jaxgator

So, I come to work this morning, park and go through my normal routine of shutting down. I get to turning off the headlights (haven’t shut the car off yet) and after they close I hear what sounds to be a grinding type of noise. Sounds like it’s coming from the passenger headlight. I turn the headlights back on and the noise stops. I close the headlights again and the noise comes back. Shut off the car and pull the key and the noise stops. Put the key back in, turned on ACC, turned on the headlights and everything’s fine. Turn off the headlights and I get the noise again. Turn the key to OFF and as soon as I remove it, the noise stops.

I did a search here (that feature really does suck but that’s another story) and did find a thread (surprisingly) talking about the issue possibly being the nylon gears and how to go about replacing them. I’m guessing it is the gear but for the life of me couldn’t understand why the headlight just didn’t open altogether and why it continued to make a noise after completely closing.

Anyway, I began searching for these gears throughout all of the forum vendors and came up empty. The only thing I could find was a bronze headlight kit for $47.95 at Corvette Central…



Now, my questions…

Does my description sound familiar to anyone (everyone )? If so, does it sound like it is probably these gears?

If I were to use this kit, would the bronze gears transfer any future damage to some other, possibly more expensive, part?

Does anyone know of any other alternative less than $50 per headlight? The OEM parts perhaps? Nylon’s got to be cheaper than bronze, right? Please provide a link if you’ve got it.

Thanks in advance for looking and any helpful responses.

CAJUNY2KC5

David: I'm in the process of fixing my SECOND headlight gear. The brass is better because the nylon ones wear out and cause the problem.

If you want, lets talk Saturday at the autocross about both of us getting them then working out installation. Several club members have done this and it isn't supposed to be too, too hard.

EDIT: I just called Eckler's and can get my discount. If you want - I can order for both of us.

Let me know.

sempi

You may want to check out www.rodneydickman.com
Go into the online shopping, and click on 'Electrical', and you will find the brass gear for $39.95.
Rodney makes these, and I think, that he sells the kit to other vendors.
Great quality, and Rodney is quick to ship, and easy to work with.
Replacing the one in the Vette is easier than the F-Body TA, and I have had to do both.
Eventually, the "machine-gun" effect at shut-down, will turn into the headlight not popping up at all, but the noise does go away.

Sempi

jaxgator

Hey Jim, sounds great. Go ahead and place the order if you don't mind. I'm guessing that you'll be ordering 4 kits then? I figure, if we are replacing one headlight, we might as well do both at the same time, right?

sempi: Thanks for that additional info.