TA Healight Caught On Hood (Resolution)
02-22-2008, 09:34 PM
#1
TA Healight Caught On Hood (Resolution) Hey, Firebird guys!
I did a search on this, and found multiple threads from more than a year ago about this issue, and I didn't see the solution I discovered for headlights getting caught on the hood. However, if this has already been brought up, please bare with me.
One of my headlights got caught on the hood recently, and It puzzled me because it never happened before and always worked fine. I was prepared to have the headlight adjusted by a professional, but I was fortunate to have spoken with an honest individual who told me that the problem is simply the hood bumber spring. I took a close look, and the spring was cracked and recessed, allowing that side of the hood to hang lower. I adjusted the broken spring by hand, getting it to lodge in place so that it temporarily stands almost as high as the other one. Then, I closed the hood and vua-la! The headlight opens just fine!
Almost every thread I skimmed through from the search had posts saying that they adjusted the headlight motor, and my message is simply 'Don't!' If you're not familiar with the mechanism, there's a pretty good chance you'll cause a misalignment, which will lead to many possible complications, the most common of which is apparently grinding of the gears.
The next time this happens to any of you, check your hood bumber springs, which are located along the outer front sides of the compartment, not too far above where headlights are. Remember that the bumper spring only needs to be low for this happen, so don't dismiss the possibility just because you don't see cracks like I did.
I did a search on this, and found multiple threads from more than a year ago about this issue, and I didn't see the solution I discovered for headlights getting caught on the hood. However, if this has already been brought up, please bare with me.
One of my headlights got caught on the hood recently, and It puzzled me because it never happened before and always worked fine. I was prepared to have the headlight adjusted by a professional, but I was fortunate to have spoken with an honest individual who told me that the problem is simply the hood bumber spring. I took a close look, and the spring was cracked and recessed, allowing that side of the hood to hang lower. I adjusted the broken spring by hand, getting it to lodge in place so that it temporarily stands almost as high as the other one. Then, I closed the hood and vua-la! The headlight opens just fine!
Almost every thread I skimmed through from the search had posts saying that they adjusted the headlight motor, and my message is simply 'Don't!' If you're not familiar with the mechanism, there's a pretty good chance you'll cause a misalignment, which will lead to many possible complications, the most common of which is apparently grinding of the gears.
The next time this happens to any of you, check your hood bumber springs, which are located along the outer front sides of the compartment, not too far above where headlights are. Remember that the bumper spring only needs to be low for this happen, so don't dismiss the possibility just because you don't see cracks like I did.
