anolis

On my 1996 Trans Am whenever I turn off the head lights the drivers side light makes a loud grinding sound what should I do?

litch2004

iTrader: (1)

the plastic gear is striped out inside the motor. The cheapest of the way to fix this is to disconnect the lever from the motor and turn it 180 degrees so it will use the unused side of the plastic gear. The other way to fix this, more expensive, is to either replace the gear or replace the motor. I have done both replaced a gear and also done the 180 degree mod. Both work well.

hitmanws6

iTrader: (20)

i just got a new motor

litch2004

iTrader: (1)

A new motor is the best way to go but if money is an issue that isnt by any means the cheapest way to go.

shutzero

i did this, works mint

96formulabird

i just pulled out the gear and flipped it a 180 degrees. then put it back in. if you dont feel like forcking out the money for a motor, that is the best way. i did mine about a year and a half ago and had no problems as of yet.

anolis

Alright I'll go take a look at it and see what I can do to it, hopefully the previous owner hasn't already done the 180 degree gear flip method as described here.

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

A new motor actually isn't the best way to go. They are extremely expensive, and you run the risk of stripping them again. The 180 flip is nice if you haven't done it before, and it doesn't cost a thing.

The BEST thing to do is to replace them with a metal gear.

litch2004

iTrader: (1)

This is what i actually did. I had some made on the c&c machine out of marine grade brass

brucealmighty744

iTrader: (2)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuolI...layer_embedded
http://www.freewebs.com/headlight/headlightmotorfix.htm
http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headlightfix/

If those don't help you, I don't know what will.

anolis

Well I took the motor out and it looks like the previous owner has already done the headlight fix.. Looks like I'm gonna be buying a new headlight motor. :/

How long do they usually last for?

creepingdeath94

iTrader: (1)

I second the metal gear upgrade rather than just throwing a new motor in. New motors cost a couple hundred bucks sometimes depending on where you get them and quality. The gear upgrade is not only cheaper, but it will last longer.

anolis

How long do the actual motors themselves last compared to the gears?

litch2004

iTrader: (1)

http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headlightfix/
buy this brass gear over buying a new motor. The new motors still come with a metal work gear and a plastic gear. Eventually the plastic gear will wear out again. The ones from bfranker are brass just like the ones that i had made for mine. These will not wear out like the OE plastic gears that come in the motor.

And you say you took the motor out. Did you open it up and see the plastic gear or are you just guessing that they did the 180* mod?

anolis

I had to go ahead and just get the new motor as I can't drive without lights at night, and couldn't wait for the brass one to get here by mail. Once I get some money together I may go ahead and get a brass gear for the motor after fixing other problems... (this being a newly purchased car and all I've got a lot of catching up to do maintenance wise and all i.e., window motors, A/C is going out, antenna, paint job etc.)

As for the old motor. Yes I did take it apart, I noticed tooling marks on it as if it had been opened up before. It opened rather easily. The gear was worn on all sides and it was chewed up badly.

The new motor has a lifetime warranty so I figure I'll just take it back to Autozone when it stops working again and get another one?

camaroboricua

iTrader: (23)

How much was it at autozone? I plan on doing the gear replacement but im just curious as to how much it was.

shutzero

you could have manually put the headlight up until the brass gear came

RamAir95TA

iTrader: (2)

Oh man...total noob mistake!

anolis

yea, i imagine i could have :/ but at least it works now

camerory

iTrader: (10)

X2 on this, I replaced mine with an aluminum gear kit off ebay like $45 and it will never break again.