smurf5995

New issue with my '86 Vette. The other night the light did not want to rotate all the way back down after turning the lights off. I gently tapped on it and it went down. I then turned the lights back on, and it did not want to pop all the way back up. I gently tugged on it with "A" finger, and it popped up, however, when I turned it back on it only rotated half way down. I gently pushed with one finger and it went back into place, however, it has now began to continuously run when in the down position. There is a god awful clicking/clunking noise and the motor continuously runs. I have to "fiddle" with the light switch to get it to stop. Anyone have any suggestions on what is going on and how to fix?

1bdvet

Might be both your motors bushing are coming apart is my guess. If they make clicking noise after the headlights closed sound like the bushing failing.
It's easy fix, takes patients, and if you follow these instructions it should take 2 hours to do the first side, then half the time to do other side cause now learned how to the job.

Here is link makes simple and shows you step by step. The parts you get at any Corvette Catalog book.

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

flipr78

Sounds like the large white drive gear has given up the ghost on your headlight. If you follow the directions it goes pretty easy. There is a steel spiral gear that turns the white plastic gear, over time the teethe get turned off the plastic one. If your going to keep the car another 25 years than buy the brass replacement gear, if your not than buy the plastic white one again. Good luck to you, it shouldn't take more than two hours start to finish. Some guys do it a lot faster.

Cliff Harris

'86 Corvette headlight mechanisms don't have bushings (those were used on '88 and newer). You need a new one of these:

HlhnEast

The motor has a torque sensing shut off. When the light has fully rotated and stops, the motor stops as well. If the teeth are damaged on the white gear indicated, no torque will be applied, the motor continues to run and you get the card in the bicycle spoke sound X100

tntwolt

how can i keep this from happening to me? i don`t see any visible lube points.

Calderone

I got two of this ....is the repair job as easy as the link 1bdvet posted above ?

Thanks !

rrt898

Had the same problem but; my motor wouldn't stop engaging until I unplugged it. It was the gear and an easy fix. The hardest part was taking the headlight bucket off the car.

Good Luck

Cliff Harris

The hardest part for me was cleaning the old RTV out of the groove around the outside of the gear housing.

Make sure you have the wiring harness disconnected and unhooked from all the clips before removing the headlight mechanism -- it's pretty heavy, and you don't want to deal with the harness while you're trying to keep the mechanism from banging into things.

shamdave

I hated the Pop Up head lights I am so glad I did the fiat conversion

smurf5995

Awsome, I just studied the post you made...I am going to attempt this next week. This looks like an easy fix. Thank you for your help. Once I am finished, I will update and let you and everyone else know how it went.

smurf5995

where did u get this from?

shamdave

The parts for sale on the Fiat forum

http://www.fccuk.org/

smurf5995

I just opened the head light motor, the gear that you pictured looks fine. By the way, the one you show is the one inside my motor. However, it is the black gear that has two broken teeth. Can I get the gear from the same place? If so, what is the proper name for this gear or part number?

Charles McCredit

This motor replacement looks like a problem to install, mine will retracted but the noise stops after 15 to 20 sec. is this a motor or gear problem?

smurf5995

THis entire process was an easy fix. I first place a pillow down inside the "well" incase my wife lost control of the light as I removed the bolts and screws. There are 4 bolts and 2 screws holding the entire light housing in place. First unplug the two pigtails leading to the light. Then remove the screws and bolts. The entire headlight assembly will practically drop out.

Lay the light down on a towel or other soft mat to prevent scratching. First, the four screws holding the headlight cover on...2 on the front and one on each side. Remove the metal clip holding the light wiring harness on. Then remove the single bolt holding the motor gear to the light. This bolt is inside under the light. Then remove the three bolts holding the motor on.

The motor is now free. Remove the screws holing the motor housing together and then carefully pry open the unit. Once opened, there will be one side that has the motor and a white gear, while the other side has a black gear with two pins running through the axle of the black gear. If the white gear is being replaced, simply pup it out. If the black gear is being replaced, do the following.

You will see a pin running through what looks like a screw that extends out from the motor housing. You removed the bolt from this earlier. I screwed a block of wood onto a work bench so that I would not damage the threds while I hammered on the pin to remove it. You may want to mark the orientation of this pin and screw, as it will need to be reinstalled in the same direction/angle. Be careful not to hit the gear housing. remove the pin on the outside of the case first. Once this is removed, the gear and shaft will come out. Now it is time to remove the gear. repeat the process just mentioned.

Installation is the reverse of removal. Word to the wise...use grease to lube the gears but before you do this, make sure that both halves of the gear housing are clean of ALL silicone. Remember, silicone will not stick properly to silicone. I used black silicone to reseal the motor. BTW, it takes longer to clean all the silicone off than it does for removal and installation.

I will get picture posted of this process into my album.

p.s.
If you are hearing a noise after retraction, my bet is that you have several teeth messed up on the gears. It is an easy process to open it up and look.

smurf5995

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/album.php?albumid=27486

Pictures of process