My driver side headlight motor has a mind of its own. Sometimes it doesn't go up and sometimes it doesn't go down. I have to turn the switch on and off a few times to get it to work. About a month ago it wouldn't go up after I washed the car. But it would only do it once. I think this happened twice. But know that it's cold it does it more. I washed the car on friday and it started, did it fri night and sat. Since sun it's been fine. Anybody got any ideas? It's not gears, or bad motor. I think it's a bad connection somewhere. Just wanted to know if anyone else had this problem to piont me in a direction. I haven't had a chance to get into it yet. Thanks in advance.

 

Check all the electrical connections, especially the grounds. That's my best guess.

--VIP1

 

My 2000 WS6 is having the same problem but it's the passenger side. I replaced the motor last fall with a brand new GM motor. The install was very easy except the work space was kind of cramped and having to bend over for at least 45 minutes really did a number on my lower back. I only got to drive the car for about one month or so after the install before I had to put her in storage. Late winter came and my fiancee wanted to drive the WS6 since we had a few weeks with sun and 50 degree temperatures. Since there was no call for bad weather in the near future according to the weather forecast, I took the WS6 out of storage. My fiancee drove it continuously for like a month. She went a a friend's house to visit; who happens to live about an hour away and she insisted on taking the T/A. I told her it wasn't a good idea; what if the weather turned for the worse and snowed? There wasn't any snow tires or extra weight in the hatch; so it wouldn't be good. You know women...she wouldn't listen and took the car anyway....
Well I am the type that says "I told you so", and it snowed on her ***. She stayed the night and it was great weather that afternoon while she was driving there and even decent but cooler that evening. She woke up the following morning and there was several inches of snow on the ground. She had to drive home and then being a stubborn woman that she is, she refused to put the T/A back in storage. She continued to drive it when the roads were clear but still snowing.
After installing the new motoring the headlight work flawlessly, even after bringing the car out of storage. It worked fine all spring until a month and a half ago. When it began to act up it would squeek really loud when lowering the headlight. Then a short time later the headlamp began to intermitently fail to work. Occasionally when my fiancee would turn on the headlights the passenger side wouldn't go up and she would have to cycle the switch a couple times to get the lamp to raise. The opposite would occur also; headlight wouldn't go down when the lights were turned off. This situation go worse and worse as days passed. At first I thought maybe the linkage needed lubricated since it squeeled so loudly when it did decide to go down; so I generously lubed all the linkage with spray white grease but that had no effect what so ever. A few weeks passed and finally the lamp won't work at all. I thought maybe the motor was defective and wouldn't you know it, I can't find my receipt from the Chevy dealer to get a replacement under parts warranty; at that point I was really pissed because I didn't want to drop another $100+ for another motor due to my dumb *** for losing the receipt.
Yesterday(Sunday 6-6-04) I decided to pull the headlight motor out and see if the motor was even trying to work or not. The harness for the headlamp itself and the headlamp's motor is incorporated into the same weather-tight connector. The motor has two wires only that are inserted into the male end of the connector and both wires have a metal connector on each end that protrude through the weather-tight connector. The female part of the weather-tight connector has corresponding female metal connectors inside the weather-tight connector. When I disconnected the weather-tight connector and pulled the motor all the way out I immediately noticed several corrosion on both wire's contacts(male ends). I then looked at the mating female part of the weather-tight connector and it too was severally corroded where the motor's contacts were. I haven't disconnected the lamps wires yet to see if they too are corroded; I assume they aren't since both the low and high beams are not having any issues illuminating. Apparently the motor would work occasionally due to the fact that the electrical current was being affected by the corrosion. Since I had the motor completely out I tested it to make sure it was ok. I applied a12 volt power source to the motor's electrical leads and it worked perfectly; so now I don't have to spend another $100+ for a new one. All I have to do is replace the wire contacts and it's good to go. So check the contacts before you replace the entire motor. ALSO IF YOU DO REPLACE THE MOTOR....DON'T BE AN *** LIKE ME AND LOSE THE RECEIPT! I plan to wrap the entire so called weather-tight connector in electrical tape the then shrink wrap the entire connector to make sure it's WEATHER-TIGHT!
Sorry the post was so long. I tend to get carried away with descriptions. I don't know if GM offers just the contacts. In case GM doesn't sell just the contacts I will remove the entire connector and shrink tube all the wires.

Goodluck!

 

I had the same problem.... some water had gotten into the plug and screwed up the connetcion... I cleaned the contacts up with a wire brush and some alcohol and it works mint now...

 

I am going to attempt to remove the corrosion off the contacts before I replace them. I am going to get one of those small wire brushes that look like a toothbrush. A GM technician told my fiancee to use the small wire brush and dip it in PURE ACETONE (the type used for artificial nails for women) to remove the corrosion then use a little electric grease to help conduct the current(I think the grease is called dy-electric grease...spelling??) If this doesn't work I will just cut off the contacts completely and use a single mating contact to join the wires. The contact I will use crimps the **** out of the joining wires. After they are linked I am wrapping the connection with electrical tape and then sealing it with shrinkl tube.