A little headlight help please
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 896
Likes: 1
From: Thomasville, home of the Big Chair NC
A little headlight help please
I have an 82 that I just got. The right light comes up correctly, however the left will not, it only moves about an inch. I know that there is a vac. leak somewhere, but I cant hear it with the engine running. Does anyone have a clue before I start slinging money at it? thanks in advance.
Randy :D
Randy :D
Race Director
Joined: Jan 2000
Posts: 12,399
Likes: 247
From: San Jose CA
Re: A little headlight help please (Maco Shark)
Replace the seals on the vacuum actuator. Very easy job.
http://www.zip-products.com/Corvette...FBA9702A1EFBFC
http://www.zip-products.com/Corvette...FBA9702A1EFBFC
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 8,575
Likes: 3
From: On an island surrounded by sharks Hawaii
Re: A little headlight help please (Maco Shark)
Heel & Toe
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 15
Likes: 0
From: Saginaw MI
Re: A little headlight help please (Maco Shark)
I have a similar problem with my '74, except my headlights won't open for about 5-10 minutes after turning them on (they don't close for about 5-10 minutes as well) , I'm suspecting a switch problem, but looking for any additional insight.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 9,127
Likes: 2,326
From: Pottsville, PA. USA Home Of America's Oldest Brewery Yuengling
Re: A little headlight help please (Maco Shark)
I have an 82 that I just got. The right light comes up correctly, however the left will not, it only moves about an inch. I know that there is a vac. leak somewhere, but I cant hear it with the engine running. Does anyone have a clue before I start slinging money at it? thanks in advance.
Randy :D
Randy :D
If you find any you can either replace the can, GM still sells it $69.00 list price or remove the can from the bracket and put a bead of JB Weld around the lip. This will stop the leak and the lights will work again.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 837
Likes: 3
From: Texas
Re: A little headlight help please (Older Than Dirt)
thomar2K1......your problem sounds very much like what I encountered on my 74......they would open and close, but it took awhile. I rebuilt both my relays and that solved the problem. I went ahead and replaced the check valve also.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 896
Likes: 1
From: Thomasville, home of the Big Chair NC
Re: A little headlight help please (Corvette ED)
Thanks for the info guys. I was sorting through this and was thinking, if the canister was leaking, wouldn't both headlamps be slow to open? I was leaning towards the big actuator leaking. With the engnine running it is too noisy to hear a leak and when you cut it off, it is gone before you get back out there. Just thinking that it could be the actuator. Anyone think that too? :confused:
Racer
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 288
Likes: 0
From: ft. lauderdale florida
Re: A little headlight help please (Maco Shark)
i's start with inspecting your hoses. if they look shady thn replace them. from there i'd look into your seals. just start inspecting everything and see how it looks.
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,146
Likes: 10
From: Scottsboro Alabama
Re: A little headlight help please (Maco Shark)
It could be the actuator relay. Swap the three larger hoses around from one relay to the other. They are colored coded so make sure they're on the right ports. If the problem shifts to the other headlight it's a bad relay. If not it's a bad actuator.
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 896
Likes: 1
From: Thomasville, home of the Big Chair NC
Re: A little headlight help please (Maco Shark)
Here's what I found:
did some trouble shooting before I started. the left headlamp was almost non working, I removed the actuator and found it to be leaking, looks like that zip products 20 buck kit is the ticket to making them work again.
Thanks to all the posts and input :D
Randy
did some trouble shooting before I started. the left headlamp was almost non working, I removed the actuator and found it to be leaking, looks like that zip products 20 buck kit is the ticket to making them work again.
Thanks to all the posts and input :D
Randy
Racer
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 268
Likes: 13
From: Palmdale Ca
Re: A little headlight help please (Maco Shark)
I just found this out a couple weeks ago, if you take a lenght of fuel hose and put one end up to your ear, and put the other end in places you suspect a vacuum leak. It works great, you can hear the leak load and clear. Good luck
Advanced
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 89
Likes: 0
Re: A little headlight help please (Maco Shark)
I agree with just about all the replies on this thread. In my case, I replaced all the hoses and check valves to start with. That way I knew those would not be the issue. I troubleshot and found a bad relay. Replaced it only to find out the actuator was also bad. Replaced the actuator and found that now I had a really good system on the RH side. The actuator that was on the LH side looked fairly new so I figured it was ok. N O T!!! It's one thing or another. If you replace just a boot or a seal like I originally started to do, you find out that once you do that, the next part in the system needs replacing too. Bite the bullet. If the stuff looks old or suspect, replace it all.
Racer
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 325
Likes: 0
From: Feenix Az
Re: A little headlight help please (Maco Shark)
Randy,
Good advice all around. :cool: This link goes into some detail about how the system works and some fun things I've done.
http://members.surfbest.net/danespac...lact/index.htm
Dane
Good advice all around. :cool: This link goes into some detail about how the system works and some fun things I've done.
http://members.surfbest.net/danespac...lact/index.htm
Dane
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 896
Likes: 1
From: Thomasville, home of the Big Chair NC
Re: A little headlight help please (Maco Shark)
The results are in. I took the droopy headlight actuator off and sure enough, the teepee was torn. I called zip products and in two days and 26 bucks later, my headlight is jumping up just like the other one. If anyone is going to do it, it is a simple operation. Beware novices. Zip offers nothing but the parts, absolutely no instructions.
Thanks to everybody for the input on this little project.
Randy :cheers: :thumbs:
Thanks to everybody for the input on this little project.
Randy :cheers: :thumbs:
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 2,802
Likes: 241
From: Niles, MI
Re: A little headlight help please (Maco Shark)
Glad to hear you got 'em workin' again. Here's an excellent link to help diagnose Corvette vacuum systems: http://www.corvette-101.com