C5 headlight problem
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 299
Likes: 2
From: North Carolina
C5 headlight problem
One of my friends has a 2000 model with a headlight problem. He says, "when the lights come on, the left light pops uo ok, but when it retracks, it makes a loud buzz for several seconds. The right light seems to be ok." Has anyone had this problem and know a fix? Thanks for your help.
Last edited by Dads C5; Aug 5, 2009 at 09:11 PM.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 1,217
Likes: 5
From: Stark County Ohio
Most likely the OEM nylon gears are worn. Replace with Rodneys gears. Rodney includes a "T" bracket that helps hold things together. (especially required for 2000-2004 models)
See these links -
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...post1562077756
http://www.rodneydickman.com/n113.html
POST #2 & #27
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1817090
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See these links -
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-g...post1562077756
http://www.rodneydickman.com/n113.html
POST #2 & #27
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/show....php?t=1817090
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Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,164
Likes: 71
From: MA
Sounds like the gears are stripping. You will need to rebuild your gear set. Do a search for vendors and how to.
Check how tightly your headlight motor is attached to the headlight gear box. Relieve some of the pressure from the linkage by using the manual headlight raiser. If it is loose that is why the gears got stripped. The motor is crimped on with tabs. You will have to remove the motor and gearbox to crimp it tighter.
Check how tightly your headlight motor is attached to the headlight gear box. Relieve some of the pressure from the linkage by using the manual headlight raiser. If it is loose that is why the gears got stripped. The motor is crimped on with tabs. You will have to remove the motor and gearbox to crimp it tighter.
Team Owner
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 36,836
Likes: 244
From: Dear Karma, I have a list of people you missed.
St. Jude Donor '08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16
Btw, this particular problem does NOT involve replacing any gear(s), and from your description, I would say that just replacing a gear will NOT solve his problem. The drive-motor bell-crank arm is "overrunning", or bypassing the nylon stop and is coming back around again. In other words, the drive arm is making a "360" and going back to where it was before.
The fix is fairly inexpensive and not particularly difficult. The motor must be unbolted and a spacer washer placed on each of the three mounting bolts, to reposition it so this does not keep occurring. The repair also involves replacing one (or more) of the white nylon stops that the arm comes to rest on.
HTH
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 11,150
Likes: 890
From: South Western Ontario
HTH - the "buzz" sound is likely the worm gear slipping on the plastic gear. I bet he'd agree it sounds more like a quiet machine gun or a rapid clicking. This is typically a stripped gear.
A quick test/fix is to take the arm off the motor and rotate the motor 180 degrees with the manual **** before putting it back on. That moves the stripped spot to a different location instead of being stripped right at the spot where the motor stops.
He never mentioned the headlight popping back up which is the spacer problem.
Peter
A quick test/fix is to take the arm off the motor and rotate the motor 180 degrees with the manual **** before putting it back on. That moves the stripped spot to a different location instead of being stripped right at the spot where the motor stops.
He never mentioned the headlight popping back up which is the spacer problem.
Peter
