Immediate Help needed, Headlight Gear Replacement
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 2,015
Likes: 1
From: Deerfield beach Fl
Immediate Help needed, Headlight Gear Replacement
Hi Guys,
I replaced my headlight gear last week and it was working fine for the past week and today (of all days when I need to have it certified working by a police officer for the citation I got) it decides not to work. What is happening is it will go up fine, but when it goes down, it doesn't stop and the motor is locking up tight. I then go and unscrew it manually until it loosens and then it will pop up, when I put it down it goes and locks again. What I need to know is how to fix it, specifically what causes the motor to stop at the top and bottom of the throws?
Thanks in advance for a quick response.
Rob
I replaced my headlight gear last week and it was working fine for the past week and today (of all days when I need to have it certified working by a police officer for the citation I got) it decides not to work. What is happening is it will go up fine, but when it goes down, it doesn't stop and the motor is locking up tight. I then go and unscrew it manually until it loosens and then it will pop up, when I put it down it goes and locks again. What I need to know is how to fix it, specifically what causes the motor to stop at the top and bottom of the throws?
Thanks in advance for a quick response.
Rob
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 2,015
Likes: 1
From: Deerfield beach Fl
Well I took the gear case apart this afternoon. When I did it last week, I had the gear but no replacement rubber bumper and mine was completely in pieces. So I used silicone to act as the bumper and that got destroyed hence the problems I am having. Does anyone know where I can buy the bumper piece or what I can use in place of the bumper?
Thanks
Rob
Thanks
Rob
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 174,312
Likes: 1,216
From: Here
Pilot of Beer Force 1
Tampa Regional Coordinator
CI 4-5-6-7-8 Veteran
Organizer St. Jude Fundraiser
I believe in the Beer Fairy
Bumper?? You mean the stop for the mechanism??
I had a similar problem....pull the assembly and look at where the arm stops...you may have to remove the nut and crank the mechanism around to change the location of the gear (1 or 2 rotations should do it)..if you know what I mean....I did this and it seems to have solved my problem..sometimes they would pop -up and others just the one side....real PITA...if I twisted the **** just 1 turn it would allow the light to pop up...I guess I had it out of sync a bit causing it to go down to far....
good luck....and to think people are beotching about the new C6 headlights..
they have obviously never done this 
I had a similar problem....pull the assembly and look at where the arm stops...you may have to remove the nut and crank the mechanism around to change the location of the gear (1 or 2 rotations should do it)..if you know what I mean....I did this and it seems to have solved my problem..sometimes they would pop -up and others just the one side....real PITA...if I twisted the **** just 1 turn it would allow the light to pop up...I guess I had it out of sync a bit causing it to go down to far....
good luck....and to think people are beotching about the new C6 headlights..
they have obviously never done this
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 2,015
Likes: 1
From: Deerfield beach Fl
I mean the rubber piece that fits into the gear. It was totally destroyed and I used silicone instead to fill in the area and that lasted about a week. What else can I use?
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 174,312
Likes: 1,216
From: Here
Pilot of Beer Force 1
Tampa Regional Coordinator
CI 4-5-6-7-8 Veteran
Organizer St. Jude Fundraiser
I believe in the Beer Fairy
hmmm...I think you are screwed....maybe, maybe you can get a piece out a wrecked C5 at a junk yard
Le Mans Master
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 7,064
Likes: 18
From: Arizona
There is a fiero guy on ebay. He sells the complete kit for rebuilding. He may part with just the bumpers
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WDVW
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WDVW
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 2,015
Likes: 1
From: Deerfield beach Fl
well I was really trying to find a solution without having to get the stupid bumper. Obviously the silicone wasn't strong enough to act as a replacement for the rubber bumper, but there must be some other material I can put in there.
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 174,312
Likes: 1,216
From: Here
Pilot of Beer Force 1
Tampa Regional Coordinator
CI 4-5-6-7-8 Veteran
Organizer St. Jude Fundraiser
I believe in the Beer Fairy
Originally Posted by ICULUKN-C5
There is a fiero guy on ebay. He sells the complete kit for rebuilding. He may part with just the bumpers
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WDVW
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...spagename=WDVW
he will return calls even on Sunday and be happy to take your CC info over the phone..he ships 2 day priority
www.rodneydickman.com
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
10 Most Common Corvette Problems of the Last 20 Years!
Joe Kucinski
5 MOST and 5 LEAST Popular Corvette Model Years in History!
Joe Kucinski
2027 Corvette Buyer's Guide: Everything You Need to Know!
Joe Kucinski
10 Things C8 Corvette Owners Hate (But Won't Tell You)
Joe Kucinski
10 Best Corvettes Coming to Barrett-Jackson Palm Beach 2026!
Brett Foote
Every Corvette Grand Sport Explained! (C2, C4, C6, C7, & C8)
Joe Kucinski
Grand Sport & Grand Sport X Launch Alongside All-New 535hp LS6 V8!
Michael S. Palmer
5 Reasons Bad Drivers Crash & 5 Ways to Avoid a Costly Mistake!
Joe Kucinski
7 Bolt-On Upgrades From Extreme Online Store to Level Up Your C6 Corvette
Pouria Savadkouei
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 2,015
Likes: 1
From: Deerfield beach Fl
Yea, but since I have the gear already, and the fact that I'd rather have more than just one source with replacement parts, I'd like to find another way to do this bumper. I was thinking of using RTV gasket maker, do you think that would work?
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 2,015
Likes: 1
From: Deerfield beach Fl
well I bought some RTV and if the fix I did last night with silicone adhesive doesn't work then I will try the RTV, if that fails, I'll just buy the brass gear. Its quite obvious to me at least that its not the gear that is the problem, its that rubber bumper that gets destroyed, once it gets destroyed, its just a matter of time before the gear takes too much abuse and gets destroyed. I'd hate to see what happens to a headlight motor when the rubber bumper in one of the brass gears goes. Chances are it will be new motor time. I think if someone just started selling an extra tough rubber bumper and people replaced their bumpers with those, the gears would last longer than the car. My rubber bumper in my gear wasn't just broken or damaged, it was completely chewed up into little pieces. the gear probably suffered more damage because of all the rubber floating around in there than anything else.
Team Owner
Joined: Dec 1999
Posts: 174,312
Likes: 1,216
From: Here
Pilot of Beer Force 1
Tampa Regional Coordinator
CI 4-5-6-7-8 Veteran
Organizer St. Jude Fundraiser
I believe in the Beer Fairy
If the brass gear fails you have much bigger issues.....I doubt that will happen....so did you order the parts yet??
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 2,015
Likes: 1
From: Deerfield beach Fl
not yet, I may pop open the housing today and see how my homemade bumper is holding up. I reattached the motor with just two screws for now, the two screws with no nut on them so I can take it out real easily and check, that last screw with the nut on it takes more time than everything else combined.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,119
Likes: 0
From: Spring Branch Texas
From my many attempts a "mickey mousing" repairs, I have come to the conclusion that 99 times out of 100 it costs me more time, effort and money to fight with my "mickey mouse" fix than it would have been to repair it correctly in the first place. Don't waste your time with "alternative repairs". Fix it right! (Just my humble opinion)!
