Hey all.

Tonight I wanted to try and fix my driver side headlight motor. It spinns freely, need help to go up and down. Been like this for 6 momnths.

I assume it is just the bushings. I wanted to take it out, and try sticking some slices of hot-glue stick in there as new bushings. Reading the haynes book, I tried to remove the motor to bring it to the basement workbench to make new bushings for it.

I got the bezel off no problem. Got both motors unplugged for now to keep the lights up. The next step was to "use a screwdriver" to pop that arm off the headlight housing, the one that goes from the motor to actually flip up the door. It has some sort of "ball joints" almost like a little mini tie-rod end. I pushed as hard as I could, prying off a piece of solid sheetmetal. I bent the screwdriver.

So... my question is. How am I supposed to pop this goddamn arm off the headlight. After that, I think the bottom side can unbolt from the motor itself. But I gotta get the top end disconnected first.

Another thing to keep in mind, is that when I get the motor out, I need to be able to keep the door and sealed beam on the car. I will use duct tape for a few days to keep the thing from closing. But I need to have 2 headlights so I dont get pulled over and hassled by the 5-0 they dont like me in this town.

Thanks!

 

im not sure which style you have but ive got a 91 formula and it has the headlight where u can just replace the nylon dials in the motor and that fixes them if you look on ebay for the repair kit it only costs 10$

 

I know, that is what I am trying to do. Lon at TDS also makes a kit that repairs the motor, but I wanted to try the glue stick trick first.

If you have a 91, we have the same setup basically. How did you get the motor disconnected from the headlight door?

 

so nobody knows how to disconnect that arm??

 

i got mine off by doing what you did. without bending the screwdriver. try one of thoughs door panel removers that is like a prybar it worked for me the second time i did this and it wont slip

 

i bought the rebuild kit and followed the directions. seriously, 25 bucks is not that much to spend to fix your headlights. dont be cheap.

 

Well guys, I got it kinda fixed.

I managed to get the motor off, without disconnecting the arm. I decided to give it a shot when I had the sealed beam headlight out for replacement. Made it much easier to get to the bolts.

I ended up removing the whole headlight assembly by unbolting it from the radietor support. Wasnt too hard.

I ended up repairing the motor using some sliced hot-glue stick as bushings. It works OK now, but kinda lags a little on the way up.

I broke both bolts on on the motor taking it apart, so I had to drill the holes out and use some spare hardware. Its real ghetto. Also, the gasket broke into pieces, so I used globs of RTV to seal the motor together.

And I lost that little ball on the end of the shaft. Not sure what it did, but seems to work wothout.

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The reason I didnt buy the kit from TDS, is because 1 I dont want to borrow my moms credit card. and 2, I had a feeling I was gonna **** the motor taking it apart anyhow.

When it goes again, I will get the Cardone reman unit, and then use that for a while.

 

You'll need that lil ball. It supports the end of the motor shaft. There is a threaded shaft with the mating cup on the ooposite end sticking out the bottom of the actuator assy secured with a sheet metal locknut. Without the ball bearing the worm-drive shaft of the motor will not be supported. It will climb the gear at the end of the up or down-cycle and jam. You'll find this out when you need to turn the **** on top of the motor to free it up so the motor can spin freely. Yes I sell used ball bearings on my site.

Lon