87 headlight motor problem

[mint87]

I've got one headlight that intermittently gets stuck in the closed position. I've found that by turning the manual control knob slightly for that motor I can usually get it working again. Is there a rebuild kit for these motors available or do I need to replace the entire motor assembly ?

 

[JT ZR-Won]

I believe Corvette Central sells a rebuild kit for the headlight motors

Jay

 

[mint87]

Brass or Plastic ?

thanks, I see Mid America sells both brass and plastic, noting that plastic was for 84 through "early" 87. Is there a way to tell if my 87 is brass or plastic without disassembling the motor ?

 

[Hrtbeat1]

headlight motor

I too have had a problem with both of my headlights, so I bought two of the rebuild kits. What seemed like an easy project turned into a major P.I.T.A. You have to take the motor off of the headlight housing. Once that is done its pretty easy remove the three screws, back off the worm gear tensioner and LOOSEN (not remove) the two screws holding the worm gear to the actual motor. Once this is all done just ease the big gear out clean all the residue out, and drop in the three little bushings. Put it all back together and it should work like new.

As far as plastic or brass I couldnt tell you. Mine had a metal gear. Thats not really the part that goes bad, its the gel that they used to engage the gear/worm gear. It just gets worn out hence the motor wont open the light.

I think the bushing kit was like $3 from either CorvetteAmerica or Eckler's .... can't remember who I bought it from. The new motor runs $295 from about anywhere that you can find them. Plus they are seperate parts right and left, NOT interchangeable.

Try the cheap method first. Good luck.

 

[terrykrueger]

I just did my 87. Ecklers does not have the 'choice' of brass or plastic for mid 87. I went with their standard and it worked slick. One word of advice: I pounded on the pin like crazy but couldn't move it. Finally I stuck it in the press and it came right out. Also, I pushed the outside pins out rather than the inner. It seems both work. Check out the link:
http://www.corvettemagazine.com/2001/december/headlights/head1.asp


Use the 'continue' button to read the article.

 

[terrykrueger]

Please note that the 90 uses a different system with bushings. I was confused about that at first.

 

[Hrtbeat1]

Different

Right you are the two motors are slightly different. My Bad.

Yours looks a little easier to remove from the headlight housing. I fought with mine for over an hour. Once removed it was pretty easy though.

 

[mint87]

I just did my 87. Ecklers does not have the 'choice' of brass or plastic for mid 87. I went with their standard and it worked slick.

Cool, this is really useful. So the only parts I need are a large and small gear, if I understand correctly.


Thanks for all the posts, you guys are the best.

 

[JonM]

http://www.corvettemagazine.com/2001/december/headlights/head1.asp

Check it out

 

[billd]

noise

When this happens are you getting noise out of the assembly like the gear is stripped or is it quiet like the motor is not turning?

 

[mint87]

I can't hear much because of the motor noise from the other headlight. I know its running though because the manual control knob spins when the light switch is pulled.

 

[Edmond]

I just changed the bushings on one of my headlights 2 months ago. It was quite a project, 4+ hours.

The bushings in the gears had just crumbled. I seriously doubt the actual gear has gone bad. My plastic gear is 15 years old and it didn't show any sign of wear.

Let us know what you decide.

 

[mint87]

no bushings in the 87, from what others have posted. Thanks all, think I got a handle on it now.

 

[billd]

I replaced the worm gear in mine two weeks ago for the same problem. It only took me about an hour.

 

[mint87]

Fixed

JonM, great link to instructions, they were right on. FYI, the gears were fine. The motor had some rust on the magnet that was preventing the rotor from moving freely. I doused the whole thing with WD40 and its working perfectly. Guess that sealer they used wasn't so great.

I went ahead and changed the main gear anyway, since I had it apart.

thanks all.

 

[JonM]

Re: Fixed

JonM, great link to instructions, they were right on. FYI, the gears were fine. The motor had some rust on the magnet that was preventing the rotor from moving freely. I doused the whole thing with WD40 and its working perfectly. Guess that sealer they used wasn't so great.

I went ahead and changed the main gear anyway, since I had it apart.

thanks all.

 

[onedef92]

I'll lay odds its your bushings. Go to Home Depot and ask for item number 595609. You will need six of these nylon spacers to repair both headlights. They cost me .69 cents (plus tax) for a pack of three at my local Home Depot store.

Much cheaper than the $7.99 price in MAD, Eckler's and some of the other specialty catalogs and they are the exact same Delrin spacers. Go figure.

If there's a TechTips portal on this Forum search under "headlight bushings." If not, let me know and I'll see if I can get you a copy of the instructions I used when I replaced mine a couple of months ago.