, particularly as every time you do it is like the air brakes coming on when a plane lands...

UK cars probably popped it up because, I think, there was something in the consstruction and use regs that required cars to have 'dim dip' when the sidelights are on, from mid 80's I think. I think it was to make cars more visible/cover a bit for sidelight failure?

[MX-5 Lazza]

I always thought it was something that came in at the same time as the headlight levelling control i.e. if you had one you had the other and that came in sometime late in the life of UK Mk1s. Could be (probably) wrong though.

[DennisTheMenace]

do the main lights come on dim ? if so you need to pull the dim dip relay on the passengers side near the bulkhead . they are under a black cover , easy to find you will see the wires running to them from the loom.

[franv8]

Headlights dim ip was definitely an 80s thing, level control from the drivers seat was a 90's thing I think.