I notice when I turn my Headlights off the Left side keeps running a few seconds after it's closed.? New to me?

Any Ideas?

 

Your bushings are worn out (or dust, probably). If you do a search, there are about 4,000,000 threads (give or take) on this topic and how to do it. There's a sticky on the top of the Tech forum on how to replace them, and you can get the bushings from Ecklers for $6 I think. People have also made their own from Home Depot stuff or wooden dowel rods, but I didn't have the dimensions, so I just bought the kit.

Also, do both lights at the same time. If one's gone, the other's not far behind...

 

Bushings Worn ?

They both work well they go up and down together .What do the bushings being worn have to do with the Motor contiuing to run?
Thanx

 

While there is still enough bushing left for the motor to grab, it continuing to run for a few seconds after closing is a tell-tale indicator that it is about to fail. Basically there are 3 small cylinders that connect the motor to the headlight assembly (gross oversimplification, w/e), and over time they simply get eaten by friction. Pretty soon whichever headlight is continuing to run will fail altogether, and you'll have to manually raise it if you want to use it.

Depending on how often you drive at night, you may have a month left. Maybe less. I had to do it this past spring, and I waited too long

If I were you, I'd buy the bushings now (LINK), keep in mind that you'll need 2 of these to repair both headlights.

 

On my 85, i had a motor that continued to run - (in fact took it out and still have it)... bushings were in great shape. it would only go one direction and still run while the underside stop arm pressed against the hood.

Took it to an electric motor repair place in chicago, and they didnt figure it out. must be some sort of limit/resistance malfuntion because something is telling the motor it is still ok to run.

wish i knew what it was. i bought a used motor from a salvage yard. funny thing is that one motor is faster than the other. looks silly when going up or down.

 

I've read countless threads on the worn bushing issue and clearly this is the first thing to consider and no doubt usually the culprit. Not wanting to hijack the thread however, I was interested in this post in particular because on my '85, the problem wasn't the typical clicking or the motor running beyond the time it should but actually the one headlight was lazy when retracting. Rather than taking a corvette headlight motor to an electric motor repair shop where I'd expect to find just about the amount of technical as you did, I took mine apart and found that the brushes touching the armateur(?) were not putting enough pressure on it. I also didn't feel that there was a lot of material left to the brushes, but after bending then just a bit, the connection was fine and everything has worked perfectly. That was 3 years ago, and I have since looked for replacement brushes, but can't seem to fine such a thing. Anybody have any advice on where (if such a thinkg even exists?)

 

Thanx Guys.But it sounds like a pretty tough Job to Replce the Bushings?

Any Comments?

 

That was 3 years ago, and I have since looked for replacement brushes, but can't seem to fine such a thing. Anybody have any advice on where (if such a thinkg even exists?)

Yuppers. Get thee to your local electrical tool repair shop. You can find Bosch motor brushes that will fit your Corvette headlight motor, but you'll have to take yours in to get an approximate fit, then sand them down using a section of emery cloth.

Be sure and wear gloves when sanding, though -- unless you don't mind darkening your O.E.M. finger pigmentation for about three days or so.

 

I have taken the motors apart and replacing the bushings is not that bad. If it is the bushings (still not convinced), you can get replacements from one of the usuals and they will have install instructions... pretty straightforward. when you take the motor cover off, you'll probably know by looking if it is your bushings.

 

Here's the DIY I was talking about: http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1848666

Good Bushings:


Bad Bushings:

 

CajunC4: Some weeks ago I had a problem with my right light on my 89 car. I removed the assembly from the hood and replaced the degraded plastic bushings with hardwood dowels. The Ecklers bushings (two sets) that I ordered to repair the lights had not arrived and I needed to drive the car after dark. Soooo, I used hardwood dowels (.5 inches in diameter and cut to 7/16 max length). The Ecklers bushings came in and I attempted to replace the bushings in the left light unit. When I installed the Ecklers bushings, I found that the bushings were too long to fit in the shaft/plastic gear assembly. I replaced the original bushings with wooden dowels and reassembled the left light unit.

Just like you state in your post, the repaired left light continues to run for 3-5 seconds after the right light motor has stopped. The problem cannot be the bushings! I have attempted to raise and lower the left light with the manual **** on top of the motor. I cannot get the **** to stop turning (and lock up) after the stop is reached by the motor unit. The right light motor unit will lock up when it reaches a stop. I plan to remove the left light and determine why the motor does not lock up. This will be done in the next few days and I will post my findings. I did check the plastic gear and it did not have missing teeth

 

Thanks for the lead on Bosch motor brushes - glad to learn that these are available, with some modification expected.

 

you guys are great, i just got my 91 and have the same problem with my rotors. ordered 2 sets from ecklers 20.00 shipped, thanks everyone, this is a great forum.

 

Bob, Did you ever get this resolved? If so, would you mind sharing?

I took my '90 driver's side light apart this morning. I found I could NOT use bushings 1/2" in diameter. I had to turn them down to .475; fortunately I have a lathe. Is it possible the wooden dowel you used was undersized and not a true 1/2" in diameter? Did you ever measure the diameter of the Eckler bushings?

I see that Mid America's bushings are solid while Eckler's are hollow. In that the orignal material was a gel, it would seem to me that the hollow bushings might have a little give while solid ones might be a tad too rigid. What do you think?

 

We just did it on Jep's ZR-1....give him a shout.

Jeff

 

chevylu: Thanks for the PM as I do not get on the forum very often. As for the problem stated in my 10/08 post, I must admit that . I ordered some bushings from Ecklers and it took forever to receive them. Meanwhile I needed to drive the car at night (only one light would completely flip) and decided to try wood as a dowel material. I used soft popular 1/2 inch wood dowel material and made some three bushings that were 1/2 inch in diameter by 7/16 long. I reassembled the gear and it worked fine for a few days.

The Ecklers bushings finally came in and I removed the other light assembly and attempted to install the new Eckler bushings. This is when I discovered the Ecklers bushing were too long in length. The max length of the bushings can only be about .460 inches long or 7/16 inches. I reduced the length of the bushings to about .455 inches long and placed a small chamfer on both ends of the bushings. Without the chamfer, the gear would not assemble as it was a very tight or "line to line" fit. I had the use heavy had pressure to assemble the gear into the housing assembly. The 1/2 diameter bushings did work for my 89 model.

At this point in time, I do not recommend anyone use wood as a material for bushings. I removed that gear assembly where I had installed the popular wood dowels and the wood had distorted in shape and was not properly driving the metal gear.

The diameter of the Ecklers businigs was about .495 inches.

The headlight motors are easy to repair. The hard part is getting the assembly out and back in position onto the hood. Please note the you do not have to disassemble the motor to remove the drive gear on one of the motors. The other side of the car, you have to remove the rotor in order to remove the drive gear.

I repaired both headlight motor assemblies last fall and both continue to work well for me. BTW, I called Ecklers about the bushing length problem and the technical dude I talked to was very rude and indicated that I did not know what I was talking about .......and that was my last order from Ecklers

 

The description for the Eckler Corvette Headlight Repair Kit Item# 29304 reads as follows:

Inside the 1988-96 headlight motors is a gear which turns the lights. From the factory, the inside of the gear is packed with a special hard gel that turns the gear. As time passes, the gel deteriorates and no longer has the strength to turn the gear so it free wheels. Our headlight repair kit, consisting of 3 specially made Delrin bushings, replaces the gel and makes motors operate like new. One kit repairs one motor. http://www.ecklers.com/product.asp?pf_id=29304&dept_id=1476

When C4 owners who repair their headlights open up the gear cover, they see a granulated, powdery substance like this:

http://home.comcast.net/~zrjuan/head14.jpg

or this

http://www.corvettemagazine.com/2002/february/c4lights/light8.asp

This is what they look like when they are in relatively good condition: http://wagtail.home.att.net/extras/gel.jpg after 19 years in my ’90. Note that they have an elliptical shape with a flat spot on one side (which I colored in black. They measure .450 high, .507 across the wide part, and .452 across the flat part. IMHO I would not characterize their composition as gel.

Because most of the pictures in the headlight sticky have been pulled, you may want to refer to this site for pictures. The procedure worked like a champ for the driver’s side headlight on my ’90: http://home.comcast.net/~zrjuan/headlight.html. Note that the gear in the passenger side motor comes apart differently. On this side I had to insert a 5/32” drill through the hole and pull like hell to get it apart, similar to this: http://www.corvettemagazine.com/2002/february/c4lights/light8.asp.

 

At this point most folks believe they are looking at the residue of failed Delrin bushings. That is, however, incorrect. What you see is deteriorated gel. What this substance looked like when new is anybodies guess.

When I replaced my bushings, I made sure to coat them with white lithium grease to provide an additional lubricating layer. It's worked fine so far (going on five years).