Appearance & Detailing Interior & Exterior Appearance Modifications

Trans Am Headlight Question

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Old Aug 15, 2007 | 03:40 AM
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I just bought a '96 Trans Am and I was wondering how do you leep the headlights from popping up when you just want the parking lights to be on? I have seen alot of trans am's here on ls1tech with their parking/fog lights on and their headlights down and it just bothers me when my headlights are up and they are not on.
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Old Aug 15, 2007 | 09:57 AM
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SCRWS6
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I`m not sure how the 97 and older work, but both mine work on the basis that until you switch the headlight to fully ON position only the parking lights work and the headlights won`t pop up until you do that. There is off__parking___On positions.
the weird thing is that to get the headlights lowered you have to turn them fully off. if you go from On to Parking the headlights stay up but the low beams turn off.
Maybe somebody with an LT1 will chime in..
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Old Aug 15, 2007 | 02:04 PM
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Mine did the same thing, but my headlight gear was stripped. Kinda like when I'd arm/disarm my alarm, they'd go up and down with the flashing of the parking lights... But this only happened because my gear was stripped.
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Old Aug 15, 2007 | 03:28 PM
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mine only pop-up when I turn the switch to the headlight on position. If I move the switch from off to the first position only my parking lights come on. I do have to turn the switch to the totally off position if I want to lower the headlights as mentioned above. I think its so you can clean then without them being on and draining the battery.

-Brian
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Old Aug 15, 2007 | 11:33 PM
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Your gears are stripped.. the headlights should not come up until you turn the **** all the way. If you turn it back one more it will keep the headlights up..

Replace the headlight nylon gears with some brass gears from ebay and your problem will be solved.. Been there, done that.
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Old Aug 16, 2007 | 05:56 AM
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Read my sticky in the Firebird Forums
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Old Aug 16, 2007 | 01:06 PM
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Originally Posted by HoLLo
Your gears are stripped.. the headlights should not come up until you turn the **** all the way. If you turn it back one more it will keep the headlights up..

Replace the headlight nylon gears with some brass gears from ebay and your problem will be solved.. Been there, done that.
Yeah, When I turn my headlights off, they go down and you could hear the headlight gears making an ugly noise. I'll be sure to get that fixed pretty soon! Thanks for the help man.
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Old Aug 16, 2007 | 06:40 PM
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http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1993-...spagenameZWDVW

That's what you need.. yes theyre' $40 a piece, but you'll never have to do it again for the rest of the life of the car
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Old Oct 16, 2007 | 01:10 AM
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Originally Posted by HoLLo
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1993-...spagenameZWDVW

That's what you need.. yes theyre' $40 a piece, but you'll never have to do it again for the rest of the life of the car
That may not be true. The motors can loosen up or the covers may pop off. If you keep having issues, then replace the motor.
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Old Oct 16, 2007 | 07:08 AM
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Originally Posted by JasonWW
That may not be true. The motors can loosen up or the covers may pop off. If you keep having issues, then replace the motor.
Yup, agreed. My cover kept popping off and finally lost it. Worked a while without it, but finally died. Replaced motor, lasted for 3-4 months then swapped the brass gear back into it and still working with cover on *knock on wood*
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Old Oct 16, 2007 | 07:12 AM
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I think it's only the passenger side cover that can be lost. The drivers side cover is sandwiched into place and I think a washer can be used to put a little tension on the cover to make it stronger. On the passenger side the cover would need a brace of some sort. I think I may take some scrap steel and drill a few holes in it to act as a brace as well as to make sure the cover never gets lost if it should pop off.
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Old Oct 16, 2007 | 07:24 AM
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Yep you are correct, it was my passanger side that was lost. It's holding now, I think it was the epoxy I used too since the first one didn't stick but this one "seems" to.
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