huggero

The vacuum to my lights is not working and im trying to figure this complex system all out. In the meantime id like to close my headlights manually as i do not drive the car at night and prefer the look when I drive the car around. How do you close the lights? I am not real familiar with all the springs and rods that this uses. If someone could answer my question or show me a diagram of which lever will shut them I would be greatful. Thank You

JustinGJ

If you peek underneath you'll see 4 springs on each side. If you pull down on the middle bar that all the springs hook to the headlight should fall. I can do it without even looking under there now, it's cake.

TheMongoose

be careful not to grab the hookup for the fiber optic sensor for the lights(lights the indicator in the car for headlight problems). It breaks off easy and it's right there where all the arms com together. If it feels like oyu have to force them then STOP. Read my 2nd comment and you should be good to go...

There should be a plunger looking type lever under the dash that you push in to release the vacuum. This will allow the lights to drop on their own by releasing the vacuum on the system.

L Holmes

Good luck getting your lights to work properly. You have my sympathy there. Without a doubt the worst aspect of owning a C3 Vette. Id like to meet the engineer that developed that system & kick him square in the nutts........

paulywannafly

????????? that system is the most simple and easy thing to repair if you know how it works

Dobermann

I'm replacing the actuators/springs/bushing etc. right now and it's been pretty simple. Now I just hope my headlights will work.

ikesterx

If you have an owner's manual it explains the manual headlight procedure there as well.

Z-man

My lights work perfectly....

Z-mans Tip: the engine should be running while raising or lowering them...

huggero

Thanks guys, I dont think calling 26 vacuum hoses a rocket scientists idea on how to make lights go up and down. I will try and figure it out and hopefully get em closed. The guy I bought the car from said his son was going to FIX the hoses and replace a few old vacuum lines. Now nothing works after he played shadetree mechanic. But its an original 84k mile car and id like to see it put to use. Thanks again.

brentcarl84

I had to do that right away i bought my car untill I could get it fixed. Just took a minute or two to figure it out.

m1tommygun

Thanks for the post. My lights have been in the up position since I purchased it. I went out last night while walking my two knucklehead dogs and using JustinGJ advice I was able to lower the lights. I have found out why my lights do not go up or down on their own. The bubbas who owned the vette before me did some "creative" re-routing of the vacuum lines . This and other convoluted WTFs they did that I have been having to fix or tear out. This is why I am enjoying working on it when I can .

Scott

Tommy Samuels

I've been having the same problems with my 77 "Some Assembly Required" project.
Here's a really good link for later C3's without the wiper door
http://www.corvette-101.com/vacuum.htm
and one for early C3's with the wiper door
http://vetteworks.tripod.com/techdocuments/Vaccum.html

Chances are pretty high that either the relays or actuators are leaking after 30 years and need to be rebuilt or replaced.

good luck with it
Tommy

C3 4ME

Mine have the opposite problem. They won't go up, but they go down on thier own. After I manually raise them, they will stay up if I either have the headlight switch on, or have the override under the dash pulled down. To let them down I eithere have to push the override switch back in if it's down, or just turn the headlights off if the override switch isn't pulled down. I've been told by more than one person new relays will fix mine, and I'm going to give it a try and hope for the best.

Tommy Samuels

It's easier to get them to go down because of the return springs. If you can get hold of a vacuum gage or a vacuum brake bleeder you can test part by part until you find the problem. Mine is the driver side relay. Everything else is fine.

Yellow73SB

I do mine this way because I have no vacuum