Zenki FC's and stupid headlight problems

[RETed]

I had an intermittent headlight problem about last year that I thought I had licked.
I initially resoldered the headlight switch, but that was only a temporary solution.
A few days ago, I started to have intermittent parking lights / dash illumination.
Upon inspection, I had a "burnt pin" in the harness that plugged into the headlight cluster switch.
I couldn't fix this problem, so off I went...

I checked Mazdatrix for the price for the headlight wiring harness.
~$130!
WTF!
I wasn't about to pay that much for this, so I was looking for another solution.
Checking out the wiring diagram, this wasn't going to be straight-forward.
I still had my headlights, but the intermediate switch setting for the parking lights and dash illumination wasn't working.
The wiring diagram shows a dedicated power wire split out to the parking lights and the dash illumination.
The dash illumination was regulated by a "pot" that controlled light intensity.
I drive with my dash illumination full bright, so this was not a concern to me.
The circuit also powered the tiny lights inside of the headlight cluster switch itself - big deal.

The WHITE / GREEN wire was the dedicated power.
The two wires next to it (forgot the colors) are the backside of the circuit.
I rigged a relay (manually switched) to control this circuit outside of the headlight cluster switch.
Yes, you do lose illumination control - it's on full bright all the time you switch it on.
Yes, you lose the tiny light illumination on the headlight cluster switch - not usually a big deal.

I went fancy with the relay, but you can get away with a high current switch.
The circuit is normally protected by a 15A fuse in the kickpanel labelled "ILLUM".
So, if you just use a switch, make sure it's rated minimally for 15A.

I don't know if this applies to Kouki FC's, but my car is a 1987 Turbo II.

Hope this helps!


-Ted