The 832nd Question On Headlight Doors

[Redcoupe864+3]

Did a search and haven't found my specific problem, though I have an idea or two on what to expect. So here y'are: right-side headlight door on my '86 had occasionally been reluctant to rotate into position, but would always come around when I retried it. Now, it's decided it doesn't wanna rotate no matter what. Open the hood, try the lights on-off real quick (the left is fine), and see that the door starts to rotate and stops after a few milimeters, as though something was blocking it. Can't find anything in the way, and my garage man said today they couldn't even manually get the light into position. Now, I myself have not tried to bring the light up manually, but I thought that the "hand crank" backup for the lights was a pretty foolproof thing. Oh, and my man says we're probably looking at stripped gears, which I suppose wouldn't be too surprising. Thoughts out there? Thanks as always!

 

[Agent 86]

I have not had problems with mine yet so i can't speak from experience, but it does sound like a stripped gear. All i can offer is some info from my 86 manual.
http://members.shaw.ca/agent86/Headlight%20Doors.pdf

 

[tonylong]

Check your MAMW catalog for the parts you need for your year.
My 89 uses plastic cylinders as clutch pieces ($5.00 each side).
Earlier years used a pair of gears for each side ($50.00 / set).
Either type seems fairly easy to fix.
I have my parts but I'm waiting for a totral failure to actually fix them.
So far they open on several tries.
HTH

 

[partspup]

I had one that wouldn't open, and before I went to the trouble of tearing it apart, I lubericated everything and it works now fine. I know there is some information on repairing the head lights by replacing the gears and bushing, in fact someone found the nylon bushing at home depot. I am sure that someone here proably has the repair site marked. good luck, they say it only a couple hours of work during the winter months. Save the

 

[Redcoupe864+3]

Guys, thanks for the suggestions. I'm getting the car back tomorrow and will try lubing stuff first. Replacing the gears seems to be the most logical next step. Appreciate your help!