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Headlights go up and down by themslefs. Help

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Old Oct 26, 2004 | 10:29 PM
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Default Headlights go up and down by themslefs. Help

ok here is my problem. Just went out to the store and when i went to turn off my headlights i hear the driver side headlight motor continues to run for like 10sec after i turn off the lights(i have a ta by the way). So im thinking crap the gear is striped. I turned the lights on and it works fine but everytime i turn them off the motor still runs. Now here is the kicker, when i go and set the alarm the headlights lift up, i hear the horn beep like normal than the headlights go back down. They never turn on. What the hell could cause this problem. Its like my car is now winking at me when i set the alarm.. Please help Was wondering if it could be the pcm screwing up/maybe the alarm. Anyone ever seen this problem..
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Old Oct 26, 2004 | 10:32 PM
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your gear is stripped, everything you describe is perfectly nomral for a stipped gear.

my car is currently the same way, same side, same problem, but i have the motor disconnected so it does not jump and and down and grind the gear even worse

Ryan
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Old Oct 26, 2004 | 10:35 PM
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but why the hell would the lights go up and down when i set the alarm(alarm is the stock one)
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Old Oct 26, 2004 | 10:37 PM
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the headlight control module that GM uses, is a crappy design, and even with a parking light flash (lock or unlock the car, flashes the parking lights) , it checks the status of the motors, to see if they are down. With a stripped gear, the module does not detect the load its looking for, and cycles the lights to make sure they are down.

once it goes down, it continues to grind the gear for a few seconds, becuase it has not sensed the high current spike when the motor goes to its stopped position. (due to the stripped gear)

Hope this helps.

if you want more info, search ls1.com and "slow" as the user name, i have lots of posts there about this problem

Ryan.
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Old Oct 26, 2004 | 10:39 PM
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yup headlight gear is stripped... freaked me out the first time it happened, 2nd time I knew what to expect... 3rd time made me wish for non popup headlights....
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Old Oct 26, 2004 | 10:43 PM
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ok this sounds much better, odd as that may sound. Im not so pissed that they striped cause i seen many,many replies to that. What did freak me out is the pop up/down of the lights with the alarm. Well there is some good news, one member of the boards had metal gears made for this problem. So now it looks like i have to find this person...
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Old Oct 26, 2004 | 10:58 PM
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You can try the 180 degree thing. The motor only uses 180 of the 360 degree circle for the gear. So, u can turn the gear to use the good side. I tried that first then awhile went by and the cover you have to pop off to get to it came off (i guess because i didnt use enough super glue) and it started it up again but it did not "wink" at me anymore when i lock the doors.
I went ahead and got the whole motor assembly off of ebay for 50 bucks and worked like a charm.
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Old Oct 26, 2004 | 11:04 PM
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you don't have to take it apart to do the 180 mod, just remove the arm, and turn the **** like 6 or so times

Ryan
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Old Oct 26, 2004 | 11:06 PM
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From: edison, nj
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think i might try that for now. anyone have any how to links to fix the headlight. I seen it once before but never saved the link.
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Old Oct 26, 2004 | 11:18 PM
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From: Minnesota
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Originally Posted by slow
you don't have to take it apart to do the 180 mod, just remove the arm, and turn the **** like 6 or so times

Ryan
This was over a year ago and i think the write up i found said too.. But, the more i think about it i guess your right.. Just turn the stub that locks into the arm like you said and should put the stripped out portion (hopefully) on the other side... Makes since...
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Old Oct 26, 2004 | 11:21 PM
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From: Minnesota
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Here is this.. http://www.rodneydickman.com/n113.html

and this: http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headlightfix/
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