Jawz

Hey guys, I've searched in the forum and online but I haven't been able to find good information on my issue. I have an 85 Trans Am and my flip up headlights go up and down perfectly fine, however when they go down the driver side headlight's motor will continue and makes a loud annoying sound. I have found information saying that this could be the gears however almost all of that information pertains to the 4th gens. All I could find for 3rd gens was that the issue could be bushings or relays but even that is apparently only for 87's and up! Would someone mind telling me what it is, and where to get the parts to fix it? Haha. As a temp fix I just disconnected the relay so the light stays down and shuts up

85FBTranam

iTrader: (3)

Sound like the plastic gear inside is becoming stripped.

OrangeBird

iTrader: (1)

In your 1985 model , there is no electronic circuit that monitors the headlight motor's current to remove power once the end of travel has been reached . Instead , your system uses a set of "limit switches" to detect when the lights have reached the end of their travel . These limit switches are the only thing that's controlling the relay to stop the motor when end travel has been reached . It stands to reason that a defective switch (or possibly relay but far more likely the switch) will not be actuated at end of travel and thus the motor keeps on running . Now , there IS a good possibility that it has now stripped the plastic gears as well , or destroyed the three cushioning bushings within the motor unit , but the root cause of that is that the motor hasn't stopped when end travel has been reached .

That's my story and I'm sticking to it

Jawz

Awesome any possibility you know where to find any of those items online? I live in Canada so dealers generally want nothing to do with anything before 2004 haha

OrangeBird

iTrader: (1)

If you come to needing parts , there is a TGO member here named Lon Salgren (hope I got his name right !) who runs a business called "Top Down Solutions" that sells the parts for the motor driven accessories on our cars , things like the headlight motors , trunk pull down motors , and convertable top motors .

I urge you to do a bit of searching of how to troubleshoot the system before buying any parts however , Since it would really suck to by a new headlight motor when a relay was all that's needed , for instance . You will for sure need the bushings and possibly the gear from the way you describe the failure , but the root cause , either the switch or the relay , must be determined first , so unneeded parts aren't purchased .

PS , the website "Austin Third Gen" has the electrical schematics for your headlight system hosted at their site , and if you know anyone electrically savvy , using those schematics and a voltmeter they should be able to determine if it's the switch or the relay in no time flat .

Jawz

Sweet, I'm actually an apprentice! I work on all these fancy European cars so when it gets to my daily driver I'm a bit out of the loop, is kind of difficult to learn with computers and such and then be plunged into basic circuits just because I haven't trained in it yet. Lucky I have a ton of relays and fuses lying around, I have to fix the grounds in my car to right now my voltmeter on the dash is telling me I'm charging at 18v, and if I Rev up it changes and relocates the needle at 14v, which I assumed was the alternator till I noticed when it changed values it would stay there unless I revved it decently high. But even then it would always change to a different value. I gotta say i love working on these cars though, it's allot of fun, and boy do I have plans for it haha

OrangeBird

iTrader: (1)

Yep once you get into it , our cars are FAR easier serviced than today's cars are , if for no other reason than there actually being the room to get your hands into where the parts are . None of this Cadillac Northstar crap where the starter is under the intake manifold or having the wiring diagrams being considered "intellectual property" for sale only like I've run into with my later model Lincoln . I will cling to our beloved third gens till there are no more to be had , and by that time I'll likely have aged out of driving anyway !

Best of luck with it and post back your results ....