I recently had to rebuild the headlight door motors on my son's 89 XS. After a lot of trial and error, I was able to get them working great while still maintaining the clutch effect of the gear box. Here is what I did:

Remove the link rod from the motor cam to the headlight door. I used 2 flat head screwdrivers to gently pry this 'snap on' connecton apart.

Removed the motors (3 long bolts with 10mm heads from the side). Be patient, they are a pain to get to. Anyone know of an easier way?

Remove the cam with a single 10mm nut.
Pull the gear cover off the motor with 3 small hex screws.

Shake out the 'plastic dust'. I'm assuming that this was originally some type of viscous fluid for the clutch. Anyone know what was originally in here?

Gently pull out the white gear/clutch assy.

Separate the plastic gear from the metal insert/shaft.

Clean out all of the old plastic dust.

I built 3 stops from 3/8" soft plastic tubing (you can get it at a plumbing or pool store) cut in 1/2" lengths with smaller hard plastic tubing pushed inside to add rigidity. Inside the hard plastic tubing, I inserted a 1/2 inch piece of a #10 bolt to make sure the piece keeps it's round shape. (lots of trial and error, here) Ideally, you could use some type of solid, round (3/8") semi-hard rubber/silicone cut in 1/2" lengths instead.

I lubed the stops up with heavy silicone grease and placed them inside the gear.

Reassemble the mechanism and re-install.

This allows the motors to drive the headlights up and down but still allows them to 'break-over' when the door hits the stop so you don't burn out the motor.

Hope this helps.

 

You can also use ball bearings or wooden dow rod cut and grinded to the correct size. I used wood and it works great.
I thought you were talking about a tranny there for a sec.

 

Be very cautious when inserting anything rigid (ball bearing or wood) in the clutch assy. The motors drive the headlight doors far past the stop. If the clutch can't slip, you'll eventually burn out the motor.

Fred

 

What in the world are you talking about?

 

The motor assy that drives the headlight covers up and down has a built in clutch to allow the motor to drive against the stop without destroying the brushes. This is the place you are talking about inserting bearings or wooden dowl rod pieces. Does that answer your question?

 

I've never heard of that before. The way mine work is that they only turn so much then they stop. It doesn't drive against the stop or anything like that. It's basically timed. It stops after it makes a certain number of turns. And you are still throwing me with the whole "clutch" idea. I tore down my motor to individual pieces and did not see any clutch. Oh well, the important thing is that they work, lol.

 

Same here.

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You all have great ideas and I'm sure they all will do the job. I clean out the old nylon crap, then use 3/8" fuel line hose, cut 1/2" long - insert where the original nylon ones went - put it back together and it's done. The thicker, stronger fuel line hose creates a shock absorber type effect. Both motors work perfect. Done this to a couple of different cars and they're all working fine. If they eventually fail, do it again.

the part that takes the longest is taking the motors out and putting them back in - and that's not all that big of deal.

 

I started to install a new headlight motor in my 85' last week. I'm having a hard time getting that link rod back onto the headlight motor. How hard can I push, pull, or hit the link rod without hurting the headlight motor? I'm planning on repairing my old motor but its an 85 so it is a little different style of motor than yours. I think that I'll have to drill out the rivets that hold it together in order to get it all the way apart.

 

What's the trick with removing the white gear/clutch assy?

I have a spare motor laying around a figired I'd give this a shot. That big white gear and cam seem to be snapped into the housing somehow. I don't want to get to aggressive with it it and damage the gears.

Kevin

 

I managed to get that link arm back onto my headlight motor. I used a vise-grip and clamped it onto the link arm and to the headlight motor crank at the same time. It poped it right on.

 

The reason why you couldn't get the nylon gear out is because of a solid ridge on the gear. You need to remove the two screws holding the motor in place and slide the motor out of the way. The worm drive on the motor shaft is preventing the nylon gear from coming out. I make two headlight kits that will repair the 1987-92 Firebird headlight units. 207280 ($5.50) has 3 precision machined close tolerance Delrin bushings. These replace the OEM gel inserts. 208280 ($9.95) also includes the side cover and motor housing gaskets. I also include new zinc plated whsher head screws and nuts to mount the motor. The original ones often snap off when you try to remove them. I also include a detailed 4-page instruction sheet with the kits.

I caution against using a ball bearing for a couple of reasons. It has a much smaller contact area and will distort the nylon gear. I haven't found a source for the nylon gears. Aftermarket ones machined of bronze are available, but are rather pricey. The Delrin bushings have much better lubricity and are machined to exactly fit the space between the gear and the 3-lobe hub and won't damage the nylon gear.

I haven't found a "Clutch" in the headlight motor unit. They may be referring to the OEM gel inserts, since these would give a bit under load. This is also why they fail. The headlight unit is load sensing. When it reaches the end of travel it senses it and shuts down the current.

E-mail me at: topdownsolutions@yahoo.com if you need a kit.

Lon Salgren
Top-Down Solutions

 

1. no clutches
2. anything basicly rigid in the shape of pegs will do
3. make sure shims go back in correctly
4. careful, assembly arms will bend easily when popping back on
5. the 3 motor screws are more easily access from underneath car after popping off splash sheilds