I had the same problem with the brass gears, as well.

All I did was add a washer between the cover and the metal bracket where the driveshaft, so to speak, goes through. As soon as you tighten the three bolts holding the motor to the bracket down, that extra 1/16" is just enough to hold the cover in place. Pretty much the same thing as the laser-cut plate Rodney's talking about. Haven't had a problem since.

 

I have had the same problem, 3 times the pass side epoxy didnt hold i used the epoxy that came with the brass gear kit, the drivers side has held up fine but the other side kept failing withen a few weeks, iv had it off so many times i feel like an expert
I finally went to HD and bought a diff type of epoxy,(i can post what brand/type it is later).
I talked to Rodney late last fall about this and was about to send the motor for him to give a try at it,(but my last attempt has held up so far) the prob i see is there isn't alot of contact area for the epoxy to adhhere to, and then you press it together and some oozes out.
Ideally if there was a way to use external force to keep the side covers of the motor together that would be the best way.
When one upgrades to the heavy euro light assemblies that weight puts alot of stress on the motors.
One additional note, i too used a washer INSIDE the troublesome motor it took the play away from inside the housing that i think was putting internal stress and forcing the covers to seperate, you can actually feel/hear the gear moving to much side to side inside.

 

Rodney....glad to see you post. I have personally recommended you to several people here and have spoken with you on the phone....excellent customer service and support.

Hope you get this problem resolved soon.
Any of you all with problems I hope you hang in there with Rodney I am sure he will take care of you.

 

My covers came off as well. I ended going to the Zone and buying some better epoxy. Can't remember what I used though.

 

I replaced my right front gear with a brass one and used a few zipties to hold the plastic cover in place. I ended up just leaving the zip ties on for insurance and haven't had any trouble in a year. You don't even notice them unless you are looking for them!

 

I too have purchased this gear set, one unit at a time, through Ecklers. The gears work great and should have been OEM equipment.

My first repair did fail after about two months. This is not a technique problem, but one of the epoxy used (and the amount) during the repair.

rework of the repair was as follows: I thoroughly cleaned the case with acetone to remove all grease. New lube was placed onto the worm gear. Next, I used a very quick-setting epoxy known as Click Bond (Click Bond Inc. 2151 Lockheed Way, Carson City NV). It was first applied to the case halves and they were held together with clamps. After this cured, the clamps were removed and I then built up the two case halves with more Click Bond, overlapping the surrounding joints of the cases and filling in the hollow areas of the casing with this compound. This really did bond the two halves together (permanently). Any areas that looked "rough" after the repair were sanded smooth with a dremmel tool. I then painted the motor housings flat black.

They look great after the rework, but if the case splits again, it will not be at the seam!

Although this epoxy cures in two hours, I did let the motors set overnight before painting and re-installing them in the car.

This repair has now lasted for about two years and I am very satisfied.

 

I received the urathane samples on Saturday. I tried 2 of the urethane samples they sent me. The first one was a somewhat flexible type. It possibly had a slightly stronger bond than the epoxy I have been supplying. The second was semi flexible urethane. The semi flexible was fairly strong. In some areas the urethane actually was on both surfaces as the urethane broke in the middle. I actually heard some cracking of the plastic cover as I pried it off. This is most likely a better choice than what I have been supplying. I will have them send me some of the long open time epoxy tomorrow and I'll do a test first thing I get it on Tuesday. Once I do that I will switch to one or the other for the time being. Most likely I will still do the steel plate thing. I feel that is probably needed to make these motors last long term.

Thank you
Rodney Dickman
www.rodneydickman.com

 

Received the samples this morning of this slow set epoxy. It takes 3 hours to set and 24 hours to fully cure. I split open a used motor and epoxied the cover on this morning. I put a heat lamp on it to slightly warm it to ensure it cures in 24 hours. When I was splitting the side cover off an old motor I forgot to take the lifting arm off. It did that with the side cover removed. It had some rust so I had to do a lot of wiggling to get it off. That showed me something I had not noticed in the past. The motor housing is fairly flexible. That in it's self may be the single biggest reason the side covers like to come off. The housing probably flexes slightly each time the headlight gets full open and full closed. That may, in short order, make the epoxy fail. The epoxy I am using is said to be flexible. So tomorrow morning I'll see how well the adhesion is with this new epoxy. I will then include either this slow set epoxy or the urethane adhesive (which showed much better adhesion than the epoxy I have been supplying) with all my gear kits. I am still thinking the steel plate will need to become part of these kits. I'll probably work on that soon.

PS: Looking for a few bad late style plastic housing motors (2000-2004) if anyone has one or more that have not been opened for my R&D trails. I'll pay shipping on them plus something for them.

Thank you
Rodney Dickman
www.rodneydickman.com

 

And thanks Rodney for keeping us updated about the epoxy testing

 

Rodney,
It was a pleasure speaking with you, we thank you for your concern with this matter. I'm suprised as I'm sure you are as well, as to how many of us have had this problem, yet not many have contacted you directly. Please keep us informed with how you make out with the new epoxies and or covers.
Thanks
John

 

Yes, shame, shame, shame on you all for not letting me know about this. I would have looked into it right away.

Headlight motor in hand. Still thinking of new ideas.

Too bad they did not use the all aluminum motor assembly thru the end of the C5 run like the 97-99 and some early 2000 C5's had. That is a very high quality motor assembly. How many of those motors were tossed at GM dealers because they replaced them with the late style? If you want the best headlight motors that should never fail find a early set of aluminum ones and put the brass gears in them. Those should last forever.

Rodney Dickman

 

Rodney, Thanks for the updates. Am I understanding correctly that the early motors interchange with the newer models? No linkage problems etc? I may just buy a pair of them and switch if that's the case. I assumed electronics or linkage had been changed. Thanks for any info!

 

I only have an early aluminum motor here. I'm pretty sure the only possible difference would be the wiring attached to it. I can take a picture and send it to someone to compare it to the late style if need be. I would guess they do interchange because if you have an early C5 and take it to the dealer they replace it with the late style. So I would say they directly interchange. GM does not sell the early style as far as I know. Good used is all that would be available.

Rodney Dickman

 

Mine lasted close to a year then the cover worked loose and the actuator locked up.

 

If you want to email me a pic I'll try to compare them. I don't know if GM sells them but MidAmerica sells two different motors (one early year and one late model). I might call them and see what the difference is.

 

Results of the epoxy test:

I tried this morning to open the case on this test motor with this slow set epoxy. I would say it does hold better then the fast set urethane. Looking at both motor housings I did the test on I notice one thing. On the urethane adhesive test - on both the cover and motor housing - there was about 30% or so where the urethane did not adhere to the surface after I broke the cover off. The urethane completely separated from the plastic. On about 70% of the surface the break in the urethane was in the urethane itself. The adhesive was evident on both the cover and the housing. On the slow set epoxy there was about 90% coverage left on the cover and the housing. That means that on 90% of the bonding surface the epoxy broke in the middle leaving epoxy on both surfaces. So I will be supplying this slow set epoxy now with instructions to leave it sit for 24 hours. In these instructions will be a note to let me know if you suffer a glue joint failure. Hopefully I'll get to hear for all that have glue joint failures from now on. If I see more than a couple times I'll most likely go with the additional steel plate. I will probably make some of these steel plates now so I have some ready to go if I see more glue joint failures.

There may be better adhesives available in larger volume packages but I am limited to supplying these small individual use packets.

As always - any input on this is appreciated.


Thank you
Rodney Dickman
www.rodneydickman.com

 

I replaced one on the vert just about a year ago:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show...um_id=1&arch=1
I had the issue............did some homework and used this over 4 months ago w/o issue:



This is what I found when I disassembled..........and I made damn sure I cleaned my parts good prior to epoxy

 

I had the same probelm, so I reglued and added in the expoxy some fiber tape around the joints....purrrfect

 

Rodney,

I received the new rubber inserts and installed them,thank you. I fabricated thin stainless steel straps about 1 inch wide and drilled two holes in the ends and countersunk a hole for where the shaft sits, I don't see how this would be able to work itself loose now! I'll see how this works out.
Thanks
John

 

I've been working on a add on plate. I think it will work out well. What I could use is a picture of the headlight motor on each side. Especially the side with the cover towards the side the arm comes out of. These pictures need to be with the motor installed in the car. I am looking for any clearance problems. If you can not post them here send them to me. rodney@rodneydickman.com. Later today I should have a few pictures of this new plate. If anyone can post them let me know and I'll send them.