I had a nice list of things I wanted to do to my '93 this winter but 2 things have impacted it. 1. Mice. Within a couple weeks of putting it away for the winter I discovered mouse debris on the top of the intake. Not going to open the engine and risk them getting crap (literally AND figuratively) in places it shouldn't be. 2. For the first time in my life one of my knees is so bad there have been times in the past couple months when I haven't been able to walk without significant pain. Not good when you jog and do martial arts.

I've had to settle for doing smaller jobs when I'm able that don't expose my car to rodent damage. I've got the brakes apart for new rotors and pads which I'll put on last thing before I drop the car off the jack stands in the spring. Today I pulled the driver's side headlight out to check the drive gear as it makes the characteristic clunking noise indicative of either the gear stripped of the pellets gone.

I've seen a number of the videos about how to repair the headlight drive gear but today I noticed a video in which the motor assembly WASN'T removed, just the gear case cover so I decided to try that method. In the video I watched the guy bent a mounting tab to clear one of the three cover screws. I decided to go after the tab with my Dremel so I didn't have to bend it as much. At any rate here are a few pictures of what I found. I guess it's always fun to see someone else's broken parts.



In the picture below you can see where I ground off some of the tab.

Those plastic slugs did their job, nothing left except plastic dust.


When I first saw the gear I thought it was shot but after cleaning off the old grease I found the gear is fine.


I looked at the other headlight, wondering if I could take the cover off without removing the assembly from the car. It's probably possible but in my situation I can't fully open the hood. I might save this side till spring when I can get the car out of the garage and fully open the hood. The roll pin is perfectly aligned to be driven out.

 

Get rid of the mice!

 

Trying. I have 8 or 10 traps out. Often find one when I check every couple days. Been thinking about trying some baits. I haven't seen any in the engine compartment since I put the car on jack stands and took off the wheels.

 

I just did this job on mine (but pulled the headlights off the car to do it). It's not a bad job at all. Similar to you my pellets were nothing but dust, but the gears were fine. One of the gaskets was bad too, but no problem because I got a kit from the Fiero guy (can't recall his name at the moment). The kit was great - included everything I needed plus some good hints.

 

Get yourself a Boris. Jacking your car will not be necessary as Boris will go over, under and around to get the mice-- better than traps.

 

Yea a Boris would be ideal but the 'garage' I keep my 'vette in is not a permanent structure and is not heated. A Boris is too smart to stay there. I just picked up a couple baits to add to the hazardous environment for mice.

 

Fill that gear w/epoxy. Easy. Cheap. Fast.

 

Plastic snake or two. Mice will leave garage.

 

I will share an old trick of mine, don't bend, don't dremel, don't drill, a flexible shaft adapter with a torx head bit slides right into the bolt ..

 

FYI, this is a real product... https://www.ebay.com/p/18035027539?i...SABEgLA4fD_BwE

 

In my experience the plug-in ultrasonic things do work and drive the mice away.

 

The screw holding the gear case cover on are hex head and that one makes contact with that support. I could have bent it enough to get it past without dremeling but didn't want to bend it that much. I suppose I could see if I have any torx or allens that would work instead of the hex head when I put it back together but I really hope I never have to do this again.