Hi all,

Long story short, post brass gear install both headlamps pop up normally, passenger side closes normally, driver's side slams down.

Long story

I had the ACA / HID combo and had an issue where the driver's side headlamp wouldn't pop up. At the time I had assumed the weight of the assembly stripped the plastic gears so I bought a set of brass gears and rebuilt the motors in the original factory orientation (washers, etc). Turned out I was just missing a bolt that had fallen out on the pop-up assembly, but since I had the gears, I did them anyways. When I put them back in, i had an issue where both headlights would pop up and slam down. At the time I had made the assessment that the worm drive / gear weren't working as expected so that's why it slammed down. I re-oriented the washers to position the gear differently and both sides went up and down as expected.

Ended up going through hell to get the ACAs working before I ripped them out. By the time I got everything apart and back together for a final time the driver's headlamp slams down on me now. I still need to get the cover adjusted correctly, but that's a separate issue.

My question is, where did I screw up, has anyone been here and if so, how'd they fix it? Does anyone have an exploded view of how the gears / washers / etc go on a 1999 assembly?

I've got a set of HIR bulbs I'd like to fit, so I figure I could do this all at once, along with adjusting the covers. It would be great to be able to drive the car again at night without worry about scuffing the paint.

 

Moved to C5 Tech.

 

I'm curious on this too. For me it is the passenger assembly which closes with a thud.

I am going to be tearing mine apart soon. I decided to step up to the RadioFlyer low-rise kit. I love night driving and I feel I just want the best combination - nothing against a well-installed ACA setup which remains two decades better than factory.

Forgive me for not bothering to search it out at 2am, but there is a thread on here by a guy who went about firming up his headlight assemblies so they don't bounce like mad when driving. There may be a solution in there. Not sure. But I intend to incorporate his design into my headlight assemblies when I do the RF kit. Seems a no brainer.

 

I have pointed many to the post i did last year. Still working great. I think it freaks out the purists. At least you could do my diagnostic.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ol-module.html

 

 

Have you opened up the motor yet? It is common for the plastic gears to fail. The fix for this is the brass gear from Rodney Dickman. I did the job on both of my motors and they have been happy for almost 6 years now. Pretty easy job to do. I'm sure there are a ton of threads on the forum with pictures and how-to.

 

Yes, this stated post-brass gear install as stated in the OP.

 

Have you checked how tightly secure are the bent retaining tabs that hold the motor to the gear case? It's possible they got loose when the gear was replaced.

If these tabs are too loose, the motor can move in relation to the gear case. This could create slop in the gear-to-worm engagement, causing premature gear failure due to wear, and perhaps also a brief gear disengagement at the end of the closing travel. This could cause the symptoms you are experiencing.

The tabs can be bent inward a bit by holding the motor on a vise and tapping the tabs in with a hammer and screwdriver or similar tool, until the motor is tightly secured to the gear case.

 

As an update, prompted by questions in another thread, I'm going to throw money at the problem and just buy new motors. They're not unreasonably expensive and I can likely resell my parts for a few bucks less than new gears and give someone a fun project.

My whole assemblies have so much bounce / play in them that I'm just done with it.

 

Did you check the idea I gave you above in Post 8 regarding the slamming?

Besides the original slamming, it could also explain the huge bounce/play you're reporting and it's a simple fix.

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