Is this headlight motor missing shims?
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Is this headlight motor missing shims?
I have a "winking" passenger side headlight on my '92 coupe.
It closes completely, but only rotates 3/4 of the way open. No motor run-on as some report as a symptom, it simply didn't flip completely.
After reading the forum posts on these motors and the bad bushing issues I decided to to replace them.
Got the entire unit off the car, removed the motor from the bracket and opened the gear housing. The gear and bushings look gorgeous. All there, very clean and well lubricated.
An odd, or possibly odd, situation has to do with the washer shims that I believe are supposed to be present on the shaft where it mounts through the alignment bracket to the arms on the headlight housing. These are external to gear housing, not internal. The internal shims (3) of them are in there.
I believe the previous owner must have performed some maintenance on the motor. Considering the condition of the bushings and the missing shims.
I will try to add a photo of the bracket for the sake of discussion.
It closes completely, but only rotates 3/4 of the way open. No motor run-on as some report as a symptom, it simply didn't flip completely.
After reading the forum posts on these motors and the bad bushing issues I decided to to replace them.
Got the entire unit off the car, removed the motor from the bracket and opened the gear housing. The gear and bushings look gorgeous. All there, very clean and well lubricated.
An odd, or possibly odd, situation has to do with the washer shims that I believe are supposed to be present on the shaft where it mounts through the alignment bracket to the arms on the headlight housing. These are external to gear housing, not internal. The internal shims (3) of them are in there.
I believe the previous owner must have performed some maintenance on the motor. Considering the condition of the bushings and the missing shims.
I will try to add a photo of the bracket for the sake of discussion.
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I believe this bracket which aligns the motor shaft with the arm on the headlight is missing shims. It looks pretty rough, too.
There were no shims on the shaft outside of the gear housing.
There were no shims on the shaft outside of the gear housing.
Last edited by wdurham; Nov 1, 2012 at 03:26 AM.
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From: Phila., PA burbs
I don't recall there being any shims outside the housing. Make sure that bracket is oriented in the right direction when installed. I imagine the bracket being installed in the wrong direction could cause it to bind against something and keep the headlight from rotating correctly.
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The shim question came up due to a video on Wilcox website discussing the motor removal. In the video, they removed the motor then turned the headlight frame assembly over and gave it a good shake to get three shims to drop. This is the only reference I have ever seen mention these (external to the gear housing) shims.
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2006
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From: Canandaigua New York
The shim question came up due to a video on Wilcox website discussing the motor removal. In the video, they removed the motor then turned the headlight frame assembly over and gave it a good shake to get three shims to drop. This is the only reference I have ever seen mention these (external to the gear housing) shims.
These 3 'shims' (washers) would make more sense...
Last edited by Keystring; Nov 1, 2012 at 05:17 PM.
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Interesting graphic. My motor does not mount to the bracket this way.
I'm looking at this on my phone, but the 3 long bolts extending through the 3 holes on the motor housing, through the shims through the bracket and held on with nuts is different.
I have one long bolt through a mounting ear on the bracket, through one of the three holes to a threaded hole on the bracket. Then there are two shorter screws that simply go through the bracket and into the two remaining holes on the motor. Significant difference being that those two holes are threaded on the motor. So there is no reason for these last two to extend all the way through the motor housing. You should be able to see the two I'm speaking of temporarily screwed into the housing in the photo.
What year is diagram for? Still, I wonder if the shims are supposed to be mounted in a similar location. Hmmm...
=======
For those reviewing this post after the fact, Keystring changed the image above to illustrate the later model assemblies. It is clear the earlier image that he removed was for the early model motor mounting.
I'm looking at this on my phone, but the 3 long bolts extending through the 3 holes on the motor housing, through the shims through the bracket and held on with nuts is different.
I have one long bolt through a mounting ear on the bracket, through one of the three holes to a threaded hole on the bracket. Then there are two shorter screws that simply go through the bracket and into the two remaining holes on the motor. Significant difference being that those two holes are threaded on the motor. So there is no reason for these last two to extend all the way through the motor housing. You should be able to see the two I'm speaking of temporarily screwed into the housing in the photo.
What year is diagram for? Still, I wonder if the shims are supposed to be mounted in a similar location. Hmmm...
=======
For those reviewing this post after the fact, Keystring changed the image above to illustrate the later model assemblies. It is clear the earlier image that he removed was for the early model motor mounting.
Last edited by wdurham; Nov 2, 2012 at 12:48 AM.
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From: Phila., PA burbs
There are different designs in the 84-87 cars vs 88+. Again, I don't believe there are any shims outside the housing on 88+ cars.
http://home.comcast.net/~zrjuan/headlight.html
http://home.comcast.net/~zrjuan/headlight.html
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Well, I reassembled the motor and linkage and put it back on the car. I ran it manually through the full arc both to the open and closed positions. I reconnected the power and cycled it with the switch a few times. No hang-ups, no scary sounds, but also no idea what I actually repaired.
I took the assembly back off the car and applied grease on the swivel points and sliding area, just to be safe. I double checked the screws on the gear housing and put the assembly back on the car. Ran a few more light cycles and still no winks. Works as advertised.
Thanks guys for the info and advice. I guess we'll let it run for awhile and see how this works out.
Now, it's back on to the weatherstripping and stereo work.
Thanks again guys!!
I took the assembly back off the car and applied grease on the swivel points and sliding area, just to be safe. I double checked the screws on the gear housing and put the assembly back on the car. Ran a few more light cycles and still no winks. Works as advertised.
Thanks guys for the info and advice. I guess we'll let it run for awhile and see how this works out.
Now, it's back on to the weatherstripping and stereo work.
Thanks again guys!!
Last edited by wdurham; Nov 2, 2012 at 12:50 AM.
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Yeah I had read about that happening to a few folks. Mine were tight. While the assembly was off of the car, I took the hood off of the housing just to see what the interior was made up of. Guess I was bored.
Heel & Toe
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From: Callaway MD
Shim or not
I saw a magazine article where they discuss the shims behind that stop (I'll try to find the link and add it here). I recently rebuilt my headlight motor on the right side of my 1992 and there where no shims but I'm not sure what is suppose to be there since my left side motor doesn't event have the stop piece that goes on the shaft. If you go to this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJylyPa-fEU which is a youtube video from Wilcox Corvette they mention the three shims @ time stamp 3:30 - 5:00 minutes.
I did get this link (http://www.mcmaster.com/#snap-in-bearings/=k8wivx) from one of the other outstanding members on here to replace the little nylon bushings on the shaft. They were inexpensive and worked outstanding and stopped my headlight from shaking. Can't remember the exact size of them thought but they are two different sizes
cheapThe PO really jacked this poor corvette around, I'm trying to revive it with some TLC. If anyone knows where I could get one of those stops for the headlight motor I'd appreciate it. I hate seeing an American ICON so badly mistreated like the Corvette I picked up.
I did get this link (http://www.mcmaster.com/#snap-in-bearings/=k8wivx) from one of the other outstanding members on here to replace the little nylon bushings on the shaft. They were inexpensive and worked outstanding and stopped my headlight from shaking. Can't remember the exact size of them thought but they are two different sizes
cheapThe PO really jacked this poor corvette around, I'm trying to revive it with some TLC. If anyone knows where I could get one of those stops for the headlight motor I'd appreciate it. I hate seeing an American ICON so badly mistreated like the Corvette I picked up.
Last edited by PirateW5; Nov 20, 2012 at 11:22 AM.
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The shims (outside of the gear housing) and next to the headlight stop bracket appear to be from earlier year models. The Willcox Corvette video threw me off when it showed these.
I simply reassembled the housing, motor, headlight frame and put silicon lube on the exterior moving parts that had a need to slide or rotate. The light seems to be rotating fine. I'm not sure what it was that caused it to hang up, which bothers me some. I watch the light constantly now!
On to other projects. Sorry to hear your 92 was messed with so much. Mine appears to be fairly original. I don't mean that in a good way necessarily. Many of the items are definitely 20 years old and in need of touch ups and TLC. No nasty modifications or screwy repairs found so far. I'm working on weatherstripping, front lower spoilers and a noise from the rear differential after I change from reverse to drive. It still drives nice, but it does need some upkeep.
I simply reassembled the housing, motor, headlight frame and put silicon lube on the exterior moving parts that had a need to slide or rotate. The light seems to be rotating fine. I'm not sure what it was that caused it to hang up, which bothers me some. I watch the light constantly now!
On to other projects. Sorry to hear your 92 was messed with so much. Mine appears to be fairly original. I don't mean that in a good way necessarily. Many of the items are definitely 20 years old and in need of touch ups and TLC. No nasty modifications or screwy repairs found so far. I'm working on weatherstripping, front lower spoilers and a noise from the rear differential after I change from reverse to drive. It still drives nice, but it does need some upkeep.
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thank u very much. (shim or not). However my 1990 c4 has 3 tiny exterior shims, that showed up after I removed the motor gear assembly from the headlight bracket. need to know which side of T bracket on shaft these go. re assembly must be exact in order to work properly. Anybody got a parts diagram/ schematic?