headlight motor

[nwarky]

I knew the day would come when the headlight motors would fail on the TTA and that day is today. The headlight initially flipped up then dropped down. Headlight will no longer flip up. Motor still activates but the internal gears don't seem to "grab". Attempts to raise the light with manual turning of the knob on top of the motor assembly fails to work. If anyone has already gone thru this repair your suggestions will be appreciated. Does the whole motor assembly need to be replaced or can the internal gears be repaired separately? I have yet to disassembly anything but I know the motor itself still works but basically nothing happens. Thanks for the suggestions and wisdom.

Dean

 

[j13smiley]

not sure about the thrid gens.... but the 4th gen cars only use 1/2 the gear. so you can open it up, rotate the gear 180 degrees. the gear is plastic and and the teeth wear off.

 

[Jan Larsson]

Dean, Top Down Solutions have what you need to repair the headlight motors (need to get this done on my spare set of motors as well but have not yet ordered the "headlight repair kit" yet) see http://www.top-downsolutions.com/index.php?cPath=35&osCsid=aeb33ad99142ee12abcd50972bd12ace

Here's a link to the PDF instructions they supply http://www.top-downsolutions.com/Documentation/209280Instructions.pdf

The owner, Lon, is great to deal with so give him a call and he can tell you all about sorting out the problem.

 

[nwarky]

Jan,

You hit the bullseye for me! I was not aware of this company as another resource for our cars. Thanks a million and have a great weekend.

Dean

 

[Jan Larsson]

Glad to be of help, Lon also carries stuff to repair our hatch pull down motor and a few other useful bits ! And as I mentioned he is great to deal with.

 

[TT/Ameasap]

Jan, alway's going out of his way to help people out. Cheers to you my friend!

ps.
Going to be in Chicago anytime soon? I made the move already!

Bo

 

[2QUIK6]

This is actually a very easy fix that you should not have to purchase anything. Just use about a 1" piece of heater hose instead of the white rubber piece in the repair kit. You probably have some heater hose laying around, if so its a free fix, takes about 30min-60min to fix.
Follow the instuctions above, but just slip the heater hose piece over the triangular steel drive shaft of the motor so that the heater hose engages the plastic gear. Be sure to clean out any of the remains and dust of the old disintegrated gear engagement part. Pack with new lithium grease, bolt back together and you're ready to go.

 

[2QUIK6]

Here's the link for the free fix on the 3rd gen headlights. There's a fix for 4th gens also , but requires replacing the nylon gear with a brass one.
http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headlightfix/index.htm#3rdgen

 

[Lee_Burough]

I've linked the site describing the repair to our FAQ List

lee

 

[3.8TransAM]

Also note,

On the Fiero boards, is an individual who supplies replacement stubs that disintegrate as well.

Our headlite setup are nearly identical from Lotus, Fiero and Firbeird built at the same time, also I believe vette setup too, but not 100% sure on that one.

Also u can use styrene tubing/solid stock to cut and is available from any hobby supply shop.

On our cars, u will have to unbolt the lite assembly from the bottom to remove it(2 ten mm bolts), if u have later 91-91 firebird u can remove it all from the top side

later
Jeremy