Headlight motor issue
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,409
Likes: 34
From: St. Louis Missouri
Headlight motor issue
Did a quick search and couldn't find this issue. Headlight goes up and down fine, but motor continues to spin after headlight down, like the down stop for the motor is broken or missing. Any ideas on the fix?
All the external stops are still there. Does this mean the internal gear is broken? I thought when the plastic gears broke the Headlight would not go either up or down or both.
All the external stops are still there. Does this mean the internal gear is broken? I thought when the plastic gears broke the Headlight would not go either up or down or both.
Last edited by waupachino; Sep 29, 2017 at 07:49 PM.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 7,021
Likes: 46
From: enterprise al
St. Jude Donor '08
Sounds like a stripped gear.. my passenger headlight does it when it closes.. makes an annoyingly loud grinding sound for a few seconds after it shuts.. I’ve got the aluminum gear kit, just ain’t swapped it out yet
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 3,532
Likes: 79
From: pueblo co
need to replace your bigger gear in your headlight housing i would not go with the metal gear's as for this reason your worm drive gear in the event your light get's stuck trying to open there is a chance it could strip your worm gear which there is not a replacement that i am aware of atm....you can buy the dorman replacement gears from autozone for less then 10 bucks total ..
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 3,275
Likes: 739
From: Miami FL
It seems you probably have a broken plastic gear in the headlights.
Get a kit like this one (pay attention because there are 2 different kits: one for "97 to early 2000" and another for "late 2000 to 2004") and follow these step-by-step directions. You'll save money and they will last forever
You might need these as well (the rubber bump stops).
There is a TSB, that calls for shimming the driver's side motor. The parts needed for this are included in the above mentioned kit.
Get a kit like this one (pay attention because there are 2 different kits: one for "97 to early 2000" and another for "late 2000 to 2004") and follow these step-by-step directions. You'll save money and they will last forever
You might need these as well (the rubber bump stops).
There is a TSB, that calls for shimming the driver's side motor. The parts needed for this are included in the above mentioned kit.
Race Director
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 14,137
Likes: 2,984
From: Iowa
St. Jude Donor '03 thru '26
It seems you probably have a broken plastic gear in the headlights.
Get a kit like this one (pay attention because there are 2 different kits: one for "97 to early 2000" and another for "late 2000 to 2004") and follow these step-by-step directions. You'll save money and they will last forever
You might need these as well (the rubber bump stops).
There is a TSB, that calls for shimming the driver's side motor. The parts needed for this are included in the above mentioned kit.
Get a kit like this one (pay attention because there are 2 different kits: one for "97 to early 2000" and another for "late 2000 to 2004") and follow these step-by-step directions. You'll save money and they will last forever
You might need these as well (the rubber bump stops).
There is a TSB, that calls for shimming the driver's side motor. The parts needed for this are included in the above mentioned kit.
I've purchased from Rodney twice (two different C5s) and he has great customer service and fast shipping.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,409
Likes: 34
From: St. Louis Missouri
Thank you all for the advice. This forum has always been a wealth of knowledge. I read where spun the motor 180 degrees to operate on the other half of the gear. I may try this to buy me sometime while waiting for new gears and the time to replace.
Drifting
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 1,496
Likes: 353
From: Little Rock Arkansas
Did a quick search and couldn't find this issue. Headlight goes up and down fine, but motor continues to spin after headlight down, like the down stop for the motor is broken or missing. Any ideas on the fix?
All the external stops are still there. Does this mean the internal gear is broken? I thought when the plastic gears broke the Headlight would not go either up or down or both.
All the external stops are still there. Does this mean the internal gear is broken? I thought when the plastic gears broke the Headlight would not go either up or down or both.
Continuing to rotate when closed likely means the gear is missing teeth. As power is continuously applied to the worm gear when it gets to that point it simply spins more than it should until it contacts teeth on the gear again, which is why it sounds like it's still moving when turned off.
You can flip the gear around, but to be brutally honest if you're going to go through the motions of removing the headlight motor to flip the gear you might as well just go ahead and replace it. It's $50~ which is not a lot of money.
My most recent headlight gear replacement I made a thread on it;
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ick-guide.html
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,409
Likes: 34
From: St. Louis Missouri
So I tried the quick fix of disconnecting the lift arm and spinning the motor 180 to work on the good side of the gear. That didn't work so the gear must be completely shot. My concern is that the Motor is a little loose also, which I read at this point could be a big contributing factor as to why the gears got stripped and without making the motor secure, it could strip the new gears even if they were metal. Has anyone dealt with the motor being loose?
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Drifting
Joined: Mar 2013
Posts: 1,496
Likes: 353
From: Little Rock Arkansas
The mechanism is all internal sans the pivot arm. If the motor is slightly loose on the housing or the pivot arm that is not going to have an overall detrimental factor on the motor unless it's the original plastic gear and it's already damaged. At worst it'll just mean that there will be more wear on the limit plugs or the headlight won't fully open/close.
The motor itself is held onto the housing with three bolts. Two go through the motor directly into the headlight gear metal mount and the third one, the furthest back, is a pass-through bolt with a nut. The two that hold the bracket directly tend to hold the most brunt of the force from what I've experienced.
The nut for the pass through bolt and the pivot arm nut is 10mm. The hold bolts are also 10mm.
The motor itself is held onto the housing with three bolts. Two go through the motor directly into the headlight gear metal mount and the third one, the furthest back, is a pass-through bolt with a nut. The two that hold the bracket directly tend to hold the most brunt of the force from what I've experienced.
The nut for the pass through bolt and the pivot arm nut is 10mm. The hold bolts are also 10mm.
Race Director
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 18,236
Likes: 36
From: Haymarket VA
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10
So I tried the quick fix of disconnecting the lift arm and spinning the motor 180 to work on the good side of the gear. That didn't work so the gear must be completely shot. My concern is that the Motor is a little loose also, which I read at this point could be a big contributing factor as to why the gears got stripped and without making the motor secure, it could strip the new gears even if they were metal. Has anyone dealt with the motor being loose?
the flip 180* trick still opens up the motor and flips the gear 180* FYI
Last edited by MBVette; Oct 3, 2017 at 10:41 AM.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,409
Likes: 34
From: St. Louis Missouri
So I ordered a brass gear kit. Hopefully all will go smoothly. It seems like a fairly simple process and I can get my hands in there to remove the bolts.
I did notice that the new GM AC Delco replacement motors come with a plastic cover that is fastened on with screws instead of just glued on. It was temping to just buy new, but at $194.79 and still having plastic gears, I went with just the gear at a 4th of the price.
I did notice that the new GM AC Delco replacement motors come with a plastic cover that is fastened on with screws instead of just glued on. It was temping to just buy new, but at $194.79 and still having plastic gears, I went with just the gear at a 4th of the price.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 3,275
Likes: 739
From: Miami FL
...My concern is that the Motor is a little loose also, which I read at this point could be a big contributing factor as to why the gears got stripped and without making the motor secure, it could strip the new gears even if they were metal. Has anyone dealt with the motor being loose?
From Post 28 in the link I provided above:
Another thing - be sure and check how securely the bent retaining tabs hold the motor to the gear case. If it's too loose, it could create slop in the gear-to-worm engagement, causing premature gear failure due to wear. The tabs can be bent inward a bit by holding the motor on a vise and tapping the tabs in a bit with a hammer and screwdriver or similar tool.
Last edited by GCG; Oct 3, 2017 at 03:55 PM.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,409
Likes: 34
From: St. Louis Missouri
Another thing - be sure and check how securely the bent retaining tabs hold the motor to the gear case. If it's too loose, it could create slop in the gear-to-worm engagement, causing premature gear failure due to wear. The tabs can be bent inward a bit by holding the motor on a vise and tapping the tabs in a bit with a hammer and screwdriver or similar tool.
Today 09:51 AM
Correct, I recall reading the above. I removed the Motor this evening and disassembled it, pretty simple process, I didn't even have to remove the Headlight cover. Got all the old grease cleaned out and the bonding surfaces scraped clean. I made sure to do the above and tapped the tabs a bit with a punch and hammer. The Motor to gear case is no longer loose at all. Now I'm just waiting for the parts to arrive. Should be as simple as reassembling and waiting to dry to install.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 3,275
Likes: 739
From: Miami FL
Today 09:51 AM
Correct, I recall reading the above. I removed the Motor this evening and disassembled it, pretty simple process, I didn't even have to remove the Headlight cover. Got all the old grease cleaned out and the bonding surfaces scraped clean. I made sure to do the above and tapped the tabs a bit with a punch and hammer. The Motor to gear case is no longer loose at all. Now I'm just waiting for the parts to arrive. Should be as simple as reassembling and waiting to dry to install.
Correct, I recall reading the above. I removed the Motor this evening and disassembled it, pretty simple process, I didn't even have to remove the Headlight cover. Got all the old grease cleaned out and the bonding surfaces scraped clean. I made sure to do the above and tapped the tabs a bit with a punch and hammer. The Motor to gear case is no longer loose at all. Now I'm just waiting for the parts to arrive. Should be as simple as reassembling and waiting to dry to install.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,409
Likes: 34
From: St. Louis Missouri
The new gear came yesterday and went together without issue. Took less then 15min to install and is back to working perfectly. It went so easily that I ordered another one and will be doing the passenger side as preventive maintenance at my leisure since the process is fresh in my head. Thank you all for your input.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,409
Likes: 34
From: St. Louis Missouri
So I did the passenger side as preventive maintenance. I realized the motors for left and right are the exact same body/motor and the only difference is the side the shaft for the lift arm exits. So technically you could set up the motor for either left or right once it's apart.
Instructor
Joined: Jun 2014
Posts: 236
Likes: 53
From: New Zealand
Out of curiosity, is the brass or aluminium gears the better option?
I replaced both mine out with brass gears after this exact problem happened on the drivers side a couple of years ago.
I've heard some people say that the motor could wear out quicker on the brass gears, and that the aluminum ones are better since they are lighter? Curious to know if theres any truth to this.
I replaced both mine out with brass gears after this exact problem happened on the drivers side a couple of years ago.
I've heard some people say that the motor could wear out quicker on the brass gears, and that the aluminum ones are better since they are lighter? Curious to know if theres any truth to this.
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,517
Likes: 159
From: Lafayette Louisiana
Yep probably stripped gears. I put the brass gears in mine a couple of years ago. No issues. There are no stop switches on headlight doors. HCM is a timer and maybe senses increased current draw when doors hit up/down stop.
Motor does stop after a second or so, right?
Motor does stop after a second or so, right?
Last edited by UM Rebel; Oct 18, 2017 at 11:53 PM.
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,409
Likes: 34
From: St. Louis Missouri
Out of curiosity, is the brass or aluminium gears the better option?
I replaced both mine out with brass gears after this exact problem happened on the drivers side a couple of years ago.
I've heard some people say that the motor could wear out quicker on the brass gears, and that the aluminum ones are better since they are lighter? Curious to know if theres any truth to this.
I replaced both mine out with brass gears after this exact problem happened on the drivers side a couple of years ago.
I've heard some people say that the motor could wear out quicker on the brass gears, and that the aluminum ones are better since they are lighter? Curious to know if theres any truth to this.