Please refer to to the above "sticky" http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1848666 on repairing headlight motor problems. Some weeks ago, I repaired my right light assembly and used wooden dowels as I had not received the Eckler dowels that I ordered. The Eckler dowels came in and I removed the left light assembly and attempted to install them tonight. The wood dowels have continued to work and since I purchased the Ecklers parts......I may as well install them! As I assembled the plastic gear to the metal shaft assembly (using the Ecklers dowels), I noticed something was wrong. The overall height of the plastic/metal assembly was greater than the assembly upon initial removal from the motor. Just for reference, here is the appearance of the assembly upon removal from the motor:



Look at the above photo illustrating the condition of the old bushings......and this light was working properly

For those who have done this repair, this view may look strange to you! Please note that I have not removed the motor or loosened the motor shaft as most procedures state must be done. The metal/shaft assembly is easily removed by simply pushing on the end of the shaft and the metal assembly will come free of the plastic gear. The plastic gear can then be removed from the housing without removing/loosening any motor parts.

After examining the height of the new dowels, I found the Ecklers dowels to measure .486 inches in height. The maximum depth, where the dowels are installed in the plastic gear is .465 inches. Here is a photo of a wooden dowel that is cut to .465 and a Ecklers dowel that is .486 inches:



Sooooo....what does this mean? A picture is worth 1000 words:



Please note how the height of the Ecklers plastic dowel extends above the mating line of the metal assembly. The wooden dowel (cut to .465 inches) is about "even" with the mating line.

If you assemble the Ecklers dowels in a 1989 headlight motor unit, the plastic gear/metal assembly will be compressed by the cover (creates a bind condition) and this motor will draw more current. I know a lot of you have installed Ecklers parts in motors and they work well. For those who plan to do this repair, make sure you cut or grind off the Ecklers dowels to a maximum of 7/16 (.4375) of an inch prior to installation. After assemblying the motor, make sure the shaft has free end play (about .005 inches) or movement within the housing.

I hope this info is helpful and saves someone time on their headlight repair project

 

Yeah I spun my bushings at work...I think I made mine somewheres .450-.460 ish.Damn Ecklers....Somebody, somewhere some poor soul is going through hell trying to reassemble their headlight motors thinking everything is OK .Great Info..Exact height measurements!

 

that sux.
The other thing I am not crazy about is using a tube for that app. When I re-did mine one side was still working. Upon disassmbly I noticed (based on the wear), that if it was a tubular part, they would have blown out even sooner.

 

Interesting. They worked fine in my '96.

 

Call them and let them now, they do not make them and probably just got a bad batch from their vendor.

 

So I can use a 7/16 wrench, and when the bushing fits inside of it, it should be the right height? I don't have fancy measurin tools. Great tip, I am going to try and do the fix with the motor attached too.

 

hmm, Think I bought mine from the forum store when I did this. Zip was the company maybe. Time to go back and search for my old thread. When I opened mine up the factory bushings where a white powder. No solid pieces left.



Found it, but I didn't do a follow up. Oh well.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...ight=headlight

 

I used bushings from Home Depot and my lights have worked fine for more than five years now.

 

The concept of using a common 7/16 wrench for an attribute measuring device is soooo simple and will work great. I wish I had thought of it

Another good suggestion is to partially remove the roll pin while the light assembly is attached to the hood. Just manually position the light unit (using the **** on top of the motor) until you have a straight shot at the roll pin. It was a bitch to remove the pin on my right light (while laying on a work surface) unit while trying to hold the punch, the hammer and the assembly with only two hands.

I do plan to call Ecklers on this problem but such calls in the past were like "pissing in the wind"

 

Great point! that damn roll pin.I knocked mine out by rotating the assembly just as stated.Replaced with new.I didnt remove the whole capsule like in the" Sticky" section.The torx bolts were kind of tricky,but this repair can be done with simple hand tools.

 

I never had much sucess with Ecklers, and they are too expensive as well.

 

I called Eckler's yesterday and talked to a tech named Edward. He stated that he was very familiar with headlight motor problems and how to make the needed repairs. As I described my findings, he must have stated the words "we have sold thousands of these bushing kits and you are the first to mention a problem" at least 5 times during our 15 minute conversation.

I emailed photos to him that were used in my posting with a description of the problem and lets see what happens

 

David

 

 

you can always spend $200 for a new assembly from GM

Ebay also has part kits.

 

The worst part is how many people have called Ecklers complaining about these bushings only to be told,WE SELL THESE ALL TIME WITH NO COMPLAINTS!I got mine from MAM I think,were solid,not hollow....................I posted this before I read all the comments.

 

 

I just thought the oversized bushings were Corvette Challenge stuff! LOL
I just got out the calipers and the dremil .
So much for thinking !
And I discovered that a couple years ago !

Good show that will help a lot of people like me when I have to do them again.
I also made homemade gaskets since I was a long way from any corvette parts other than UPS.

 

Cut them!
Same thing happened in Ford window motors. I just filled them with JB weld. 5 min- done!