Body shop fixed one of my headlight motors b/c the headlight would hesitate and not come up all the way, they didn't replace the motor but rebuilt it. As of yesterday they both worked, today though the other headlight is showing symptoms of what happened before. Does anyone have instruction or help on fixing headlight motors?
Thanks!

 

I fixed mine myself. Just take it apart and you will probably see what is wrong. Usually its either the plastic gear that turns the armature is stripped or the shims in the gear are gone. I think the factory used some kind of gel or polymer. If these are the problem you can go to Ecklers.com and they sell brass gears for like 55 and the plastic bushings are like 5. Good luck

 

TrnsmGTA, I e-mailed you a copy of the instruction sheet I include with my TDS 207280 & 208280 Headlight Repair Kit. The kit repairs the 1987-92 Firebird, 1987-88 Fiero & 1988-96 Corvette headlight motor units. The 207280 kit ($5 + S&H), includes 3 precision machined close-tolerance Delrin bushings and new 8-32 washer head screws and nuts (they replace the ones that mount the motor, since they often break). The 208280 kit ($9.50 + S&H) also includes the side cover and motor housing gaskets. One kit is required to repair one headlight unit. If two kits are ordered I include a FREE 1.5 oz. tube of Permatex WL-9 white lithium grease (normally $2.25).

Lon Salgren
Top-Down Solutions

e-mail me at: topdownsolutions@yahoo.com to order or request a Price List.

 

That is exactly what you need as long as the gear is not stripped. Great price too.

 

If it turns out the gear has stripped its teeth you can turn it to a fresh area of teeth and reinstall. The Firebirds and Fieros do not use the entire circumference of the gear. Corvettes use more of the circumference, since the headlights have further to turn to raise them. Most times it is the gel inserts that fail, crumbling into a spoonful of off-white chunks. At that point the inner hub attached to the actuator shaft will freewheel. The Delrin bushings are designed to exactly fit the space between the nylon gear and hub.

Lon