I need your help. my motors crapped out on my 82 T/A, and I'm replacing them. got em both out, went to put the new ones in, and realize that Cardone rebuilt them BOTH as left side units. not to worry, I'll just reverse the shaft and gear..... won't work.

what will work, after careful examination, is using the shaft out of the right side motor that doesn't work, and using it in the new motor. but how do i get the gear off? I need the gear off the new motor because the teeth are angled and the teeth on the old gear are straight.

anybody got a clue? I'm trying to avoid buying a gear kit to fix this..... but i have decided I'm going to get the gear kits next time, rather than screw with this.

 

What's wrong with the stock units? I had a problem with mine ('91 GTA) where the motor would spin like crazy but the lights wouldn't pop up. Took the motor out and disassembled it to find out that the factory had plastic bearings in there. $1 and 2 hours later I had my lights working. Try e-mailing Lon at Top Down Solutions. He should be able to help you out.

 

I'm thiniking i may have to....... the motor's don't spin at all, which is what steered me towards re-built motors in the first place. besides that, my setup (i think) is different from yours. instead of popping in some delrin bushings, my gears have become pretty stripped also (at least, they feel that way). if i can get this stupid gear off the shaft, I can use the reman unit and be done with it.

 

FYI, the 1982-86 (aka 3-wire) headlight actuator motor is different than the 1987-92 (aka two-wire) headlight actuator motor. I'll have a kit shortly to repair the '82-86. The kit has a new CNC brass gear and Viton inserts. I'll have it listed on my web site as soon as I've finished the instruction sheet.

Lon Salgren
Top-Down Solutions

 

thanks, Lon. BTW, it's off-topic, but i got your wonder-bar and love it. it's great piece of work. I'll keep looking for the new repair kit to come out. hopefully it won't be long, so i won't have a squinty headlight.

so no one knows how to remove the gear off of the shaft?

 

If it is the gear, try taking it out and rotating it 180*. The motor only uses half the gear. If its stripped on one side the other should work fine. If it is the motor, stay in contact with Lon.

 

I sorta broke the gear on the old motor. it seems that prying with a screwdriver won't get it. or a hammer. or twisting on the top of the shaft wih a wrench.

 

good news. I scored a new AC delco unit.... one of the last ones left around. it's all back together now, but now the stupid lights STILL don't go up and down. new relays, new headlight switch, new motors, new bulbs, nothing. i had the right side trying to come up, but it wasn't working right, nor consistently. sometimes it would move, other times not. and when it did move, it went DOWN when i turned on the lights. could i have wired them backwards? I'm gonna pot this in a new thread, so we'll see who responds.

 

wait a minute..

82 to 86 three wire what ?

this is the first time ive ever seen anyone say that any of these motors were 3 wire after 83

what give ?

can someone please give me a straight answer on what years were 3 wire and what years were 2 wire ?

why do i get a different answer from everyone on this

i need to know FOR SURE


please ?

if you dont know for sure then please go away


im trying to fix the lights my damn car like ive been trying to for 6 years or more now,

i cant do it with false info


all this time i have been looking for an 82 83 one because this is what everyone has said were the three wire ones and that 84-up are different

yes or no ? what is what ?

and what is the deal with these motor screws you guys talk about

my motors are riveted together
the only screws on mine are holding some small little side cover on and holding the relay bracket to the housing



what gives ?

how am i supposed to take them apart, and then keep them together when im done fixing taking parts from the broken housing one and rebuilding the other one ?

thanks