Grinding motor sound underneath driver's headlight

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Jul 1, 2019 | 04:15 PM

L76

Thread Starter

Instructor

Joined: Jan 2001

Posts: 227

Likes: 0

From: Las Vegas, NV

Grinding motor sound underneath driver's headlight

Hi Guys,

Every time I shut off the car there is a "grinding motor sound" (it sounds kinda like a computer controlled electric pump that is trying to drain something that is not present... my not be what it is... but that's what it sounds like) coming from beneath the drivers side headlight. It runs for about 10-15 seconds and then stops. I don't know what it is. The headlights work flawlessly (up/down/on + off). Any ideas/thoughts?

P.S. Bill Curlee sent my a PM about a year ago on the topic, but I can't find the content. @Bill - thank you. I went AWOL on this forum for a while. I'm baaack!

Cheers,
L76

Jul 1, 2019 | 04:24 PM

feeder82

Safety Car

Joined: Mar 2005

Posts: 3,759

Likes: 1,218

From: Wisconsin

The headlight gear repair is buried in the DIY sticky at the top of the forum post #2 in this link
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...l-in-here.html

Jul 2, 2019 | 03:00 PM

My Vette Life

Safety Car

Joined: Mar 2015

Posts: 3,638

Likes: 245

Gear is now stripped. Auto zone has them for $13 plastic and use the same rubber piece as it will be fine.

Jul 2, 2019 | 06:34 PM

STRMLNE

Melting Slicks

Joined: Oct 2002

Posts: 2,515

Likes: 441

From: Arizona

Stripped gear. Common problem.

Jul 2, 2019 | 09:19 PM

davidbeaver

Instructor

Joined: Apr 2018

Posts: 110

Likes: 24

From: Siler City, NC

Does your car still have the A.I.R. pump on it? That pump is located under the left front headlight and will make noise when going bad. It usually makes noise when you first turn the key on from a cold start though. I would think a stripped headlight gear would not allow the headlight to work properly as explain the OP.

Jul 2, 2019 | 11:05 PM

tblu92

Le Mans Master

Joined: Aug 2005

Posts: 5,375

Likes: 328

From: CA.

St. Jude Donor '13-'14-'15

If it is NOT the headlight motor it is the electric air pump as mentioned near the drivers side headlight
If this is the issue i would not repair it as it can be costly--Simple solution would be to get a mail order tune from the forum and have the tuner TURN OFF the AIR pump and all the appropriate codes
In reality it will have NO affect in your engine's performance OR the cleanliness of your emissions
Plus a mail order tune is normally on;y $150

Jul 3, 2019 | 03:02 AM

L76

Thread Starter

Instructor

Joined: Jan 2001

Posts: 227

Likes: 0

From: Las Vegas, NV

Thx Guys. How could it be headlight gear if: 1) the sound occurs during daytime when headlights don’t even operate, 2) the headlights operate perfectly, 3) the sound occurs even if I switch ignition into “on” position (but don’t start the car), then next turn key to “off” position... and the sound still occurs?

I’m hoping this is the problem, because AIR pump repair/option sounds costly. Anyone do AIR Pump repair with thoughts on this?

cheers,
L76

Jul 3, 2019 | 08:58 AM

davidbeaver

Instructor

Joined: Apr 2018

Posts: 110

Likes: 24

From: Siler City, NC

tblu92 said it best when he said to get a tune and have it turned off. There are several forum entries out there that cover the topic and explain what the secondary AIR pump does.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...emissions.html

It is something that can be left in place or completely removed which is what I did and then had a tune done to the car to remove the check engine light that gets generated by it when it does fail. One way you can test to see if it is the AIR pump that is causing the noise is by removing Big fuse 51 in the panel by the battery and that will kill the pump. If the noise goes away, you know what it is.