rpoL98

anybody know where you can get the gasket for the headlight-motor gear box? the circular gasket with the three tabs? seems to be made out of a cork-type material?

Jimcol711

I completed this repair on my 1992, passenger side yesterday. Took about 2 hours from start to finish. I am admittedly not all that mechanically inclined and was a bit nervous about taking on the task but it was easier than it sounds and looks in the guides posted here. Just read the guides, take your time, and make sure you remember (or write down) where every little screw goes.

I used Home Depot bushings....60 cents each...only had to buy 2. I bought 1/2 diameter by 1" nylon bushings...cut them in half, sanded a bit down on an orbital sander and they were perfect. they fit pretty tight but it went together well. total investment $1.27!

Upon reinstallation of everything, the headlight absolutely got rid of the "post rotation clicking". problem solved!

However, sometihng was too tight and was causing enough resistance to cause the motor to stop mid-rotation. I had to play with it a little bit but i loosened one of the 3 screws on the cap of the motor (the only one visible when the motor is installed) by about 1 full turn and i losened the big nut (5/8" i beleive?) on the bottom of the motor by about 1.5 turns and that was enough to loosen things up to allow the motor to move freely and function properly.

Vetteblack-96

I hate to ask what might be seen as a real dumb question, but what kind of bushings am I looking for at HD? I'm afraid if I go in and ask for "Corvette bushings" in Home Depot they'll lock me up for observation!

aklim

I just did it today and I don't understand why the bushings had to be ground to size.

TA76

For us 84-87 guys:

http://www.corvettemagazine.com/2001...ghts/head1.asp

happeh

I have a 95 corvette with a non working driver's side headlight. The motor didn't make any sound at all.

I looked at it and it is obvious there is something wrong with the motor. There is a cap looking thing on top of it that is vertically straight up and down on the good passenger side motor. On the bad driver's side motor that cap is angled backwards like the support for it has broken inside of the motor.

Is that a common kind of breakage? Can the motor be fixed or does the entire unit have to be replaced?

Thanks

vkirklin

The problem with my '84 is not the gears, but the LH headlight motor's unwillingness to quit once the headlight is closed. I disassembled the headlight and the gears look fine. I'm thinking that the points that open and close to control the action must not be functioning, or one of the relays has a problem.

Any ideas?

MikeSVO

I just did my passenger side tonight (this is a 93). I've read about people using dowels and bearings and all kinds of stuff, but I didn't want to change what was in there. I just think those things have to give a bit, in case something gets jammed in there (and I know that the motor technically would/should stop, but you never know).

They sell those parts at the store, but they're not labeled as headlight bushings. They're in the HELP! parts section, and they're called 'power window drive gears' or something like that. I've used them before for windows, and after seeing the headlight parts in write-ups people have done for these, I thought, "Oh, that's just a power window motor..." The package says they're for Ford/Lincoln/Mercury applications - nothing about any GMs. They're 8 bucks for 3, which I know isn't the cheapest solution, but I feel like they're more appropriate. They fit exactly as they should and work great.

I was surprised that my passenger side headlight worked at ALL after seeing what was in there. I would have taken a picture, but there was really nothing to take a picture of - they were GONE. Dust. I'll get the other side tomorrow. Overall, a pretty easy fix to something that I thought would be major.

Biggest PITA part for me was getting the gear back into the housing during re-assembly.

red 90

Did mine today with hardwood dowel rod, took motors off without taking light assemblies off. Did both sides in an hour and a half. works like new...

vette1007

will 92-96 LT1 heads fit my 85 L98 vette

85vettester

Ok I have a 85 vette and just finished putting new gears in the headlight motor, no problem. I put it all back on the car and now the lights are reversed, one goes up while the other goes down. There is only one way for it to go back together. The motor is not the same as newer 87+ vettes and cannot be flipped etc... I can see in this forum that this is a common issue. It seems like the polarity has changed on the electric motor and now it runs backwards. The newer vettes are not the same so there is no way to flip the motor etc.... Someone on page 2 of this forum said they reversed the gray and green wires and that fixed the problem, so I tried it, and it went the right direction 1 time and then the wires started melting so I unpluged it and reversed it back.. I am positive that it has been re-assembled the right way because it will only go back one way. Does anybody have the answer to this problem? Is there a way to switch the polarity back?

ARTURO GRAMAJO

I live in Guatemala City, Central América and of course there are no Corvette parts in Chevrolet Dealer in this country. Even the dealer does not have any Vette in the showroom because they are too expensive in Guatemala, because of the local taxes.

I have been with problems with the lights in my 90 C4, suddenly the doors don´t open. We tried a lot of things, we revised the motors, the delrin bushings, the fuses and nothing, in all the electrical system, until he took out the headlights switch, and there was the trouble.

He told me that the switch was in bad shape so I can get one new.
I took all my catalogs and the price was about $ 200 plus shipping and handling from USA to Guatemala (about $300 in total) so I asked him to try to fix it and he fixed it and now I have my Vette headlights OK again.

One very interesting thing about this particular switch of 1990 Vettes
is that was made only for this year as I read and seems that nobody is building them. It could be great that some of the companys who sells Corvette parts could build them. I think that there are a lot of 1990 C4´s around the world that could have this problem in the future.

abikerinpa

Just bought an 89 corvette and i need to do the same , thx for the updates and pictures and how too's guys this is really gonna help the "new " used vette owner that i am ...thx gain

GREGGPENN

Willcox Corvette just put this headlight repair video up. Because I think a link should be included in this thread, here it is....

Tony A.

Agree, this is the best guide of all the links here. Much better picks and explanation. Did mine today, first with some crappy instructions, second with the link above. Second one of course went much smoother.

Charleston2012

So, why cant you just take the roll pin out, and the three bolts that hold the cover on. Then pull the gear etc out and replace bushings.

Tony A.

That is how you replace the gear and bushings...

Charleston2012

Well, I just opened her up and the bushings were fine, and the bronze gear had a very little amount of crud on it, as if it were the original old pieces (very very little) on the teeth.
So, I am putting it back together, and seeing what else could cause this.
Bushing within 7/16 wrench

Charleston2012

What is the purpose of these bushings anyways? Mine are prety tight in there with grease etc

AustinJohn

One of the first projects I did with my '94 was replacing the gears in my headlights to restore quiet operation. Great result and great project.

When I got my new-to-me '85 the passenger side headlight had an unbelievably loud sound that altho different from what I'd heard from my '94, I assumed still had the same cause. I ordered gear sets for both sides (knowing the '84-'87 assembly was different from the "88-'96) but after removing the headlight assembly and opening the motor case the gears didn't look very worn and in fact after installation the noise was still there. I pulled the assembly again.

What I found then was the two brass bushings (at least that's what I assume they are) circled in pink in the retouched photo below (a picture originally posted in this thread by ex240sxEF9b16AT85c4) were not being held tight by the red rubber grommets on the other side of the case which allowed the rotor to hit the armature. So I shimmed each up with ~1/8" of material and problem solved.

John