Right Headlamp Problems on my 85
 

Hi, I'm new to the forums so ill throw some background into my question. I'm 17 years old, just graduated from High School and since I was 6 years old I have been saving up my extra money to buy a 85 Corvette, now I have one. My father has a 89 Corvette and we like to ride around together and what not but he doesnt know what to do about my problem so I have come here. I got my car about a year or so ago and now im have problems with the right headlamp motor. When I go to turn off my headlights and close the lights the doors with close and the left motor turns off as well as the lights, but the right motor makes a grinding sound as if it is not turning off or having the power to it turned off. It only does this in the off postion on the right side motor.

I have replaced the headlamp motor its self and it has not fixed the problem. I also replaced both the Isolation Relay (what the electrical schems call it in my shop manual) and I have also replaced the Right Side Actuator Relay. I dont know what else to do other then possibley the switch (except i havent a clue where it is...)? I was hoping that someone knows what the problem is and know how to fix it.
Thank you. - Rapt0r0

RE: Right Headlamp Problems on my 85
 

All that's left is the drive gears to replace.

Get plastic gears. They put less load on the tiny headlamp motor than the bronze gears do (so says a tech review in Corvette Fever mag).

RE: Right Headlamp Problems on my 85
 

So the bronze gears are whats causing this problem? I still dont quite understand whats wrong with the headlamp motor or with the system... Could you go into more depth about it?

RE: Right Headlamp Problems on my 85
 

What he means is that the gears are stripped in the headlight cover assembly, causing them to slip. I think the motor won't shut off because the switch doesn't get tripped and the motor thinks the cover is still up. Replace the gears. I have no opinion whether you should use brass or plastic.

RE: Right Headlamp Problems on my 85
 

Most people I know have replaced there gears with the bronze ones. I know what Corvette Fever printed but I would go with the bronze gears. Know one I know have had to replace any other parts on their light assemblies since replacing with bronze gears and some have used the bronze gears for years now.

RE: Right Headlamp Problems on my 85
 

ooo ok. so how much do this gears cost and where abouts can i get them? also would these gears have a name?

RE: Right Headlamp Problems on my 85
 

This might be what you're looking for, on the bottom of the page of the link. Plastic gears are on the next page.
http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....A0~~~~~A20~A11
Looks like plastic is$39.95 per set, and bronze is $89.95 per set. You might find them cheaper elsewhere.....this is as far as I looked. I would personally recomend getting both even if only one is striped, there may be damage you can't see.

RE: Right Headlamp Problems on my 85
 

Ok thank you guys. I will try this and hopefully it will fix my problem. Because its real hard to impress the ladies opening the hood and plugging in the motor to bring it up.[8D] So thanks again. - Rapt0r0

RE: Right Headlamp Problems on my 85
 

Raptoro? Hmm.:eek:

RE: Right Headlamp Problems on my 85
 

[sm=interesting.gif]

RE: Right Headlamp Problems on my 85
 

Nope nvm. Wrong raptor. Hehe my bad. I meant to roll eyes at a man named reptard.:DLee check your mailbox. You need to talk to irish mac and tell him to LET ME BACK ON cuz Mr meanie said BLAH to someone.[:'(]Hope you understood what I Just said. Sorry off topic but yes go with the bronze gears they are much stronger than the crappy stock ones.:)Yay another teenager. Im about to turn nineteen.

RE: Right Headlamp Problems on my 85
 

Ok. So i finally got the gears in and replaced them in the actuator motor. Didnt fix the problem... It still does the same old thing... Power is not being shut off the the motor when it is in the closed postion. Does anyone have any other ideas on how to fix this? As of now i have replaced....

The Actuator Motor. The isolation relay. The Actuator relay. The Gears in the Actuator motor.

Idk what to look at anymore other then the light switch in the dashboard... Does anyone know if this is it or if its something else (hopefully easier then taking the dash out)?

RE: Right Headlamp Problems on my 85
 

bumpity bump bump...

RE: Right Headlamp Problems on my 85
 

Check the switch in the dash.

RE: Right Headlamp Problems on my 85
 

an easy way to TRY and fix the problem is to undo the battery making the computer
"relearn" when it is hooked back up after about a minute. It worked on friends trans am.
[align=left] [/align]

RE: Right Headlamp Problems on my 85
 

Did you look at the worm gear when you replaced the gears? I'm no expert, and somebody correct me if I'm wrong, butif nothing else,even if the motor doesn't shut off, shouldn't it atleast stall out?You say the motor keeps running which leads me to suspect either the worm gear or the bushing at the end of the worm gear is worn out.

There should be a bushing at the end of the worm gear, if it's worn out, the worm gear may be kicking to one side and continue to run, otherwise it should just stall.

Once a motor hits the limit, a bumper inside the headlight motor slows down the motor to a halt. Once the gear inside the motor housing can no longer turn, the worm gear at the end of the motor will move up, which in turn triggers a limit switch which turns off the current.

It just baffles me that the motor continues to run even after the headlight reaches it's limit.

Go here and read the article, it should give you some idea about what might be wrong. I knowthe articlepertains to a Fiero, butthe headlight motorsare almost identical to the C4 corvettes.

http://www.fieros.de/en/articles/headlight.html

RE: Right Headlamp Problems on my 85
 

your problem is the switch in the dash if you try to move it "real slow like" forward until the lights go down then pull it back the motor will stop turning , you need to replace the switch in the dash to fix the problem

Headlight motor shows no life
 

I hate to bring up a dead thread but my right headlight got stuck trying to go to close position and i didnt notice till next day. Well now headlight motor is dead. I have juice going to motor but motor shows no life. Would it be gearing or is the motor cooked and be easier to get new one?

I would suspect you have a bad motor and will need a replacement. If you have voltage to the motor but no movement or hum (is it warm?) then it's probably bad. You can check the windings with an ohm meter. If it shows open then you burned out the motor.

well drivers side works fine in and out car, the passenger works when out of car and its jumped from 12v but not in car, is there a relay to replace or inline fuse somewhere to check

Easy to check in the car, measure for voltage at the motor when you turn on the headlights. If voltage is at the motor and it doesn't move, you have a bad motor probably. There are three relays for the headlights, one for each side, which you can swap to isolate the problem. If the problem moves to the other side, you have a bad relay. there is a third isolation relay which supplies ground to the system and switch but I would suspect that would affect both motors. Could be a connection going from the isolation relay to your inop motor. Again, use a meter to isolate and trace back to the cause.