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headlight repair

K

kimjj1

Guest
Hi,
I have a 1984 corvette and my right headlight won't popup. It will every once in awhile but not often. Has anyone eles had this problem? I'm a woman and I don't want to take it to get repaired and get riped off. Any help would be appreciated. :bash
 
I am sorry I cannot help u but I did want to welcome you to the CAC. There is many years of experience here and someone will undoubtedly be able to help you soon.
 
The repair is an easy job. There are or should I say were 3 Teflon rollers in the gearbox between the drive plate and the gear that drives the light opening/closing mechanism. They are there to protect the motor and light assembly in case it jams. They deteriorate with time and use.

All of the Corvette parts stores sell replacements, they can be bought on eBay for less than $10 or you can make your own by buying a short piece of 6mm dowel from a hobby shop and cutting three pieces 6mm long.

The gear box is aluminum and held together with 3 steel screws so they will most likely be seized. spray them with penetrating oil and let it soak in over night before you try to remove them.

Buy 6 rollers and do both lights at the same time. If one went the other is about to go.

If you have a mechanic do the work anything over 2 hours labor is a ripoff.
 
Had to do mine on my 88...was not that difficult and the bushings were less than ten bucks. I just did one side at a time and the second side went very quickly. I found an awesome website that had excellent instructions and photos...i printed all of them and have them in the garage somewhere, but I can't find the web link anymore. I will still search. In the meantime I am supplying you with this link which is also helpful. http://www.corvettemagazine.com/2001...ghts/head1.asp
I noticed you are in Michigan...We are in Indiana just south of the Michigan border near Angola Indiana...if you are not far maybe you could bring the Vette down and we can help you fix them. Good Luck!!!
Bosshogg
 
The repair is an easy job. There are or should I say were 3 Teflon rollers in the gearbox between the drive plate and the gear that drives the light opening/closing mechanism. They are there to protect the motor and light assembly in case it jams. They deteriorate with time and use.



Buy 6 rollers and do both lights at the same time. If one went the other is about to go.

If you have a mechanic do the work anything over 2 hours labor is a ripoff.

Update!!,Update!!,Update!!
They now sell them in the HELP section at Advance and Auto Zone!! They are disguised as GM/Ford window motor gear repair dowels!!:upthumbs

PS. It takes me about 1 1/2 a side,by the time I clean,lubricate and adjust everything!!:D
 
Junk!

Thanks again for the heads up!

SAVE THE :w
 
Thanks so much to everyone for helping me. What a great site. Here I thought I would have to buy a new motor. So glad I asked. Everyone just saved me alot of money. I haven't been able to drive my vet in the dark for 2 years!!!!:upthumbs
 
From what I understand, 84 to 87 did not use the bushings, rather the gear would strip out. If the gear is bad, you can use one from fiero, firebird, or any other GM pop up headlights. Either way it's not too difficult to change. The dimension for the bushings are 27/64 by 29/64 BTW. Good luck:w
 
I beleive Vetteracer is correct. On the first C4s, there was a brass gear instead of the nylon bushings. This gear is avaialble in the catalogues. The repairs should be similar. Can anyone else confirm? ;shrug
 
If the gear is bad, the motor will still run and you will hear it clicking. If it doesn't make any noise, you have an electrical problem. The original gears are plastic. With the headlight switch off, turn the klnob on the end of the motor shaft to manually open the headlight door. If it is working right, the motor will try to close it again after you turn it a few turns. Try unplugging the harness and open the headlight door by hand. Be careful if you manually try to open or close it while plugged in. If the motor comes on it moves the headlight real fast.
 
Do you mean to turn the knob manually like I'm poping the light up? Cause if you do I've tryed that and there is no noise. Now I'm back to square one. But thank you very much
 
I just manaully turned the knob and the motor was clicking. So it must be the gear. I will let everyone know after I fix it. I've installed a ceiling fan and a garbagr dispoisal how hard can it be?
 
I took the motor apart and the motor works and the gears are fine so now what do I do. Someone told me to check the relays? Has anyone eles had this problem?
 
On the front of the driverside plastic wheel well housing are 3 relays. They may be hidden by a plastic cover.

There is one relay for each motor and a relay called the Isolation relay.
The motor relays are the same so you can swap them around and see if the smyptom changes. You can identify the motor relays because they have 5 wires going to the relay socket. The Isolation Relay only has 4 wires going to its socket.

If you swap the relays around and the symptom doesn't change you need a volt meter to test the voltages. Do you have one?
 
I took that apart yesterday with help from my son. I just ordered all three relays. It was the isolation relay that was bad though so it should be fixed as soon as the parts come in . Thanks and you were right on the money.
 
My 87 had a lazy headlight and it turned out to be caked up carbon from the worn down brushes around the comutator of the motor. I was able to clean it out and now both work the same speed.
Does anyone know where you can get new brushes for the early headlight motors?

JS
 

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