firebird5134

I had so many problems with my drivers side headlight from the day i bought the car. What I found out was somone had already tried to replace the gear once. The gear kept stripping because the cover wasnt secured back in place causing the gear to move and strip.

I fabricated a metal plate to put on top of the cover to really hold it down securely. I havent had a problem in over 9 months with the headlight!

lovin myls1

iTrader: (4)

While I highly recommend Brent Franker to order from,I do believe the other guy selling gears has a better idea.He includes a cross brace(which I used to) support the worm gear,check it out.

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Formula413

iTrader: (1)

Where can you buy this kit?

ed's-byrd

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lovin myls1

iTrader: (4)

The link in post 24 doesn't look like it includes the T brace.But you can get it here:http://www.rodneydickman.com/n113.html

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

Excellent thread. I used a flat blade screwdriver and a rachet and whacked those tabs down tight so the motor would not wiggle at all. This was on the car as I didn't want to cut the wires, etc...

Superglue also works well to seal it up as long as any old glue is removed. If your motor keeps binding and wanting to pop the cover off you can either force it stay on or the other only real solution is to replace the whole motor with a new one. The sensor that cuts power to the motor monitors the amperage and when the motor arm hits it's stops the binding causes a surge in amps and the sensor then cuts power to the motor. If the motor is old it seems to screw up the sensor and it keeps applying power to the motor when it shouldn't. One of my motors literally slice a white plastic stop in half. I had to replace the stop and bend the tab so it wasn't just hitting the tip of it. The brass gear just made it stronger. As a result the cover kept popping off every few months. Finally I just replaced the whole thing and that fixed it for the last 2 years now.

repost:
Just spreading the word as I just found out about these. HELP (motormite, Dorman) makes a replacement plastic headlight gear for about 15 bucks. Autozone can order them, but it may take a few days to get them in. Part # 42400.



https://www.dormanproducts.com/cgi-b...tegory_list=:0

Napa may also carry them, but under a different part number.

lily0782

alright guys - I'm not half as crafty as yall, but I've been having the same problems...gears grinding - awful noise - had them replaced last november, and the problem is back again...

is it possible to just have it so they stay permanently up and still work? I just want to have light when i drive at night. Let me know..

lily0782@hotmail.com - I may not check back on this page for a while...any help is appreciated.

thanks guys.

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

Sure, when they break up just turn them on and pull the 2 fuses out under the hood and they will stay up and won't act goofy with the remote. That's what we all pretty much do until their fixed.

Black FormulaLs1

iTrader: (10)

i think there is a conversion to a non pop up headlight but its like $1500 and i cant justify that for freakin headlights...

JasonWW

iTrader: (2)

Yes, it's $1000 poorly made and put's less light to the road than the stock headlights.

Formula413

iTrader: (1)

Plus it just looks wierd:

LS1

LT1

FAST LS1

iTrader: (2)

After this happened to me, I also purchased Brent's brass gears.

Then it happened again, but it was due to the gear cover popping off


The long term fix is multifaceted.

1) You need the brass gears.

2) You need a bracing plate to bolt over the plastic thrust plate for the gear.
I plan to fabricate them out of 1/4" thick aluminum. Also use the bolts so
it can't bow out, like it can when the plastic plate is only glued on.
I also plan to use plastic 5 min epoxy this time to seal up the plastic plate,
and lots of it.

3) You need to brace the motor to plastic gear box junction. This will take a
fabricated ring to completely eliminate the possibility of the tabs "breathing"
and opening back up, letting the worm gear come out of contact.

Hopefully with all that it will last for a couple years and not break the next weakest link in the chain.

caf48180

ok so I have 98 firebird and tryed the 180 degree turn and I no longer have a grinding noise but the lights go up when I turn them off and go down when i turn them on...what did I do wrong and how do I fix this!!!thanks

frack

iTrader: (4)

I did mine with the brass gear from Brent Franker. I have worked with JB weld and Epoxy enough to know there was no way that cheap **** was going to work. I used 4 very small very well placed self tapping srews and I have not had a problem since. By far, I am not saying that it will last for ever, I know it won't, but it was still the best buy.

El Gran Papa

caf48180,
Is it possible you got the elbow in the arm backwards?

bearcatt

iTrader: (41)

Interesting thread.

Sajah

I replaced the gears in both headlights one worked fine the other had to be replaced again about 6 months later, I found out that there is also a small bearing that sits at the tip of the worm gear that is pivital to making it work. This bearing is .025 in size and difficult to find. You can imagine being a woman and calling machine shops, parts stores and various other places asking if they have tiny *****!
Anyway, Ive got the motor working but now am having trouble with the re installation because the arm seems to be getting hung up and I can't figure out what the problem is. Any advice on this?