I have a problem with my drivers side headlight. When i turn the head lights on, the motor runs but doesnt engage (the light doesnt come up). i haven't taken it apart yet or anything so i have no idea what types of thing are involved. if theres gears or something else.

what might it be?

 

Sounds like the plastic bushings have turned to sand, which is common. Can you manually raise and lower it?

 

yes i can. can u tell where i can find these bushings?

 

Or one of the gears inside has stripped. that's the kinda problem I had.
There are some replacement gears out there for sell. Don't do like me and blindly order the repair kit. open up the motor first by drilling out the rivits. ( I bought some screws to replace the rivets)
be careful and look where everything goes. the motor is a worm drive and runs on a reducer gear. this gear drives a gear to raise and lower the headlight bucket.
I've seen where the gear that raises the bucket is bad (was able to rotate the gear 180 deg to fix. (if you want to order a replacement for this gear BE AWARE there are aparently 2 types of gears for the 82 - 86 ... straight cut teeth and teeth cut at a ~45 deg. angle.
I found a pic of the gears ... but not sure how to repost a pic.
check post # 25 of this thread
https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...elp-think.html
far left is the reduction gear, middle is the gear that is driven by the small part of the reducer gear.

 

OH, Hawks has the kit

http://www.hawksthirdgenparts.com/fi...pairkit-1.aspx

it's for the 82 - 86 I swear !!

when the motor is running ...if you lift up on the headlight bucket will the light lift?
(if so worm gear has chewed up the teeth on the reducer gear and I haven't been able to find any of those aftermarket )
Tony

 

If all else fails, go to Autozone's online site. You can order the motor there(the complere assembly), for slightly less than anywhere else.