I went to drive my '01 coupe last night,and it was the first time in a while that I'd actually driven at night. When I rolled the headllight switch forward, nothing happened. So I tried again, and only the passenger-side headlamp came up. On the next try, both finally popped up, but I heard a weird sound.

So I turned the headlamps off again. They dutifully snapped shut, but the motor on the driver's side unit--after the headlamp closed--continued to whir, making sounds like a coffee grinder. I popped the hood and pulled the little rubber cap off the do-it-yourself ****, and sure enough, when I turned off the lamps, that little **** continued to spin for about five seconds, even though the lamp already was closed.

So, do I have to make that dreaded trip to the dealer today so Bubba the mechanic can have a whack at it, or is there something simple I can do to remedy this myself?

 

I have just had exactly the same problem occur....

Thought it was the cooling fan at first.
Anybody have any advice?

ttt

Jim

 

Unfortunatly, I think youz guyz have the same problem I have. I now have a new RT headlite motor assembly sitting on my workbench, ready for install. Apparently there is a nylon gear inside that wears out and GM doesn't make bits and pieces to fix this thing. Fortunatly I got one from Dal at Van Deveer Olds for 124.00......best price I've seen.
Dals email: lockitup@bright.net

 

Same problem here....gonna get it fixed under warranty before December.....damn I hate taking my car into the dealer :U

 

I'm with you, Pewter C5.

While I was waiting to see if anyone responded to my post, I went ahead and scheduled an appointment with the dealer for today at 1:00 MST. Looks like I made the only choice available--replace the whole motor. The car's still under warranty, so I guess I'm doing the sensible thing in letting the dealer fix it. Yes, I'm nervous. Hurl some prayers and positive thoughts my way about 1:00 if you think of it.

I think the service writer at the dealership thinks I'm insane. I told him I was nervous and that I'd be seriously ticked if there's any damage to the car, but he gave the usual speech about how careful they'll be, yada yada. I hope they are.

So wish me well!

 

The actuator motors have nylon/plastic gears. They strip out very easily. Since you guys are under warranty then by all means get it fixed that way. I bought my actuator from Ken Fitchner Chevrolet for around $120 plus shipping.

OK for the DYI'rs out there be very careful if you ever manually raise or lower the headlights b y twisting the ***** on the back of the motors. If you go the wrong way or twist them tight then you can damage the gears. Once you start having this problem fix it ASAP. Eventually the gear will jam usually in the down position.
Then you are seriously going to have a PIA time to fix it. You have to remove the nose of the car to get to it or if you have someone with very small hands and a 7.5mm or 6.5 mm crescent wrench get at the motor. Basically if you raise the lights then remove the bezel and then the headlight cover. Unbolt the housing at the hinge then remove the motor. If it is stuck in the down position then you need to find someone with very small hands and have them take the bolts off the motor's gear housing. Two of them are easy but the bottom one is a finesse job that I lacked and had to have the wife do. Usually you can then clear out the gear pieces and raise the lights and follow the advice above.

I am looking forward to the C6 and no more pop-up headlights! :boxing

 

Hi all,
FYI- The 97's & 98's have a motor you can get into and replace the nylon piece, 99's and up DO NOT(money maker!). It is a HUGE P.I.T.A and should have been corrected in the design stage!

Steve

 

Add me to the list, too. My driver's side lamp motor continues to run after it retracts and makes that gawdawful grinding noise. Guess I'll order the motor/actuator from Ken and change it myself since I'm out of warranty. What a PITA for sure!

 

That is a good price. Best I've seen is at GMPartsDirect's website: $113.67 plus shipping. http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/

 

A followup for anyone interested. I took my car to Brown & Brown Chevrolet at their new Superstition Springs dealership on Friday. The service writer, Mark (recommended to my by my parents), allowed me to drive my own car to the repair bay. (There was an eager beaver teenaged car jockey nearby who seemed bummed that all he got to do was put the paper floormat and plastic seat cover in my car.) My service writer also brought out my mechanic, Heath, so I could meet him. Great guy. Mark tried to diplomatically explain to Heath that I was quite concerned about avoiding damage, but I just butted in and told Heath that what Mark was too kind to say was that I AM A FREAK. We had a good laugh.

So I drove my car back to the garage, and Heath showed me a set of double doors that went into the customer waiting area. Although there were "Employees Only" signs all over, he told me I could feel free to come and go to check up on his work.

Which I did, several times. My headlights would still open, so Heath sat on a stool by the car's nose and worked on the unit with the lamps up. He had to take off black plastic shroud, then the painted cover, then he took out the headlamp itself. Man, that motor is a pain to get at! What a weird design. Definitely glad I didn't try to tackle this myself.

I had my GM bra on the car at the time, for which I was thankful. Heath was careful, though, and put me at ease. Once the repair was done, the driver's side headlamp with its new motor raised just a smidge faster than the passenger side. Heath offered to replace the other motor just to see if they'd move at the same speed, but I declined. Why borrow trouble?

Oh--and my OEM battery kicked the bucket during the repair, so I got a new battery out of the deal. One more thing: Heath noticed that the fit of the painted cover wasn't quite right, so he adjusted it a bit when he reinstalled it.

Anyhow, it was a surprisingly good experience. Anybody in the East Valley here in metro Phoenix would do well to look up Mark and Heath at Brown and Brown if they need a little TLC for their Vette.

 

Same thing happened to me.
Dealer replaced it with a non-op motor so it's now in the shop getting the replacement motor replaced.
It was extremely embarrasing to close my headlights, it would make that LOUD buzzing sound for 5-10 seconds, so I shut the headlights before I parked or looked around like I didn't know where the sound was coming from (didn't work...)

 

Sure is nice to read a good dealer experience story for a change. Glad your lights are repaired and working properly again.