The head light will go up about ever 1 in 5 times i push the switch otherwise i have to hand crank the head light up, i know its not the nylon gear becuase i replaced it last year, has anyone had this issue and can you help me out?

 

Did you replace the gear or the 3 bushings inside the gear? The bushings are what fail first. Once the bushings are good, any of these could be the problem: OD threads of the nylon gear, headlight control module, wiring (including the 2-wire connector), or the shaft that presses into the 3-lobe hub. You first need to determine if the problem is electrical or mechanical. Have someone push the headlight switch while you watch the **** on top of the headlight actuator. If the motor spins, but the headlight bucket fails to lift, then the problem is mechanical (bad bushings, gear or slipping of teh shaft inside the 3-lobe hub). If the **** fails to turn, then it is an electrical issue (headlight control module wiring, fuse, etc.).

As I wrote previously, the weak-link is the hard gel bushings inside the triangular-shaped cavity of the gear. The bushings transfer the load from the gear to the 3-lobe hub that is pressed onto the shaft that raises of lowers the headlight bucket.

Lon

 

Its definatly electrical i replaced the gear and the bushings, i flip the switch and have to hand crank up the headlight almost every time

 

You didn't reply if the headlight motor fails to energize when you hit the switch. If not, then I'd agree it is electrical. Remember if could still be that the spline where the 3-lobe hub attaches to the shaft is slipping.

I forgot to include "bad switch" in the electrical category of possible problems. Go thru the Troubleshoot Guide checklist of your Firebird Service Manual and track down the problem. The Service Manuals are available used on eBay or new from www.helminc.com.

Good luck with the diagnosis and repairs.

Lon

 

Do you hear the motor running on the driver's side or is it totally dead?
If the passenger side is getting energized, but not the driver's side, would it still be the switch? They are both using the same power source.

 

It did not energize when we flipped the switch but we hand cranked it up a quarter of the way then flipped the switch and its now going up and down, we think its just the motor is going bad

 

OK, that helps with the diagnosis. Is the **** hard to turn when you first try to turn it? If yes, then what is happening is the wormdrive shaf of the motor is climbing the OD of the gear when the motor shut. This is because the small ball bearing on the end of the wormdrive of the motor is missing or the stub-shaft on the oposite side of the motor shaft is not adjusted to put a slight pressure on the ball bearing to keep it contained in the cup on the end of the shaft. That ball bearing must be there and have a slight pressure on it in order to keep the wormdrive shaft properly contained so the shaft doesn't climb the gear and get jambed.

To repair it, remove the headlight actuator again and dissamble the motor from the actuator housing. Check that the ball bearing is still on the cup on the end of the motor shaft. If not, look inside the actuator housing for the bearing and attach the it to the cup of the shaft with a dab of grease. Once you've installed the motor back into the actuator housing, then loosen the locknut on the stub shaft on the opposite side from the motor. Use a flat-blade screwdriver to turn in the stub shaft until you feel just a slight pressure, then tighten the locknut. Now reattach the actuator assembly to the headlight bucket.

Lon

 

idk if it was mentioned but make sure that those two little springs are in to push the copper connections against the motor windings. mine didnt have those so it didnt work properly.

 

The instructions that I include with my headligh repair kit(s) cover how to install the springs and bushes and how to keep the brushes retracted when inserting the motor into the actuator housing.

http://www.top-downsolutions.com/Doc...structions.pdf

Lon