Headlight woes

[dlrshort]

Recently the driver's side 'eye ball' will not open on my '66. If you play with the switch, that is, open and close it repeatedly, eventually the light will flip open. It always closes the fine. Is it more likely the motor or the switch?

Dave S.

 

[vetzs]

I think I would suspect the connections at the motor, try cleaning them and assembling with dialectric grease.

 

[Vetsvette2002]

I would check the switch. It is fairly easy to dis-assemble, clean, file the contacts, and re-assemble. Use your volt meter to see if the switch is actually switching to the UP wire.

Don

 

[Paul T]

There is a great article in the November issue of Corvette Magazine on mid-year headlight problems and repairs. Worth a read and keeping for future problems.
Paul

 

[Ron Miller]

Recently the driver's side 'eye ball' will not open on my '66. If you play with the switch, that is, open and close it repeatedly, eventually the light will flip open. It always closes the fine. Is it more likely the motor or the switch?

Dave S.

Most likely the motor in my experience. Lots of times on these older cars the motor and gears will "bind" slightly at the fully closed position. Playing with the switch will sometimes get them to finally move, but I've had them fail to move at all without going under the hood & turning the wheel to manually rotate the motor to give them a slight "start" in the right direction. Try this, I think you'll find that upon giving the motor a turn or so that it opens freely.

A permanent fix will likely require removal and cleaning of the armature and gears at a minimum.

rlm