The Delrin bushings will outlive the the entire car! Plastic bushings were nylon I believe, the dry and crumble. Delrin is a much harder material, and should last much longer.

I put Lon's repair kit in the car probably 10 years ago. Headlights work perfectly to this day.

 

Hi. I'm having issue with my lights and not sure where the problem lies. I have one light that doesn't move at all when the switch is flipped. The other light will not go up but will come down. I have to unplug the motors in order to manually crank them up as there is some resistance. Neither motor makes noise when the switch is flipped, but what would allow the one light to go down automatically but not up? If i'm able to manually crank them up I assume it's not the gears? Any help appreciated!

 

You said you can't hear the motors, but are you sure they're not spinning? Have someone turn the headlights on while you watch the motors to see if they spin. Once those bushings crumble, funny things can happen depending on how crumbled up they are. I had one light that was completely shot but would go up every once in a while. Or sometimes it wouldn't go up, until I got on the highway and reached a high enough speed that the wind would flip it up. Then I'd exit, come to a stoplight, and it'd fall down. It was embarrassing being "that guy." The guy with one headlight up. Lol.

 

I've highlighted in red a condition that can be caused by having the wrong headlight control module. If your car is a 88-89 and you have installed a 90+ module OR if you have a 90+ module and have installed a 88-89 module this would be the symptom. Both modules look identical until you open them. Remove the module (unplug the connectors, then place a flat blade screwdriver on the left side of module and give it a twist). Pry open the module and check the date code stamped on it. For example 31-86 would read as 31st week of 1986 making this an early 1987 model year module.

Lon

 

Hey this might be a stupid question, but I've been wondering when rebuilding these motors should anything on the inside be greased or lubricated for optimal performance?

 

As it says in the instructions for my headlight repair kits, lube the OD of the gear, the worm - drive of the motor. You can also put a bit of lubricant in the triangular shaped cavity within the gear and on the delrin bushings.

Whoever put "94" in the tags should remove it. The 1994 models used a completely different headlight actuator.

Lon Salgren
Top-Down Solutions

 

still working fine

 

Hey! If your gears, and your bushings are fine, Please try the Isolation Relays! That can be the problem as well. Some times the wires burn out as well.

 

100% real used this kit to fix my headlights this weekend. it not only made them work perfectly but it fixed the issue i was having of my headlights opening with just park lights on. definetly buy this if you are having issues, comes with detailed instructions that sound like theyve done it many many times before and give tips and tricks to get it done easier.

 

This is a great suggestions for someone with a 1982-86 model Firebird which use a 3-wire motor. However the 1987 - 92 models have no such relays. Instead they have a headlight control module instead.

Lon Salgren

 

The first mode of failure on the 1987-92 (aka 2 wire motors) is the OEM hard gel bushings. Unlike the 1982-86 (aka 3 wire motor) there is no internal limit switch inside the motor to shut it off when it reaches the end of the up or down cycle. Instead the headlight control module senses a spike in current when the motor reaches the end of travel and shuts off the motor. This means these gel bushings are being slammed at the end of each cycle until the spike in current is senses and power shut off. The bushings begin to develop cracks, the break into chunks. At this point the module no longer senses a spike in current because the bushings have failed. Fortunately GM designed a secondary timer circuit into the headlight module to shut off power after roughly 6 seconds. Once you have replaced tge OEM gel bushings with the CNC machined Delrin bushings you won't experience a failure of the bushings again.

The second mode of failure for the 1987-92 motors is failure of the 3-lobe cast zinc hub that is staked to the shaft that raises and lowers the headlight bucket. The steel shaft tears out the ID of the hub. There are two solutions. Either replace the hub/shaft assy with another good used one ( available for sale on my TDS web site) or repair the hub and shaft assy. Call and I will give instructions on how to repair it.

Lon Salgren
TOP-DOWN SOLUTIONS
​​www.top-downsolutions.com

 

I am the original owner of an 86 Firebird. Headlights still work, but both buckets drop too low when off. Is this also fixed with a headlight repair kit.
I need to get this corrected before sending it out for an overdue paint job.

 

There is 9 miles of adjustment in the buckets, I think 6 or 7 bolts in total. Under, sides, top..

Also, new motors are $69.99 for the pair shipped. Not worth the time and effort to rebuild 25+ year old motors.

-- Joe

 

On the early Firebirds there are adjustable stops in addition to the brackets.

 

I highly recommend Lon's rebuild kits available from him at Top Down Solutions.

 

Where do you get a pair of motors for $70?? There's no way that's true. Every part store website I've checked & eBay are like $90 just for one.