Short story I’ll soon be getting my dads ‘99 coupe. I’ll put in a new clutch, rebuild transmission, torque tube and some go fast parts.

One of the biggest ‘issues’ he said is that the drivers side headlight will only go up if you raise the hood after having used the lights and rotate the manual dial a bit to relieve pressure. At some point he had put in the brass gears. I did some searching and found people having similar issues but couldn’t find much on what to do to try and resolve it? Anyone have something for me or some better search terms than I have thought of?

Thanks

 

You might have damaged or missing bump stops. The way the headlights work is not based on predetermined positions. When the headlight doors open or close and they reach the end of their travel, they press against the corresponding pair of rubber bump stops. As a result the current through the headlight motors increases and that is sensed by the Headlight Door Control Module, which in turns cuts power to the motors.

If there are missing or damaged bump stops, the motor might keep working longer than really needed, which could result in over torque. If that happens, the next time the motor is operated it would require more torque to perform the action. That would mean more current than normal and the possible intervention of the Headlight Control Module, shutting again the motor before the door actually moves.

Having to manually relief the pressure in order for it to work is consistent with this.

I would check all rubber bump stops (4 per side) and if you need replacements you can order them from here.

Also, there is a TSB regarding them, that calls for shimming the driver's side motor.

There are 4 rubber bump stops per headlight assembly: 2 for "Close" and 2 for "Open". Check the following pictures to see where they are located.

CLOSE


OPEN

 

This comes up often....just saved them for future use. Thanks.

 

Not to hijack the thread! Could you show me a pic of the actuator arm with the light is fully open and closed? I took my headlight assemblies out and now they could not open and close all the way

 

Thanks a lot, I will check them immediately once I get the car to my house.

 

Let us know how it goes