86 headlight question.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 3,524
Likes: 1
From: Pinellas Florida Misfit
Cruise-In III Veteran
86 headlight question.
Ok, I see this car is going to be a love / hate relationship 
I went to pop up my headlights last night and the driver side didn't come up. After opening the hood, I noticed the torx headed screw that holds the outer bezel on worked its way lose and was hitting the inside of the hood. After fiddling with getting that fixed, I shut the hood and turned the lights back on. The driver side now works fine.. BUT the passanger side doesnt! If you manually open the **** a turn or two, the head light opens fine, but the motor won't shut off when you shut the lights off and there is about one inch of play in the light. (Won't close completely, just rocks back and forth)
I'm guessing one of the two gears is stripped or is there something else that the other headlamp being messed up could of effected? Should I rebuild it with one of those kits or replace the entire thing? Is this something I can do with relitive ease?
Thanks
Jim
I went to pop up my headlights last night and the driver side didn't come up. After opening the hood, I noticed the torx headed screw that holds the outer bezel on worked its way lose and was hitting the inside of the hood. After fiddling with getting that fixed, I shut the hood and turned the lights back on. The driver side now works fine.. BUT the passanger side doesnt! If you manually open the **** a turn or two, the head light opens fine, but the motor won't shut off when you shut the lights off and there is about one inch of play in the light. (Won't close completely, just rocks back and forth)
I'm guessing one of the two gears is stripped or is there something else that the other headlamp being messed up could of effected? Should I rebuild it with one of those kits or replace the entire thing? Is this something I can do with relitive ease?
Thanks
Jim
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 83,381
Likes: 87
From: Boston, MA
Re: 86 headlight question. (two-tone86)
The 1" of play means that you need to rotate the manual **** a bit more until it is firmly in place. It is very hard to describe the internal workings of the motors without one sitting in front of you apart.
If the motor continues to turn, then the bushings probably are gone like you think. If I were you I would spend the $100 and buy ALL the gears for both headlights. I fixed my right one over the winter, and now my left one is shot also. I wish I had done them both at the same time. So right now I just have the lights in the "up" position all the time (yes, there is a position on the switch to do this with all the lights off also).
If the motor continues to turn, then the bushings probably are gone like you think. If I were you I would spend the $100 and buy ALL the gears for both headlights. I fixed my right one over the winter, and now my left one is shot also. I wish I had done them both at the same time. So right now I just have the lights in the "up" position all the time (yes, there is a position on the switch to do this with all the lights off also).
Burning Brakes
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 1,243
Likes: 1
From: Charlotte, NC USA
Re: 86 headlight question. (two-tone86)
Bet on the gears. Go ahead and order two gear sets and replace both gears in both headlight assemblies. If one has gone bad the other probably isn't far behind. Also, if you still have the heavy glass head lights, you might want to replace them with the lighter weight plastic lights. I replaced my gear sets at the dining room table last Winter. Caught it from the wife but it is much easier to remove the whole assembly and work at a good work bench or table. I didn't replace the lights until a few weeks ago when one burned out. The plastic lights put much less stress on the gear motor. They actually made my motors quieter, I guess from having to do less work.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 3,524
Likes: 1
From: Pinellas Florida Misfit
Cruise-In III Veteran
Re: 86 headlight question. (Black84)
Thanks guys, I'll place the order on both sets tonight.
I tried turning the **** and it just sits there and spins when the headlight gets close to being closed.
As far as removing the whole unit, it looks like one side of the bracket mounts to the same place the hood strut does? Any particular trouble in removing the whole unit?
I tried turning the **** and it just sits there and spins when the headlight gets close to being closed.
As far as removing the whole unit, it looks like one side of the bracket mounts to the same place the hood strut does? Any particular trouble in removing the whole unit?
Team Owner
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 83,381
Likes: 87
From: Boston, MA
Re: 86 headlight question. (two-tone86)
As far as removing the whole unit, it looks like one side of the bracket mounts to the same place the hood strut does? Any particular trouble in removing the whole unit?
