Headlight door & antenna probs

[lone73]

I have had a prob with my antenna for the last couple weeks. Went up and never would go back down. Stuck in the up position. Probably a common prob. Anybody know what that probably is? Is there a rebuild kit for this?

Also my right headlight door just started messing up tonight. Rotates about halfway to the up position then stops. Stripped gear maybe? Again, I'm betting this is a likely prob for a C4 with 155K miles on it. Is there a rebuild kit for this too?

Anything I should do to either while I'm in there?

Thanks
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[rascal_rascal_99]

I can't help with the the antenna problem since I haven't had to do anything to mine yet (137k miles so I'm probably not far behind you on it...lol) but the headlight problem is most likely with the small bushings that are in the gear assembly. For a nice page of pic's to see what's inside your light's, look here. Credit for that page goes to someone else that posted a link a week or so ago, I just saved it cuz...well...it's a good page to bookmark! It's a reasonably simple job, although it'll probably be just a little time consuming your first time. Mine was just slightly different from the pictures on the page linked, in photo #5 where it shows where you've removed the bolt's/nuts from, the extra one all the way to the right isn't there on mine....it's the same one that in photo #3 is the nut on the bracket to the far right. Only thing I can figure is a difference in year models for whatever reason? (mine is a 92 coupe) You'll probably want to go ahead and do them on both sides, not just the one that's messing up, the other most likely isn't far behind it unless you know of it being changed already. Your gear is probably fine, just make sure to clean the teeth on it...and everything else...out from the remains of the dead bushings. They're cheap too, 5-7$ roughly depending on where you get them from and I think all the corvette parts supplier's will have them. If you search the forums you'll find more on this headlight problem.

Edit--One other thing, when I did mine last weekend, the small pin that you have to remove, I had to replace both of those, which are another very inexpensive small part so you may want to have those handy or be prepared for a trip to the parts store. Then again, I haven't heard of other people having them come out broken, so mine might have just been a freak thing.

 

[John Robinson]

Antenna Problems

I have rebuilt my antenna. When you turn the radio off do you hear the antenna motor running? Lets pursue how the antenna works. The mast is connected to a plastic cable that has teeth on it. When the teeth are stripped out the antenna will not go up or down. Yes you can buy a mast repair kit. The easiest way I have found to fix the problem is to put the car on jack stands and remove the rear tire and inner fender. Then remove the bolts holding the antenna motor. Take particular attention to the location and orintation of the wires attached to the antenna motor. If you are handy with a digital camera take close up pictures of how things are routed. Unless someone else has done a mast repair to your Antenna you will have to carefully drill out the pop rivets that hold the cover on over the gear set. Be carefull because you will have to use some small sheet metal screws to reattach the cover. With the cover off you will find that some of the plastic drive cables is probable broken off and trapped in the gears. The mast kit should give you good instructions on how to install the new mast. I found it helpful to reinstall the antenna motor before installing the new mast. A note of caution here. When working on the antenna motor you find a very thin wire running towards the front of the car behind the inner fender panel you take off. Make sure you put this wire back correctly and do not break it. It is the ground plane wire. If the motor has failed you still will need to remove the antenna motor as discribed above then you will have to remove the rear speaker and other things inside the car to get to the antenna lead. I have not done that so I can't help you there. Good luck on this and feel free to PM me if you have any further questions.

 

[tonylong]

Question for Rascal rascal

I can't help with the the antenna problem since I haven't had to do anything to mine yet (137k miles so I'm probably not far behind you on it...lol) but the headlight problem is most likely with the small bushings that are in the gear assembly. For a nice page of pic's to see what's inside your light's, look here. Credit for that page goes to someone else that posted a link a week or so ago, I just saved it cuz...well...it's a good page to bookmark! It's a reasonably simple job, although it'll probably be just a little time consuming your first time. Mine was just slightly different from the pictures on the page linked, in photo #5 where it shows where you've removed the bolt's/nuts from, the extra one all the way to the right isn't there on mine....it's the same one that in photo #3 is the nut on the bracket to the far right. Only thing I can figure is a difference in year models for whatever reason? (mine is a 92 coupe) You'll probably want to go ahead and do them on both sides, not just the one that's messing up, the other most likely isn't far behind it unless you know of it being changed already. Your gear is probably fine, just make sure to clean the teeth on it...and everything else...out from the remains of the dead bushings. They're cheap too, 5-7$ roughly depending on where you get them from and I think all the corvette parts supplier's will have them. If you search the forums you'll find more on this headlight problem.

Edit--One other thing, when I did mine last weekend, the small pin that you have to remove, I had to replace both of those, which are another very inexpensive small part so you may want to have those handy or be prepared for a trip to the parts store. Then again, I haven't heard of other people having them come out broken, so mine might have just been a freak thing.

I'm planning to make the bushing change soon. I never thought about the pin. Where did you get the pins. I can't find them in the catalogs. Do you have a GM part no ?

Thanks

 

[Tuna]

I'm planning to make the bushing change soon. I never thought about the pin. Where did you get the pins. I can't find them in the catalogs. Do you have a GM part no ?

Thanks

When I worked on my old '92 a few years ago, the pin split in half coming out on one side. I carefully fitted it back together and knocked it back in. It's still working. It wouldn't hurt to have a spare pin just in case as they seem to be a bit brittle.

 

[rascal_rascal_99]

I'm planning to make the bushing change soon. I never thought about the pin. Where did you get the pins. I can't find them in the catalogs. Do you have a GM part no ?

Thanks

You should be able to find the pin's at any hardware store. The one's I put in were metric and measured 4x26, I did have to squeeze them down a little to get them started in the hole's. If you find them in standard size instead of metric, look for a 1 x 1/8 inch.

 

[lone73]

Ordered the antenna and headlight door rebuild kits. Thanks for the help!

Just got done with the rear brakes, while I was at it I cleaned all the wheels,...inside and out. Geez, what a bunch of work that was. They look good though. Those open five spoke wheels show a lot of inner aluminum IMHO. Had to sand them on the inside. Solvent wouldn't even take the tar spots off.
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