On NA and NB Miatas the pop-up headlights are raised by two electric motors driving a plastic-geared linkage, and slow, uneven, or dead lights almost always trace to the motor, its gearset, or a tired ground. One bucket rising fine while the other lags is the classic tell.
The motors live on brackets under each headlight bucket and spin a worm gear against a nylon sector gear. Both age the same way.
- Slow or lazy lift is usually dry, hardened grease binding the linkage plus a weakening motor. Pull each motor, clean the old grease off the gears and pivot, and repack with white lithium. This alone revives a surprising number of "dead" motors.
- One side stops partway or clicks points to stripped teeth on the nylon sector gear or a seized pivot. Replacement gears and reman motors are cheap and plentiful; swap the gear rather than fight it.
- Nothing at all on one side means test power at the motor connector with the headlights commanded up. Power present but motor dead equals bad motor. No power means chase the ground, the retractor relay, or the lift switch.
- Grounds matter. The headlight and motor grounds sit near the core support and corrode. Clean and re-tension them before condemning a motor.
Each bucket also has a manual knob on the motor so you can wind a stuck light up by hand at the roadside. Do not force a bound linkage with the switch; you will strip the gear.
Keep both motors moving occasionally over winter storage so the grease does not set up hard.