Driver's Headlight Continually Winks!
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 132
Likes: 1
From: Phoenix AZ
Driver's Headlight Continually Winks!
I have a '99 C5 that when I turn on the headlights, the lights flip up fine. When you turn the lights off, the driver's headlight goes down and back up repeatedly about 5-6 times. When it finishes, it is 3/4's of the way down. I can manually lower it the rest of the way. It seems like it's trying to find the open and close positions?
I don't have the grinding gear noise, so the gear isn't stripped. The motor appears to raise and lower at the same speed as the passenger side, so I would think the motor is ok. Has anyone seen this?
Thanks!
I don't have the grinding gear noise, so the gear isn't stripped. The motor appears to raise and lower at the same speed as the passenger side, so I would think the motor is ok. Has anyone seen this?
Thanks!
Racer
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 342
Likes: 0
From: Fort Worth TX
The headlights cycle open and closed when they shouldn't. For example, when arming or disarming the alarm or just turning on the fog lights or parking lights, the headlights will cycle or go up but not on. This is actually 100% related to the stripped gear. In every case where I have heard of people complaining about the lights cycling or coming up when they shouldn't, they also have the problem of the stripped gear as mentioned above. The good news for you is that once you fix the stripped gear problem either by the temporary free fix mentioned below or by getting one of my brass gears, this problem will magically disappear as well 
What happens I believe is the stripped gear kinda "freaks out" the headlight control module so to speak. The control module doesn't know if it is coming or going so the lights do strange things. Fix the gear and the lights will go back to working normally for you again.
http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headlightfix/index.htm
What happens I believe is the stripped gear kinda "freaks out" the headlight control module so to speak. The control module doesn't know if it is coming or going so the lights do strange things. Fix the gear and the lights will go back to working normally for you again.http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headlightfix/index.htm
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 5,561
Likes: 448
From: Atlanta metro Ga.
Yes.. There is a TSB on it.. Basically, additional washers need to be inserted in the mount on that side, to correct this.. Look it up here: http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/....php?qstId=217 
Last edited by Dan_the_C5_Man; Mar 24, 2005 at 05:34 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 5,707
Likes: 4
From: Los Angeles
Originally Posted by gomerboat
I have a '99 C5 that when I turn on the headlights, the lights flip up fine. When you turn the lights off, the driver's headlight goes down and back up repeatedly about 5-6 times. When it finishes, it is 3/4's of the way down. I can manually lower it the rest of the way. It seems like it's trying to find the open and close positions?
I don't have the grinding gear noise, so the gear isn't stripped. The motor appears to raise and lower at the same speed as the passenger side, so I would think the motor is ok. Has anyone seen this?
Thanks!
I don't have the grinding gear noise, so the gear isn't stripped. The motor appears to raise and lower at the same speed as the passenger side, so I would think the motor is ok. Has anyone seen this?
Thanks!
Thread Starter
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 132
Likes: 1
From: Phoenix AZ
Originally Posted by robvuk
I had this problem and discovered that the white plastic stops were cracked. I took a couple from the other headlight to test it and it worked. Takes two minutes to replace without tools. There's two at the bottom/inside and one at the top/rear. The dealer had much difficulty figuring out the part number though. And then charged me $6 apiece for a part that shouldn't have cost more than a nickel.
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1st Gear
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
Driver side headlight goes up and down
My 2000 C5 driver side healight goes up and down every time the lights go off. I replaced the original motor because it would not turn any more. After I had the new motor in, the headlight worked just fine for about 4 days and then it started doing the 'wink' thing. Never did it before. So I replaced it with another new motor. It still does the 'wink'. I have read some articles associated with this, but they all mention replacing the gears. I had 2 new motors in and they both did it. Is there something else that is causing the headlight to think it needs to go up then down again for about 5x? Any information on this would be greatly appreciated.
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 5,747
Likes: 224
From: Hillsboro Oregon
