Headlight winking.......

[rrhayden]

My passenger side headlight is not operating properly. The door will open half way and stay there. I looked at it this weekend and what I think is happening is the large gear inside the motor, is slipping on its shaft and not rotating the linkage. Does anyone know if parts are available for these ?

Thanks

 

[Edmond]

My passenger side headlight is not operating properly. The door will open half way and stay there. I looked at it this weekend and what I think is happening is the large gear inside the motor, is slipping on its shaft and not rotating the linkage. Does anyone know if parts are available for these ?

Thanks

That happened to me this past summer. The usual culprit are the 3 plastic bushings that are in the gear. The plastic bushing wear out and the headlight struggles to pop up, if it even pops up. You can search eBay for those bushings, they cost me less than $5 but it took me a few hours to install them. I'll try to post a pic.

 

[JonM]

http://www.corvettemagazine.com/2002/february/c4lights/light1.ASP

Off you go...fix it and let us know how you did

 

[Edmond]

Here's a link...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33710&item=2460971686

That's one on eBay. I bought mine on eBay and they arrived very fast. Even though it says ZR-1 in the title, it's the same bushing. The majority of headlight failures are the cause of these bushings disintegrating. Mine were powder when I took mine off.

Good luck.

Jon,

Thanks for that article, it kept me sane and it guided me through the whole process.

 

[rrhayden]

Edmond,


Thanks for the help ! I will get the parts and see how easy it is. It looks like the hardest part is getting the motor off the mounting bracket. Also a big thanks to JonM

 

[pharmhealth]

Just how difficult are these bushing to replace?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=33710&item=2460971686

That's one on eBay. I bought mine on eBay and they arrived very fast. Even though it says ZR-1 in the title, it's the same bushing. The majority of headlight failures are the cause of these bushings disintegrating. Mine were powder when I took mine off.

Good luck.

Jon,

Thanks for that article, it kept me sane and it guided me through the whole process.

 

[Edmond]

Just how difficult are these bushing to replace?

It took me 3 hours to one side. I know that's a long time for something so small but it's worth it and you feel extremely proud afterwards.

If you follow the directions that Jon posted the link to, you will have no problem. You don't need any "special" tools or anything like that. A reason why it took me so long is because I have the "measure twice and cut once" attitude. You don't have anything to cut but I was just using that as an analogy.

 

[JonM]

Edmond...I have to try that analogy next time...seems like I could cut something 3, 4, even 5 times and its still to short

 

[rrhayden]

JonM,


I have to agree with you there ! I always get carried away and mess somthing up ! Then on the other hand I have to analize it to death to be sure I know what I am doing.

Thanks to both of you

 

[BamaJohn]

For what it’s worth, I got good advice from the board on the fix for my headlight. The first side took a long time. Most of the time was getting the motor out, and then I got smart and took the whole assembly out of the car. Four bolts and the door, motor and mechanical mechanism comes out. I then did everything else on the bench. The second side took 30 minutes from start to finish. I’ve got an “O By They Way” I was at Billy Grahams Salvage in Caleria Alabama the other day. Jeff, he who knows everything Chevy, was fixing a gear problem in a headlight assembly. Instead of replacing the gear he rotated it 180 deg. It seems the headlight only rotated on half the gear, by rotating it you get a working headlight assembly with no additional cost. They’ve been doing this for years without a problem. Billy Graham has a wrecking yard that has only Corvettes, Camero’s and Firebirds. jb

 

[tyrel]

It took me an hour for each side last year, and there was nothing left of the original bushings but dust. I didn't bother scribing anything to line it back up again. I just made sure that there was an even gap all the way around before I tightened the bolts. And all those little washers, you have to make sure they all go back on again in the same order.

 

[unleadedbrew]

And another..............

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2461648154&category=33710

 

[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.