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I've been searching around trying to find a fix and nothing is working...
First note is that the passenger side works perfectly fine, problems are coming from the driver side headlight.
Here's our starting position.
When I turn on the lights, the driver side will close all the way and then pop back up to a full open position and the light itself works fine. When I shut the lights off, it will close all the way down without a problem, but then pop halfway back up. It stays there whether the car is started or not, or if the key is on or not. I tried changing over to the high beam setting already and it works exactly the same. I tried using manual operation to close it all the way and it won't close or open all the way using the **** for manual operation.
I was able to shove it closed once with my hand but there was a bit of a pop when I did that and after doing that the exact same problem persists except with a pretty loud grinding noise now....
Any ideas what to do or how much this will cost at a dealer to fix it?
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
C5 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
if you can't even open or close it manually then it sounds like the plastic gear inside the motor is trashed... pretty easy and inexpensive fix, you can get a set of bronze gears from rodney dickman and repair both motors and not have to worry about that happening again... the dealer will just replace the whole motor which will be expensive, I believe the motors are around $300 each plus the labor to fix it... the motor usually doesn't go bad it's the metal worm gear inside the motor that strips out the plastic gear that it engages, stupid design imo
if you can't even open or close it manually then it sounds like the plastic gear inside the motor is trashed... pretty easy and inexpensive fix, you can get a set of bronze gears from rodney dickman and repair both motors and not have to worry about that happening again... the dealer will just replace the whole motor which will be expensive, I believe the motors are around $300 each plus the labor to fix it... the motor usually doesn't go bad it's the metal worm gear inside the motor that strips out the plastic gear that it engages, stupid design imo
This sounds like good news to me! Is it even easy to do myself? Or something that I should take to a dealer?
One thing I should share though is that the manual **** works and I can lift it up and down, but it won't go all the way up or all the way down when using the manual ****. Does that still sound like a gear issue? Or make it more like a whole motor issue?
Thanks for the link to a good choice on the gear there. Did some searching for parts myself and found a motor and gear from autozone for pretty cheap.
The gear is made of nylon instead of brass but is extremely cheap, only $13. Do you think it would hold out pretty well or should I go with the brass? Also, at the link you provided, are returns accepted? Say I were to buy the brass gear and instead needed his entire kit or whatever he offers, or let's say it didn't solve my issue, can I return for a refund?
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
C5 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
more than likely you don't need the motor is what I'm saying... it strips the teeth off of the nylon gear so it either won't open or close your headlight... it is a pretty straightforward job, there is a write up somewhere on here if you search for it... personally I wouldn't waste my time replacing the gear with another nylon one that will eventually break again... if I'm going to fix it I would rather spend a little more, do it right, and be done with it but that's just me... if you say it's making a grinding noise then the motor is probably working, it's just that the gear is screwed up so that's why it sounds bad... just take your motor off the driver side and open it up, I'd be willing to bet that gear is trashed then you know that you will need it but I would be proactive and do both sides while you're at it
Dealer is going to install OEM parts and charge about $500 per light to fix. You could have to go back when the nylon gear fails again. You can do the brass gear fix your self - not hard - for about $50 and 1-1/2 hours and it is done for good. There are many You Tube videos to show how it is done.
more than likely you don't need the motor is what I'm saying... it strips the teeth off of the nylon gear so it either won't open or close your headlight... it is a pretty straightforward job, there is a write up somewhere on here if you search for it... personally I wouldn't waste my time replacing the gear with another nylon one that will eventually break again... if I'm going to fix it I would rather spend a little more, do it right, and be done with it but that's just me... if you say it's making a grinding noise then the motor is probably working, it's just that the gear is screwed up so that's why it sounds bad... just take your motor off the driver side and open it up, I'd be willing to bet that gear is trashed then you know that you will need it but I would be proactive and do both sides while you're at it
Ok, so I'll do both sides then probably just to get them done and out of the way. I'm sure if one's gone bad, the other is about to... I'll try to find out how to get to the motor and check to see if the gear is bad so I'll know for sure if that needs to be fixed.
Originally Posted by frsr06
Dealer is going to install OEM parts and charge about $500 per light to fix. You could have to go back when the nylon gear fails again. You can do the brass gear fix your self - not hard - for about $50 and 1-1/2 hours and it is done for good. There are many You Tube videos to show how it is done.
Cool, thanks for the numbers!
Originally Posted by frsr06
If you really don't want to spend any money you can reuse the existing gear - just turn it 180 degrees as the teeth on that side are not used.
The motor turns off when it reaches a preset elevated current that represents an increased torque from the motor as the bucket hits its stop bumpers. With a stripped gear the motor never reaches this elevated torque and times out causing it to reverse. Change the gear.
The motor turns off when it reaches a preset elevated current that represents an increased torque from the motor as the bucket hits its stop bumpers. With a stripped gear the motor never reaches this elevated torque and times out causing it to reverse. Change the gear.
Nice smiley choice at the end
Went ahead and ordered two repair kits from Top Down Solutions, came out to exactly $100 with the shipping (no tax, hurray! ). Saved hundreds so far. I will post back here with the results of the repair!
Went ahead and ordered two repair kits from Top Down Solutions, came out to exactly $100 with the shipping (no tax, hurray! ). Saved hundreds so far. I will post back here with the results of the repair!
Do one at a time so you always have the other one to look at for reference. Match mark the parts as you disassemble so you can get them back to the original position. If you have any issues with front end lighting this would be a good time to take care of that since when you remove the bucket all bulbs are easily accessible.
I would suggest going to Rodney Dickman's site and ordering the headlight stops, too. It is very common for the left side to go bad as opposed to the right, gear and stops (they wear out). When they wear the headlight will stay stuck down because the motor forces the gear linkage into the worn stop and the motor tightens itself up. I had this happen to me recently after I had replaced the gear a long time ago. I have never had a problem with the right side headlight. My car is an '03 and I guess the parts lasted the duration of the original warranty. I am the car's only owner. The repairs are simple to do. You can also reverse the stops but they will eventually be useless so you might as well do it all now.
I would suggest going to Rodney Dickman's site and ordering the headlight stops, too. It is very common for the left side to go bad as opposed to the right, gear and stops (they wear out). When they wear the headlight will stay stuck down because the motor forces the gear linkage into the worn stop and the motor tightens itself up. I had this happen to me recently after I had replaced the gear a long time ago. I have never had a problem with the right side headlight. My car is an '03 and I guess the parts lasted the duration of the original warranty. I am the car's only owner. The repairs are simple to do. You can also reverse the stops but they will eventually be useless so you might as well do it all now.
I would suggest going to Rodney Dickman's site and ordering the headlight stops, too. It is very common for the left side to go bad as opposed to the right, gear and stops (they wear out). When they wear the headlight will stay stuck down because the motor forces the gear linkage into the worn stop and the motor tightens itself up. I had this happen to me recently after I had replaced the gear a long time ago. I have never had a problem with the right side headlight. My car is an '03 and I guess the parts lasted the duration of the original warranty. I am the car's only owner. The repairs are simple to do. You can also reverse the stops but they will eventually be useless so you might as well do it all now.
Replace those bump stops first, it will probably solve your problem without having to replace the gears in the motors. It worked for me and this is a very common problem. You can fit your arm in there without having to take apart a lot of the headlamp, from above or from below, just do it reasonably fast before the 10 min or so when the headlight automatically closes and clamps shut on your arm.
Bucket Headlight Issue
). Saved hundreds so far. I will post back here with the results of the repair!
