What is the Headlight Closure Relay all about?

The headlight closure relay is a component in your headlight door motor that keeps your headlight doors opening and closing the way they should. This relay is usually found on the bottom left hand side of the dash, just above the parking brake mechanism. It’s held in place by a bracket, and works by means of a copper coil that sends power to the headlight door motor. When the relay is working as it should, the doors operate effectively. When it doesn’t, you can experience all kinds of problems with the headlight doors.

Keep in mind:

• Your headlights are a vital safety feature in your car, and if they’re not working properly, you can endanger yourself and everyone else on the road.
• The problem may not be with the relay alone – the entire headlight door motor may need to be replaced.

How it's done:

• The vehicle’s hood is opened and supported manually
• The defective headlight closure relay is removed
• The new headlight closure relay is installed
• The hood manual support is removed
• The repair is verified and the headlight doors are tested for proper operation

Our recommendation:

Sometimes headlight doors experience problems if the car has been sitting for a long time and the doors are left in the “up” position. If this is the case, repeatedly pressing the switch could cause things to work properly again – the switch might have accumulated some dirt that needs to be dislodged. Corrosion, however, can be a significant problem in vehicles that aren’t used all the time, so it’s best to have one of our expert mechanics check out the headlight doors to determine if the problem is the relay or the motor itself.

What common symptoms indicate you may need to replace the Headlight Closure Relay?

• Headlight doors won’t close when the lights are shut off
• Headlight doors won't open when the headlights are turned on

How important is this service?

It’s less of a problem if your headlight doors stay up. If they won’t open, it becomes an issue of safety when driving as you won’t be able to properly see or be seen at night. If the doors are stuck in the up position, you can have the problem solved by one of our expert mechanics at your leisure. Any other problems with headlight doors (opening and closing without any action on your part, for example) should be dealt with immediately.