Question: Noise comming from headlight motor

[air1jpg]

Although I have read through some of the previous posts on the headlight motors, I wanted to ask if the bushings are my problem in my situation. When I turn on my headlights, my drivers side headlight pops up, but I can hear the motor continue to run and what sounds like bumping noise. Is that the sound of bushings, the warm gear, or a drive gear turning to dust? :confused Thank you..

 

[air1jpg]

Could it be something called a stop limiter? If so, where is it?

 

[Tuna]

If the bushing are toast, the motor run on and bumping noise is common with that failure.

 

[rascal_rascal_99]

Like Tuna said, if the bushings are worn (which is what I'm betting your problem is) it doesn't create enough drag on the motor once the headlight has spun into place to trip it off, so it keeps running until it times out.

 

[air1jpg]

Cool! The bushings are cheap and this is something I can repair myself! Should I get the gear the bushings sit in as well or do I just need the bushings?

 

[rascal_rascal_99]

Just the bushings, most likely the gear is fine. I did mine when there was about 120k miles on my car and there was nothing at all wrong with the gear other than needing to clean the old bushing dust out of it...don't be surprised if you take it apart and the old bushings don't even exist at all.

 

[Tuna]

^
|
What he said.

My '92 did exactly what you are describing - motor running on and it made bumping noises. When I took the things apart, the only thing left of the original bushings was a yellow goo. The gears were just fine but they needed a good cleaning.

Make sure you do both headlights at the same time. Put a large towel under the headlights when you're taking them out to catch any nuts/bolts that you may drop. If not, you may never see them again!

 

[air1jpg]

Tuna, Thank you for the towel suggestion..

The bushings in the passenger side light were changed when I bought the car, so I should be good there. Did anybody hear the motor run when you only turned on the parking and fog lights on? That seemed strange to me.

 

[JAKE]

Tuna, Thank you for the towel suggestion..

Did anybody hear the motor run when you only turned on the parking and fog lights on? That seemed strange to me.

Yes, my son's 96 does that. Motor runs even with just the parking lights on. He needs bushings too.

Jake

 

[Tuna]

Another suggestion: Get a small file with a diamond or triangular profile. The big gears in the headlight motors have a flange on one side and on one of them (can't remember which one) the flange is on the inside of the worm gear - makes it very hard to take the big gear out without having to loosen the motor and worm gear shaft.

To avoid this, use the small file to cut notches in the flange between three or four teeth, then rotate the worm gear to put the notches behind the worm gear, then pull the big gear out. Goes back together the same way and you may want to clean up the notches after you get the gear out.

 

[J Brennan]

The harder one to do is pass side. Turn the worm out two full turns. It requires a large slot screwdriver and is usually hard to turn. The assembly should almost fall out but if it doesnt turn the worm a little either way till it does.

 

[atx63bravo]

does anyone know of a 'how to' to fix these bushings? I am having the same issue in my 1994 corvette, and I have to help the light come all the way up sometimes now.

 

[air1jpg]

The bushings wear down over time and cannot be repaired, you can buy replacement bushings for about $10. It is just a matter of installing them.

 

[atx63bravo]

yeah I just want to know where to go to get the bushings, and how to put them in. I figured someone had done a write up on the procedure.

 

[air1jpg]

You can get the set of 3 bushings from Mid-America for $7.99 catalog part # 601-703. If you haven't already, you can search this forum or post and ask someone with a '94 FSM to scan the pages and post them for you.

 

[rascal_rascal_99]

For a great picture description of how to fix the headlight bushings, go HERE


or if I didn't link that correctly, the url is

http://home.comcast.net/~zrjuan/headlight.html

 

[Toms007]

Now let me preface this with I have not had to do this repair, but because it is so common I put little bits of info away for reference.

Someone found the bushings at Advanced Auto in the HELP! area. You know those little blister packs with all the random car bits and pieces. Item #74410 by Dorman Products. I guess they show as Ford Window Regulator Gear Plugs. Exactly 3 bushings in the blister pack. This might be more handy than ordering from one of the Corvette supply catalogs.

Another guy found 1/2" wood dowels 3/8 (minimum)- 7/16 (maximum) long works as well.



Being a woodworker and having dowels around all the time, I might use this method.

 

[rascal_rascal_99]

I hadn't heard of using the wooden dowel pieces before, that's a new one on me!

For some reason some people I've heard of having a little trouble with the nylon bushing from the "Help" section of the local parts store being just a hair too tight. This is supposedly a simple fix with a fine piece of sandpaper for just a few seconds, that you don't have to take off much, and I don't think everyone has this problem, just some people do occasionally.

 

[air1jpg]

I replaced my bushings last weekend using the step by step procedures I found on this site and the job was easier than I expected thanks to the wonderful people on the CAC!

 

[vetteoz]

does anyone know of a 'how to' to fix these bushings?

headlight repair w/pic... - Corvette Forum