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Headlight gear guru needed...

E

Eagle85C4

Guest
Well it finally happened...strange... started car...alternator went south ...voltage level at 18.3...red light on dash...SES light. Tried everything including turning on lights to see if it would make a difference....none...regulator gone in NAPA alternator. They replaced it with AC-Delco this time. But headlight stuck open half way, with motor spinning like crazy.I finally pulled the connector apart and went to work. Tried to turn knob on motor to reset it in place but no good...I can feel and hear the gears gone.

How hard is it to replace the gears and set it back up right?
 
More then likely not the gears but just three plastic bushings in the gears. Cost only about $5.00 from Ecklers or MidAmerica. Had that happen to both of my headlights about a year apart. Will need to pull the headlight assembly from the underside of the hood and then disassemble the motor gears. When you pull the gear section apart be prepared for some white dust, the ground up bushings. Not too bad of a job, did mine in an evening, but you must take your time and pay close attention to details. Now this was for my '90. Not sure if yours would be the same or if they changed over the years.

tom...
 
If I am not mistaken, The bushings didn't start until '88 when they updated the headlight motors... I think if there is a problem on 84-87 it is the gears... My guess is they are not hard to replace, the bushings arent hard, on the newer models... If you are mechanically inclined, and take it slow, it shouldn't be hard... I would start by taking out the whole headlight unit from the car though, that should make life easier.
 
Vettelt193 said:
If I am not mistaken, The bushings didn't start until '88 when they updated the headlight motors... I think if there is a problem on 84-87 it is the gears... My guess is they are not hard to replace, the bushings arent hard, on the newer models... If you are mechanically inclined, and take it slow, it shouldn't be hard... I would start by taking out the whole headlight unit from the car though, that should make life easier.

You are correct...85 did not have the bushing problem...but the gears are another story. Ecklers has them for 39.99. Can't wait till Mid-Am gets the online act together. Got to wait till I get home to compare price.Not sure where else to look for a deal on the gears.
 
Vettelt193 said:
Covette america ( http:\\www.corvetteamerica.com ) has them for 39.00 (2 part set) , or you can get a split set for $24 (large), and $21 (small)

Saved a buck....(save for phone call...) but ordered set...I know I should do both but after all the work I have done recently I will do one now ...the other later. Got to replace 120 amp alternator this evening....oh well....when you own america's sports car a price comes with it. Only too proud to pay it for the privledge of driving one of the best.

Thanks for the info...also sent off for catalog....thanks again... Ray
 
I did a web search for..."corvette headlight gears" and found several places that showed that the gears out of a fiero and firebird are the same as the ones in the vette....not sure myself but I think I will check the bone yards this weekend to find out.
 
where did you find it, all I found was the fiero bushings are similar to the corvette ones (88-96 vettes) and fieros can use the same bushings as vettes
 
The motors even look the same... I am surprised they tell you to go to a corvette parts store though.... when I say "Corvette" to a parts person, I swear they hear "Multiply the price by 2"

LOL...

anyway, good luck with the gear search
 
I forgot, don't replace with bronze gears if you have plastic cover motors, use nylon.
 
Found a set of gears in Toledo...ran after work got then...ran home tore whole headlight assembly out...went into house...got a cold one and proceeded to tear it apart. Wish I had torn it apart before getting gears. Seems the large gear is the one that most commonly goes bad, the worm gear wears out the middle of the gear. Could have saved 21.00....oh well live and learn...now to head out into the heat and put it back in place and see if it works....would sacrifice a virgin to the Tron God...but good luck finding one of those....

More later...
 
Are YOU done yet?

Less postin more Wrenchin...MISTER!



LOL

Vig!
 
Tom73 said:
More then likely not the gears but just three plastic bushings in the gears. Cost only about $5.00 from Ecklers or MidAmerica. Had that happen to both of my headlights about a year apart. Will need to pull the headlight assembly from the underside of the hood and then disassemble the motor gears. When you pull the gear section apart be prepared for some white dust, the ground up bushings. Not too bad of a job, did mine in an evening, but you must take your time and pay close attention to details. Now this was for my '90. Not sure if yours would be the same or if they changed over the years.

tom...
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.
 

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