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87 corvette headlights

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Old Jul 6, 2015 | 05:42 PM
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eddiecotter7888's Avatar
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Default 87 corvette headlights

alright guys just picked up my first vette its an 87 coupe car was sitting for a wile I'm trying to get it back in shape and ready for the road having trouble with my driver side headlight. the headlight was all jacked up when i first got the car so i removed it and replaced the two plastic gears in the motor after that the light moved up and down fine for a couple of days went out yesterday started the car and the driver headlight is not moving now i am able to open and close it manually with the *** and then took it back out and can move the motor by jumping it off a battery i just pulled the relays and swapped them sided to side and they are working fine some one mentioned to me that there is a fusible link that connects right behind the battery for the light has anyone ever had this problem before that might know whats going on thanks in advance
Eddie
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Old Jul 6, 2015 | 06:09 PM
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I have hear about the fuseable links sounds like a good place to look
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Old Jul 6, 2015 | 07:38 PM
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Fusible links are located behind the battery and their purpose is to provide current to the various major vehicle electrical systems. If a fusible link burns out, then there is no power to the system that gets the current. There are a total of 10 fusible links and most are on the so-called "jump start" block behind the battery. Unfortunately the fusible links are not labeled nor does one of those links provide power to the headlamps only.

As you have seen, there are separate relays for the left and right headlamp motor. It's pretty common for the wires that go into the connector to become brittle/corroded and electrical contact can be lost at that point. Most times it's an intermittent problem. The wires can be removed from the connector and cleaned up and put back. Just make sure they go back in the same spot on the harness connector. The fact that the motors work with current applied directly would indicate that there is a connection problem. If, after swapping the relays, the other motor didn't work could indicate a bad relay. Both headlamp relays are the same.

You probably saw a third relay in the box on the wheelwell. That's an isolation relay. Its' purpose is to change the current polarity (positive to negative) of the motors so that they run backwards to lower the headlamp buckets.
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Old Jul 6, 2015 | 09:10 PM
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Default thank u for the help

Originally Posted by c4cruiser
Fusible links are located behind the battery and their purpose is to provide current to the various major vehicle electrical systems. If a fusible link burns out, then there is no power to the system that gets the current. There are a total of 10 fusible links and most are on the so-called "jump start" block behind the battery. Unfortunately the fusible links are not labeled nor does one of those links provide power to the headlamps only.

As you have seen, there are separate relays for the left and right headlamp motor. It's pretty common for the wires that go into the connector to become brittle/corroded and electrical contact can be lost at that point. Most times it's an intermittent problem. The wires can be removed from the connector and cleaned up and put back. Just make sure they go back in the same spot on the harness connector. The fact that the motors work with current applied directly would indicate that there is a connection problem. If, after swapping the relays, the other motor didn't work could indicate a bad relay. Both headlamp relays are the same.

You probably saw a third relay in the box on the wheelwell. That's an isolation relay. Its' purpose is to change the current polarity (positive to negative) of the motors so that they run backwards to lower the headlamp buckets.
i just checked all the power and grounds all the way up to the motor after i verified that it had proper power and grounds i decided to tap on the motor and it worked now I'm wondering if many the brushes or some ind of connection inside the motor could be bad or dirty or if the motor is just on its way out
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