Grinding headlight
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 270
Likes: 0
From: Northridge CA
Grinding headlight
My driver's side headlight actuator is grinding when turning off the light, so I suppose my plastic gear is stripped. Anybody know if this trick for the firebird to turn gear 180 degrees would also work on the C5??
http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headl....htm#FreeGuide
http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headl....htm#FreeGuide
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 883
Likes: 3
From: wilmington DE
Re: Grinding headlight (NoRice4Me)
That sounds like a reasonable idea. You can find out by gaining access to the gear, marking it and then flipping the lights to see where the mark ends up. That'll tell you for sure if you have enough teeth available to make this work. Good luck.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 1999
Posts: 3,452
Likes: 3
From: Spring, TX
Re: Grinding headlight (stevenll)
That probably wont work for long. In the 98's you can remove the motor and open the gear assembly. I was going to try this but I found that my gear was cracked all the way across and had a huge missing chunk. So I had to replace the entire motor.
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Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 270
Likes: 0
From: Northridge CA
Re: Grinding headlight (NoRice4Me)
It WORKS!!! The actuator only uses half of the gear. Just follow the instructions to remove the headlight assembly (as if to install the Euro lights). You'll have access to the actuator shaft and headlight arm. Use a 10mm wrench to remove the nut, pull off the arm, rotate the shaft (by turning the manual ****) 180 degrees, and reassemble. BTW, a 10mm thin-walled deep socket will greatly help the headlight disassembly process!
It took me 1.5 hours, but I was going real slow since i've never taken apart the headlight before, and the last half hour was spent trying to line up the headlamp cover (use a sharpie to mark the torx screw positions!!! it not just the side to side gaps, but the HEIGHT of the cover too.). I'm sure I could do this in half an hour next time. Too bad I don't have a digital camera, I was going slow enough to take good pics.
If anyone is having this problem, you have to try this first since my dealer quoted me nearly $400 to replace the actuator. :eek: :cheers:
[Modified by NoRice4Me, 4:40 PM 11/7/2002]
It took me 1.5 hours, but I was going real slow since i've never taken apart the headlight before, and the last half hour was spent trying to line up the headlamp cover (use a sharpie to mark the torx screw positions!!! it not just the side to side gaps, but the HEIGHT of the cover too.). I'm sure I could do this in half an hour next time. Too bad I don't have a digital camera, I was going slow enough to take good pics.
If anyone is having this problem, you have to try this first since my dealer quoted me nearly $400 to replace the actuator. :eek: :cheers:
[Modified by NoRice4Me, 4:40 PM 11/7/2002]
Racer
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 414
Likes: 0
Re: Grinding headlight (NoRice4Me)
No Rice,
If you get around to replacing the stock gear with the brass gear as shown at that Trans Am Link, let us know how it works out. The brass gear solution sounds like a good idea if it fits.
[Modified by ProDesign, 9:47 PM 11/7/2002]
If you get around to replacing the stock gear with the brass gear as shown at that Trans Am Link, let us know how it works out. The brass gear solution sounds like a good idea if it fits.
[Modified by ProDesign, 9:47 PM 11/7/2002]
Cruising
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 11
Likes: 0
From: Inverness FL
Re: Grinding headlight (NoRice4Me)
Wow. Small world :D
I hadn't been to this forum in a long time but last night my buddy who has a 2001 Corvette was telling me his car was using a quart of oil every 2,000 miles so I thought I'd come here and scan the topics real quick and see if this is a problem or if his car was an isolated case. As I'm scanning the first page I see this topic and thought... "Hmmm... I didn't know these newer Corvettes had problems with the headlights too... let me look at this topic and see if the problems are similar to the Firebirds." When I clicked on the topic the first thing I see is a link to my page. LOL! :D
Anyway, glad the free fix seems to work for you guys too!
Also, for those who have had the headlight apart, is the gear the same as the Firebird plastic gear pictured on this page...
http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headlightfix/index.htm
and more specifically...
http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headl...ightgear20.JPG
It would be pretty cool if the brass gear for the Firebirds works for the C5 Corvettes as well!
I notice I'm probably one of the longer time members here with the lowest post count :D
I hadn't been to this forum in a long time but last night my buddy who has a 2001 Corvette was telling me his car was using a quart of oil every 2,000 miles so I thought I'd come here and scan the topics real quick and see if this is a problem or if his car was an isolated case. As I'm scanning the first page I see this topic and thought... "Hmmm... I didn't know these newer Corvettes had problems with the headlights too... let me look at this topic and see if the problems are similar to the Firebirds." When I clicked on the topic the first thing I see is a link to my page. LOL! :D
Anyway, glad the free fix seems to work for you guys too!
Also, for those who have had the headlight apart, is the gear the same as the Firebird plastic gear pictured on this page...
http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headlightfix/index.htm
and more specifically...
http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headl...ightgear20.JPG
It would be pretty cool if the brass gear for the Firebirds works for the C5 Corvettes as well!
I notice I'm probably one of the longer time members here with the lowest post count :D
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 270
Likes: 0
From: Northridge CA
Re: Grinding headlight (ProDesign)
If you get around to replacing the stock gear with the brass gear as shown at that Trans Am Link, let us know how it works out. The brass gear solution sounds like a good idea if it fits.
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 270
Likes: 0
From: Northridge CA
Re: Grinding headlight (Brent94Z)
Brent, great page!! I can't thank you enough. :cheers: I was going to let the dealer fix the problem until I ran across your fix! I really kick myself for not borrowing a digital camera to take some pics, but I didn't even think it would work the same. This will help a lot of C5 owners save some $$$. It's really easy to do, and if you have skinny arms, you should be able to do this without removing the headlight assembly, just the bezel (although, you will have to feel for the gear arm and nut). :D
Cruising
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 11
Likes: 0
From: Inverness FL
Re: Grinding headlight (NoRice4Me)
Cool! :)
If anybody can confirm if the Trans Am and Corvette use the same gear, please let me know! Also, I do know the Fireo is different as are the 82 to 92 Firebirds. They are close but different enough the brass gear won't work for anything other than the 93 to 02 Firebirds that I'm aware of... and with any luck, it'll work for you guys too :)
Enjoy!
If anybody can confirm if the Trans Am and Corvette use the same gear, please let me know! Also, I do know the Fireo is different as are the 82 to 92 Firebirds. They are close but different enough the brass gear won't work for anything other than the 93 to 02 Firebirds that I'm aware of... and with any luck, it'll work for you guys too :)
Enjoy!
