Fairly frequently, my GTA's headlights will not come up, or will just barely. At first it was one side, but now both act this way. There have been times if I revved the engine up, they would flip up like normal, so it's like there's not enough juice getting to the pop-up motors. Other times they act just fine with nothing special required to get them up.

Also, when I shut the car off (whether the lights have been on or off), the driver side headlight's manual spinner will spin for several seconds. Is this an electrical issue (ground/relays?) or strictly the pop-up motors?

Lately the battery has not been holding a charge and requiring a boost if it sits for more than two weeks. I put a ammeter inline with the battery's negative post and cable, but there was no draw noticed. I had begun to wonder if this headlight thing was related to the discharging battery...

Thanks.

 

If both pop-up headlights act the same way, it's been my experience that it is the headlight control module (or isolation relay on earlier birds) going south. You might want to wait for Lonsal to chime in here, he's the guru when it comes to these headlights and sells the repair parts at TDS (board sponsor).

 

Thanks for the reply. I'll wait on him. I think he's who my friend ordered our wonder bars from.

 

My 88 GTA was doing the same thing until i found the grounds and cleaned them.Now the headlights pop up perfectly.Also the computer will drain the battery after about two weeks of sitting.You should disconnect it if you know it will be sitting that long.

 

I didn't realize that about the ECM! I have a friend with an '89 Formula. I'll get him to point out all the grounds I should have. Thanks!

 

The headlight motor that is running for a few seconds can be caused by a couple of things. It could be a headlight control module problem or the bushings inside the gear could be bad. The module shuts off the motor when it senses the spike in current from the motor reaching the physical stop. If it doesn't sense the spike it's timer circuit will shut it off after about 5 seconds. If the bushings are bad that coule be the reason why the module isn't sensing the spike in current due to the fact that the gear is continuing to spin even though the motor has reached the up or down stop. You'll need to replace either the busings (if this is the first time it's been repaired) or the gear (if the bushings have previously been replaced) first to determins if it is the module of the motor that is the problem. If you've recently replaced bushings or gear then the problem is the module.

Lon

 

speaking of headlight motor bushings- there is a very cheap and easy fix for this. i know several people sell kits and I ain't knockin' em but there is an easy solution using materials that most diy mechanics will already have. an given the fact that most replacement bushings are made of a much harder substance than stock I believe my solution to be much better. think about it GM used the "gel" type bushings for a reason--shock absorbtion to protect the plastic gear from abrupt stopping at the end of each cycle and thus providing longer life for this gear.


the better diy solution--- take a length of 5/16 or so vacuum hose and cut to 1/4 or so length and fill the inside of them with rtv sealant. then you have a replacement bushing for very little $$ that has enough "give" to it to help protect the plastic gear. put em in and lube the gears with a little synthetic or lithium grease and there you go

fixed mine like this a good while back and they still work perfectly

just be sure and let the rtv set up before installing

 

Hmmm.... I guess I should disconnect my battery so the ECM doesn't drain it. I only drive my F-Car about once a month, and then it sits for six months over the winter, although it does get started every 4-6 weeks. I must have a "special" battery, since it doesn't drain enough to prevent starting.

Parasitic load from the ECM and radio should be little more than 35-50mA, and any battery should be able to survive that for several weeks at a time.

 

Well vader having lived in the north snow country and now the south i can tell you that up there you get a bigger battery than here.all four of mine have small battery's in them and they won't last much longer than two weeks without starting them.