Notices
C5 General General C5 Corvette and C5 Z06 Discussion not covered in Tech

Headlight Issue

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Apr 15, 2012 | 09:42 PM
  #1  
Silverback51's Avatar
Silverback51
Thread Starter
Race Director
10 Year Member
Active Streak: 30 Days
Community Builder
Loved
 
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 14,659
Likes: 40
From: Prescott Arizona
Default Headlight Issue

I have seen this before, and tried a couple searches and could not find it.

Drivers side opens fine. The passenger side only opens part way. It's not the gear as I replaced it last October when I first bought the car, nor is it making the grinding noise like the gear did.

This morning I figured I would pull it apart and see what was happening. Only problem is that I cannot get it open enough to tear apart. It's hitting a hard stop and neither the motor or the manual **** can get it to open any further.

I'm sure the answer is here somewhere, but I'm just not having any luck finding it.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.


Thanks in advance.
Reply
Old Apr 15, 2012 | 09:50 PM
  #2  
Mr.Bill's Avatar
Mr.Bill
Race Director
 
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 18,681
Likes: 47
From: Reno is so close to Hell you can see Sparks , State Of Confusion
St. Jude Donor '12-'13-'14
Default

Check and see if you can tell where it is binding at, There isn't too much that can bind in the linkage, Did you replace the gear with a metal one?
Reply
Old Apr 15, 2012 | 09:50 PM
  #3  
StingrayRebel's Avatar
StingrayRebel
Acct Suspended APR 2026 by request
 
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 10,367
Likes: 1,272
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
C5 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
Default

has it been taken apart recently?... it's possible to install the lift arm in the wrong position which won't allow it to open/close properly due to it being in a bind... you should still be able to take it apart even if it won't open all the way... once you remove the 2 bolts that mount the headlight assy. to the frame you can tilt it into the bucket to give you access
Reply
Old Apr 15, 2012 | 10:02 PM
  #4  
Silverback51's Avatar
Silverback51
Thread Starter
Race Director
10 Year Member
Active Streak: 30 Days
Community Builder
Loved
 
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 14,659
Likes: 40
From: Prescott Arizona
Default

Originally Posted by Mr.Bill
Check and see if you can tell where it is binding at, There isn't too much that can bind in the linkage, Did you replace the gear with a metal one?
Yep, replaced it with a metal gear.
Reply
Old Apr 15, 2012 | 10:05 PM
  #5  
Silverback51's Avatar
Silverback51
Thread Starter
Race Director
10 Year Member
Active Streak: 30 Days
Community Builder
Loved
 
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 14,659
Likes: 40
From: Prescott Arizona
Default

Originally Posted by neutron82
has it been taken apart recently?... it's possible to install the lift arm in the wrong position which won't allow it to open/close properly due to it being in a bind... you should still be able to take it apart even if it won't open all the way... once you remove the 2 bolts that mount the headlight assy. to the frame you can tilt it into the bucket to give you access
It's been working fine since last October when I replaced the gear.

Since it will not open all the way, I cannot get the cover off since the bezel screw is still behind the fender, and you need the bezel off to get to the outboard cover screw.
Reply
Old Apr 15, 2012 | 10:06 PM
  #6  
Mr.Bill's Avatar
Mr.Bill
Race Director
 
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 18,681
Likes: 47
From: Reno is so close to Hell you can see Sparks , State Of Confusion
St. Jude Donor '12-'13-'14
Default

Originally Posted by Silverback51
Yep, replaced it with a metal gear.
Hmmm, If you don't see anything binding I guess it is possible for something in the gear threads to stop the motor... Just a guess.
Reply
Old Apr 15, 2012 | 10:49 PM
  #7  
StingrayRebel's Avatar
StingrayRebel
Acct Suspended APR 2026 by request
 
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 10,367
Likes: 1,272
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
C5 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
Default

take a peek under it and see if you can see anything in the way... the only other thing i can think of is that the gear cover on the motor has separated which could cause the gear to try to work it's way out of the housing thus binding the gear with the worm drive... i have had problems with that happening, oddly enough on the passenger side only... the driver side sealed fine but i can't for the life of me get the passenger side to stay sealed for very long... i've used jb weld and a few different epoxies and nothing has held it for more than a week or so... i ended up buying the brace that rodney dickman sells so hopefully that will solve my problem
Reply
Old Apr 16, 2012 | 08:46 AM
  #8  
dgrant3830's Avatar
dgrant3830
Tech Contributor
10 Year Member
 
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 10,962
Likes: 29
From: Van Buren Arkansas
Wounded Warrior Escort '11
Default

Its also possible to get one of the three spacers in the wrong position and the case will still go back together. It will cause things to jam.
Reply
Corvette Stories

The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts

story-0

Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!

 Michael S. Palmer
story-1

Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!

 Joe Kucinski
story-2

150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter

 Joe Kucinski
story-3

8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time

 Verdad Gallardo
story-4

Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)

 Joe Kucinski
story-5

Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!

 Verdad Gallardo
story-6

Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!

 Brett Foote
story-7

Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!

 Michael S. Palmer
story-8

10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know

 Joe Kucinski
story-9

5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2

 Michael S. Palmer
Old Apr 16, 2012 | 10:47 AM
  #9  
Silverback51's Avatar
Silverback51
Thread Starter
Race Director
10 Year Member
Active Streak: 30 Days
Community Builder
Loved
 
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 14,659
Likes: 40
From: Prescott Arizona
Default

Worked on it some more this morning and the gear case is broken. Need a new motor for that side.
Reply

Get notified of new replies

To Headlight Issue





All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:57 PM.

story-0
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!

Slideshow: How to Protect A Convertible Top: 10 DOs & DON'Ts

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-04-03 00:00:00


VIEW MORE
story-1
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!

Slideshow: The 10 most explosive Corvettes ever built based on power-to-weight ratio.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-20 07:23:03


VIEW MORE
story-2
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter

Slideshow: From C1 to C8 we compare every Corvette generation by the numbers.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-12 16:54:12


VIEW MORE
story-3
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time

Slideshow: Some Corvette pace cars became collectible legends, while others perfectly captured the look and attitude of their era.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-05-11 09:50:51


VIEW MORE
story-4
Top 10 Corvette Engines RANKED by Peak Torque (70+ Years of Muscle!)

Slideshow: Ranking the top 10 Corvette engines by torque output.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-05-05 11:58:09


VIEW MORE
story-5
Corvette ZR1X Will Be Pacing the Indy 500, And Could Probably Race, Too!

Slideshow: A Corvette pace car nearly matching IndyCar speeds sounds exaggerated, until you look at the numbers.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-05-04 20:03:36


VIEW MORE
story-6
Top 10 Corvettes Coming to Mecum Indy 2026!

Among a rather large group of them.

By Brett Foote | 2026-05-04 13:56:44


VIEW MORE
story-7
Top 10 C9 Corvette MUST-HAVES to Fix These C8 Generation Flaws!

Slideshow: the top 10 things Corvette owners want in the C9 Corvette

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-04-30 12:41:15


VIEW MORE
story-8
10 Revolutionary 'Corvette Firsts' Most People Don't Know

Slideshow: 10 Important Corvette 'firsts' that every fan should know.

By Joe Kucinski | 2026-04-29 17:02:16


VIEW MORE
story-9
5 Reasons to Upgrade to an LS6-Powered Corvette; 5 Reasons to Stay LT2

Slideshow: Should you buy a 2020-2026 Corvette or wait for 2027?

By Michael S. Palmer | 2026-04-22 10:08:58


VIEW MORE