Headlights
Thread Starter
Drifting
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 1,460
Likes: 48
Headlights
Oh here is a good on for you. On my 85 4 plus 3 the headlights stopped coming up. I noticed that one of the headlight motors on the drivers side is making a little clicking noise. The passenger side motor did work but has now stopped. I decided to manually rotate the passenger side headlight assembly. After the headlight assembly started to rotate manually it pulled itself back into the park closed position. Does anyone know WTF happened. Is it new motor time for both. The noise is from one the return to park is from the other. Thank you
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 3,214
Likes: 101
From: Decatur, Alabama
Bushings and gears. Being an 85, you could have a motor gone bad. The bushings are cheap, I recommend getting the gear due to age, normally you can get away with just bushings. If you hold you hand on each motor as the headlight switch turns on and they both attempt to move, even a little, I go with bushings first. Headlights have to come out either way.,
Safety Car
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 3,953
Likes: 550
From: Mission Viejo CA
Here's the first thing we need to straighten out: The '84-'87 headlight motors don't have any "bushings" to replace.
The second thing: Be careful where you get your advice. It's surprising how few Corvette owners know the difference between the "early" and the "late" designs, and how many recommend the "bushings" or "pellets" to fix everything!
The third thing: The manual control ***** on the '84-'87 headlight motors are on the bottom of the motors. The '88-'96 motors have the control ***** on the top. Where are yours?
Try this on your pass. side headlight: First, turn on your headlights, then try rotating that **** again. I'll bet the door opens rather than returning to the park position. Be careful to keep your arm out of the way. The door may rotate rapidly. That tells me the motor and your gears are good, and the repair cost will be ZERO. You have dirty limit switches inside the motor.
Here's a link for the repair of the '84-'87 headlight motors. This guy was having trouble with his gears, which is probably not your problem, but the limit switches are also discussed. Be sure to lubricate the motor shaft bearings with a light weight white grease, like LubriPlate, or CRC StaLube.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c4-tech-performance/3194251-84-87-headlight-gear-replacement.html
The second thing: Be careful where you get your advice. It's surprising how few Corvette owners know the difference between the "early" and the "late" designs, and how many recommend the "bushings" or "pellets" to fix everything!
The third thing: The manual control ***** on the '84-'87 headlight motors are on the bottom of the motors. The '88-'96 motors have the control ***** on the top. Where are yours?
Here's a link for the repair of the '84-'87 headlight motors. This guy was having trouble with his gears, which is probably not your problem, but the limit switches are also discussed. Be sure to lubricate the motor shaft bearings with a light weight white grease, like LubriPlate, or CRC StaLube.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c4-tech-performance/3194251-84-87-headlight-gear-replacement.html
