Brand new Problem. I have a '93 one headlight is not opening fully, with the hood open I hear and see the **** on the motor spinning long after the good one stops. If I try to adjust it manually the headlight loosens up and rocks like a pendulum. Also there seems to be no stopping point as to how much I turn the ****. Anyone know what this is?

 

Yeah, bad plastic bushings.

Buy them from Ecklers 3 to a kit for like $4.95.

Uninstall headlight bucket - take apart motor, clear out white powder residue from old bushings, put new pushings in and seal up and reinstall.

1 hour labor and $4.95

or go to dealer and get new headlight motor for $450.00 your choice :lol:


Headlight Motor Repair Procedure

The following instructions detail the repairing of the headlight motors for the C4, using
Tools Needed:

1/4" drive 10mm socket
1/4" drive 13mm socket
1/4" drive Torx #30
Nutdriver with 1/4" socket
Hammer
Pliers
Small punch
Awl or sharp nail
Truarc snap ring pliers

Materials Needed:

WD-40
Hand Cleaner
Grease

Parts Needed:

2 Ecklers #29304 kits or equal $4.95/each
(additional instructions come with the kit)

Step One: Marking the position of the headlight assembly.

This step will ensure that you can replace the headlight assembly in its correct
alignment in the headlight opening in the hood. First, open the hood. Take an awl
or sharp nail and scratch along the headlight mounting brackets on the underside of
the hood. Do this on all mounting brackets. Try to get as close to the brackets as
possible.

Step Two: Disconnect the wiring harnesses.

The motor and headlight each have an electrical harness plug that must be
disconnected to remove the headlight assembly. Follow the wire from the motor and
disconnect the grayish colored connector. The headlight has a similar one that is black.

Step Three: Removing the headlight assembly.

Use the 10mm socket and remove four mounting bolts. There is a small bracket
on the right side of the left light (near the motor) that should be removed using the
13mm socket. An additional 10mm bolt should also be removed from the bracket. The
headlight assembly can now be placed on a towel on your work bench. The real fun is
about to begin!

Step Four: Removing the headlight motor from the headlight assembly.

1.Use a torx #30 bit and remove two long bolts the hold the motor to the motor
bracket. Spray some WD-40 on the heads to help loosen them.
2.On the motor gear shaft that passes through the headlight linkage you will
see a very small retaining ring on the very end of the shaft. Remove this
ring with the snap ring pliers.
3.On the motor gear shaft you will see a small roll pin that has been pressed
into a collar and the shaft. Use a small punch (~1/8"dia) and hammer this
pin out of the collar and shaft.
4.You can remove the linkage from the shaft. Be aware that there are some very
small shims and parts that must be reassembled in the correct sequence for
the linkage to work.
5.The motor should now be free from the headlight assembly.

Step Five: Replacing the bushings.

This part will deviate slightly from the instructions provided by Ecklers.

1.Remove the gear cover by removing the three small hex head screws using a
1/4" socket or nutdriver. Be carefull not to snap off the heads.
2.Ecklers instructions say to turn the worm gear adjuster 1-2 turns to relieve
the pressure on the spur gear. Mine would not budge due to 10 years of
service, it was completely locked up, so I did not perform this step. If you
can, count the number of turns and write it down.
3.Ecklers instructions say to loosen the two motor housing screws. I tried to
loosen one, snapped of the head and had to drill it out and replace a screw.
I did not try this again!
4.Next, use your pliers to remove the yellowish gear that is about 3" diameter.
Be carefull and do not damage the shaft. This gear will be tight if you can
not loosen the motor housing or back off on the worm adjustment, but
eventually it will come off. There are some small shims on this shaft that
you will not want to loose. What you will have is a hollow gear with bad
bushings inside or in my case, a bunch of dust. Separate the two halves and
dump out the dust and clean the gear. Place the three new delrin bushings in
the triangular area of the bottom half and replace the top half.
5.Be sure and clean the dust and particles from the exposed worm gear, an old
toothbrush works good for this.
6.Lightly grease the large gear and replace it back in the housing. It will be
tight due to the way the teeth in the gear are cut. A light tap with a hammer
will put it in place. Replace the gear cover and reattach using the 1/4" screws,
but do not overtighten them.
7.(optional) Tighten the motor casing screws and put the worm adjustment screw to
its original position.

Step Six: Installing the headlight motor back into the headlight assembly.

1.Place the motor into the assembly with the shaft protruding into the collar
and linkage.
2.Insert the two motor mounting bolts into the motor bracket and tighten loosely.
3.Slide the collar and linkage back onto the shaft.
4.Align the hole in the collar with the hole in the shaft and press the roll pin
back in with a hammer and punch.
5.Tighten the two motor mount bolts.
6.Reinstall the small snap ring onto the end of the shaft.

Step Seven: Replacing the headlight assembly.

Use the alignment marks you made in step one to place the assemblies back into
the hood, otherwise hood/headlight damage could occur when you turn on the light switch.
Reinstall the small bracket using the 13mm and 10mm bolts. Install and tighten the
remaining four 10mm bolts using the alignment marks as a guide.

Before you test the headlights, make sure that the headlights are in the closed
position!! You can turn the motor by hand to rotate the headlight to its closed position.

Step Eight: Reconnect the electrical harnesses and test.

You can now reconnect the motor and headlight connectors. Before you test the
operation it is a good idea to recheck the headlight linkage for correct assembly.
Compare one headlight to the other and assure they are the same. All that is left to
do is to tidy up some of the wiring and turn on the lights.
These instructions have been used and verified by several Corvette owners.














[Modified by xlr8nflorida, 3:45 PM 9/21/2003]

 

Nice post. I'm going to save this one on my hard drive.

 

Thanks for the post couldn't ask for any better than that. I'll let you know how it turned out.

 

Thanks for the tech tip... going to log it away, sure i'll need it later :cheers: