C4 General Discussion General C4 Corvette Discussion not covered in Tech

Problem with Headlight-C4

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Mar 8, 2006 | 10:49 PM
  #1  
Tretch's Avatar
Tretch
Thread Starter
Heel & Toe
 
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 24
Likes: 0
From: Jonesboro Arkansas
Default Problem with Headlight-C4

About a week ago, I was driving my 94 C-4 at night and noticed that when I turned off my lights, the driver side headlight folded fine, but the passenger side light stayed up. After turning my lights off and on several times, the passenger light still stayed up. About 30 minutes later, I turned my lights on and off again and both lights closed. There no noises coming from the lights at any time.

Has anyone else ever had this problem? If so, how did you fix the problem?

Thanks for your help.
Reply
Old Mar 9, 2006 | 12:24 AM
  #2  
jordanpingrey's Avatar
jordanpingrey
Advanced
 
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 85
Likes: 1
From: Pensacola Fl
Default Headlight repair

Even through your headlight is not making any noise the motor is broken. Usually the motor will continue to spin for about 20 seconds after engagement but mine did a combination of noise and no noise. I went onto ecklers and got a rebuild kit for the head light; three little plastic rollers and a new gear, cost $10.50 i think. Then you have to dive into getting that headlight motor out of your vette, and then taking it apart and replacing the bad inards with the new stuff from ecklers. search this forum for a how-to, to get a step by step on how to go about this. Have fun

JP
Reply
Old Mar 9, 2006 | 05:53 AM
  #3  
joecaver's Avatar
joecaver
Team Owner
25 Year Member
Active Streak: 30 Days
Active Streak: 60 Days
All Eyes On Me
 
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 44,773
Likes: 1
From: 63.8% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
St. Jude Donor '08-'10
Default

it sounds like the bushings are gone. It is a very easy repair and very inexpensive. You can get the bushings at (don't laugh) Home Depot for about a dollar. The best way to repair it is to pull the entire headlight assembly off the car. The bucket and motor all come aff together. Then it is very easy to work on a bench. The step by step instructions are in the tech tips section of the forum and also Corvette Fever has a easy to follow "how to" on the subject. A search in this forum should bring up even more info including the part number for the bushings at HD. good luck, it's not a bad repair at all.
Reply
Old Mar 9, 2006 | 06:13 AM
  #4  
sonny1974's Avatar
sonny1974
Instructor
 
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 164
Likes: 0
From: PICAYUNE MS
Default

I upgraded mine to the brass gear and solid bushings but i did go to home depot and they do have them. Best way is to take the whole light assembly off the car. Lay it on a towel on a table to work on it. It only looks hard it's not.
Reply
Old Mar 9, 2006 | 07:41 AM
  #5  
Jet-Jock's Avatar
Jet-Jock
Race Director
Supporting Lifetime
10 Year Member
 
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 13,421
Likes: 8
From: Lake Mary Florida
Default

Originally Posted by sonny1974
I upgraded mine to the brass gear and solid bushings but i did go to home depot and they do have them. Best way is to take the whole light assembly off the car. Lay it on a towel on a table to work on it. It only looks hard it's not.
Correction... you must remove the whole assembly and perform this procedure on a clean bench or table. The motor has to be disasembled from the headlight frame, then broken down. Most of the instructions come with the Delrin bushings which is a plastic zip lock bag with three bushings inside and instructions all for a grand total of about $2.50.

I'd suggest something like a patio table with a towel laid down to protect the assembly and so you can sit down. It is a lot of disassembly, once you actually get the specific area apart you will find cyrstalized packing material which you must remove and then replace with three Delrin bushings. Unless the main gear is trashed you don't necessarily need the brass gear that would be your choice.

Don't under any circumstance manually force the headlamp assembly to move/rotate. Doing this will spin the splined shaft and once that happens your in for a new motor about $280. One of those things you learn the expensive lesson.

Here's a picture of what you'll be looking at when you get there. Look carefully at the gear and you can see the three Delrin bushings in place.



Last edited by Jet-Jock; Mar 9, 2006 at 07:47 AM.
Reply
Old Mar 9, 2006 | 11:03 AM
  #6  
Tally Ho's Avatar
Tally Ho
Race Director
Supporting Lifetime
Veteran: Air Force
25 Year Member
Liked
Loved
 
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 16,499
Likes: 2,384
From: Out Where the Buses Don't Run, Eglin AFB/ Niceville FL
2025 C8 Z06/7/E-Ray of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2022 Corvette of the Year Finalist -- Modified
2021 C6 of the Year Winner - Modified
2020 C7 of the Year Finalist -- Modified
2020 C6 of the Year Finalist - Modified
Default

Although it's most likely the bushings mentioned in these posts it could also be the headlight motor relay. I had one go out on my 89 and the symptoms were one headlight stayed up and the other opened and closed normally. I'm not sure of the cost now but in 1994 the relay was $120.
Reply
Old Mar 9, 2006 | 11:29 AM
  #7  
onedef92's Avatar
onedef92
Team Owner
20 Year Member
 
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 96,443
Likes: 9
From: Fort Knox, KY
Cruise-In IV Veteran
Cruise-In VI Veteran
Cruise-In VII Veteran
Cruise-In VIII Veteran
Default

Click this link for the installation tip

http://corvettefever.com/howto/33098/


Go to Home Depot and get item number 595609. The UPC code on the package is 30699 87278. You will need two packets of three bushings for both lights.
Reply

Get notified of new replies

To Problem with Headlight-C4





All times are GMT -4. The time now is 03:43 PM.

story-0
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!

Slideshow: How to Protect A Convertible Top: 10 DOs & DON'Ts

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-04-03 00:00:00


VIEW MORE
story-1
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!

Slideshow: The 10 most explosive Corvettes ever built based on power-to-weight ratio.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-20 07:23:03


VIEW MORE
story-2
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter

Slideshow: From C1 to C8 we compare every Corvette generation by the numbers.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-12 16:54:12


VIEW MORE
story-3
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time

Slideshow: Some Corvette pace cars became collectible legends, while others perfectly captured the look and attitude of their era.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-05-11 09:50:51


VIEW MORE
story-4
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)

Slideshow: Ranking the top 10 Corvette engines by torque output.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-05 11:58:09


VIEW MORE
story-5
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!

Slideshow: A Corvette pace car nearly matching IndyCar speeds sounds exaggerated, until you look at the numbers.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-05-04 20:03:36


VIEW MORE
story-6
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!

Among a rather large group of them.

By Brett Foote | 2026-05-04 13:56:44


VIEW MORE
story-7
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!

Slideshow: the top 10 things Corvette owners want in the C9 Corvette

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-04-30 12:41:15


VIEW MORE
story-8
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know

Slideshow: 10 Important Corvette 'firsts' that every fan should know.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-04-29 17:02:16


VIEW MORE
story-9
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2

Slideshow: Should you buy a 2020-2026 Corvette or wait for 2027?

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-04-22 10:08:58


VIEW MORE