I have a 79, and it is pretty much completely resorted inside and out, and the only recurring problem is with my headlights. The headlight system is stock, and if I dont drive her it for a while and go start it up and turn on the headlights, they will come up. But it i take the car out for the night and the engine is warm for any long period of time, and I try and bring up my lights they dont come up. I wanted to know if there was anything I could do other then, ONE tracing all the hoses and hose systems and replace, and look for leaks, or TWO buying the ridiculously expensive electric headlight motor kit? I would love some advise on what maybe someone has done to fix this, from what I have heard, common problem. Thanks

 

9/10 times a actuator seal and boot kit will solve the problem. It' a cheap investment $35 and an hour or two job. Also, look at the condition of the vacuum hoses sometimes a cracked hose can be found quickly.

http://willcoxcorvette.com/product_i...ducts_id=17028

 

I have the same problem with my 80. Everything is original. I am just going to replace everything. They have kits on e bay that has all the canisters and hoses.

 

Test/replace filter (white plastic) then check valve (metal). Either could be bad.

 

thank you, and the filter and valve are up near the front near the headlight assemblies correct?

 

They should be by the carb.

 

If this is happening with both headlights, you should concentrate on the parts of the system that are common to both: Everything between the intake manifold and the relays and the actuators - including the vacuum reservoir, all hoses, and components. If BOTH headlights are functioning OK when your first start the car, I think your relays and actuators are OK.

Here's a link to a sticky I posted on this forum about a year and a half ago:


Look here for details on system components, photos, their locations, and how to test them.

Hope this helps...

 

thank you, it does help to get a visual of what and how the system works. I have one last question though, are the headlights supposed to open and close together? Because even when the lights are working OK or at their best, they come up one at a time and the second one always come up much slower then the first.

 

Both headlights should come up and close at the same time. I would check the actuator on the slower headlight. As stated before, you can get new seals cheap and if that does not fix the problem then it will be your relay for that headlight.

 

I'm gonna throw in a second for an actuator seal kit. I put one in mine and it solved all the problems. If you can see that the boot that the rod goes through is cracked or deteriorated, then you defnitely need a seal kit.

 

Thanks guys!! Sounds like that might be my problem!! I appreciate the help!

 

The fact that the headlights don't want to come up when it's warm is kinda strange. I can't really think of a reason it would do that. But I'll share my experience. My headlights would pop right up on the driver's side and then the passenger's side would slowly come up, and when I floored it, the passenger's side would kinda pop up about halfway, because of the low vacuum. I used the diagrams and testing techniques in the link that78IndyPace posted, and ended up replacing the passenger's side actuator and the check valve. Lights have worked perfectly ever since.

Whatever you do, don't blow a buncha money on the electric activated lights. The stock setup works awesome, unless it's broken, in which case the thing to do is just figure out what is wrong with it and repair it. It's actually pretty easy once you have a diagram, and know what everything does, instead of just staring at a buncha vacuum lines that don't make any sense! Good luck, you need those lights to work properly, people ask me to turn the headlights on all the time, just so they can see them flip up and down, a lot of people seem to get a kick out of it. Also, since we are talking about headlights, this just occurred to me and so I will share it: Ya know how you can't see, like, the front 4 feet of your 'vette from the driver's seat? When you are parking, turn your headlights on, then you can tell where the front of the car is, and avoid bumping into things!


Keep the shiny side up!
Scott

 

thanks for all the advice and that is a good idea about putting up the light to see the front end of the car! But yeah 1000 dollars for electric system is WAY to much! so thanks for the advice!!

 

I think you'll find as many C3 owners whose headlights do NOT open or close at the same time as there are owners' headlights that DO. Mine do not operate at the same time even though all my components and hoses check out OK. My driver's side takes about a second longer to extend or retract. However, both extend and retract at about the same RATE once each starts moving. The difference could be due to friction differences between the headlights' mechanical components. I don't know and don't care as long as they continue to function reliably.

What's important? That both reliably extend and retract smartly within a time that's reasonable for you.

 

True, but only in a Perfect World.

Real World means one will be a little faster going up than the other and one will always be a little slower going down than the other.

Perfect World is great, but most of us live in the real world.

 

o my concern is definitely just to have then reliably work, and maybe work a little fast, after listening to everyone I can definitely figure out that my problem is probably a leak in a actuator seals, so I will check that out first and then the other seals, and then go for the hosing after that. But just having them work semi properly will be awesome, at the beginning of the night it will take at least 8 mins for them to rise and then if I stop anywhere and shut them and try and start them back up and turn on my lights again they wont come up. So I have had the override pull down tab pulled for ever. So again thank you so much for everyone's help!!

 

C2s had electric headlights. C4s and C5s had electric headlights. C3s had a major mistake. I'd love to see a weight comparison between the entire vacuum-drive system (especially for an early C3 with the vacuum wiper door), and the electric replacements. That includes the huge vacuum tank across the front of the car. I'm going to bet it's about a 4x weight difference, and about a 20x complexity difference.

 

search this forum for headlights, some guy fixed his headlights up with electric motors for about 60 bucks and a little fabrication. All you really need is an electric motor that actuates about 4 inches. I personally got rid of my flip up headlights and mounted HID's in the grill, they work like magic and I don't have to worry about headlights not coming up. Here is the link. http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-g...hts-cheap.html

 

the more and more I search it seems that there are no good replacements for the vacuum system, unless you wanta find your own motors and remake the system your self. unless im missing something or some one that sells kits for this problem?

 

There was a company called McSpeed that used to sell kits. All of the info is still up on their site, but you'll have to source the parts and weld the brackets yourself.