@$&€ing headlight motor!!
Printed From: West Coast Fieros
Category: Technical Topics Forum
Forum Name: Technical Questions and Discussions
Forum Description: Got a technical question about your fiero? ask it here.
URL: http://www.westcoastfieros.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2351
Printed Date: 27 April 2024 at 9:25am
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Topic: @$&€ing headlight motor!!
Posted By: Boxin' Robin
Subject: @$&€ing headlight motor!!
Date Posted: 06 March 2011 at 10:07pm
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Okay, long story short...my headlight motor (86 GT) was spinning
endlessly by itself a few months ago. So I figured the gear must have been stripped and promtly disconnected the blue wire. Today I got a rebuild kit from Rodney and tried to do it with a friend (a car guy). Well, over FIVE HOURS later we managed to follow all instructions and put everything back in. And guess what? Now it would not spin at all! Sounds like the motor is trying to turn but perhaps stuck. Is this because the inside of the motor halves (the gears) did not line up properly when we put them back together? Or the motor is fried? Or I should just leave it and keep the darn lights up permanently? So frustrating!! Five hours man...five hours :( |
Replies:
Posted By: Romeo
Date Posted: 07 March 2011 at 1:00am
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Well, one could figure out if it's gears or motors by trying to hand crank it up. If it cranks by hand, its the motor. If not, it's the gears. Also, if the motor is caught off-brush, it may not try to turn, although that seems unlikely. ------------- Never shift into reverse without a back-up plan. |
Posted By: Patrick
Date Posted: 07 March 2011 at 1:01am
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Well, at least it's not spinning endlessly anymore. Yeah, those headlight motors can be a real pain. On my '84 I've got one headlight that is hesitant to go up, and the other headlight is hesitant to go down. For awhile I was just leaving them both up most of the time, as I didn't want my Fiero to have the "blink" look going for it. Recently however, I've found if I flick the switch enough times, I can get both headlights to cooperate and go up and down. It's just a matter of time I realize before my luck runs out and I'm forced to tear into them (unless it's actually the relays which are acting up).
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Boxin' Robin wrote:
Posted By: Boxin' Robin
Date Posted: 07 March 2011 at 6:38am
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So I tried cranking the knob by hand. It is very VERY stiff now and the headlight barely move (if at all). Does this definitely mean the gears are not meshing properly inside the motor? Should I open it up and try to line things up again?
I'm sure it won't take five hours this time! Perhaps 2-3 hours haha 
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Posted By: Romeo
Date Posted: 07 March 2011 at 10:13am
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Sounds like there's interference somewhere, be it in the gears, or between the brushes and motor. Best bet would be just to pull it apart (Again) and check everything. Any excessive wear or gouging will be the indicator of where things are too tight. ------------- Never shift into reverse without a back-up plan. |
Posted By: Patrick
Date Posted: 07 March 2011 at 12:03pm
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That motor is geared down a lot, so yes, it takes quite a bit of turning to get the headlight to move. However, the knob should turn freely. Take it apart Robin, you've got something binding in there!
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Posted By: Dawg
Date Posted: 07 March 2011 at 1:45pm
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Yes and this time, test it before you put it all back together. The Dawg ------------- You dream it up....I'll make it |
Posted By: Boxin' Robin
Date Posted: 07 March 2011 at 1:51pm
| The rematch will commence immediately! I refuse to keep losing both in and out of the ring! Will try my best to get the car all prepped up for this Saturday's meeting! |
Posted By: Patrick
Date Posted: 07 March 2011 at 3:14pm
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Don't take too many head shots in the process! [EDIT] Or maybe I should've said... Don't get your headlights punched out.
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Posted By: Capt Fiero
Date Posted: 07 March 2011 at 3:58pm
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If all else fails take it to Dr. Fiero in north Delta, he rebuilt my 85GT headlight motors for me, I think it took him 15mins start to finish on each motor. (not including removal from the car as I did that. However that should only take about 20 mins per side.) ------------- Capt Fiero 88 Fiero GT 5spd V6 Eight Fifty Seven GT V8 5spd. |
Posted By: Boxin' Robin
Date Posted: 07 March 2011 at 4:18pm
Well if you count the beer, I took roughly 3 head shots last night while working on the motor. Maybe that's why it took 5 hours with no success 
And actually the headlight was already punched out by someone or something. It now has a brown band-aid covering the hole
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Posted By: Dawg
Date Posted: 07 March 2011 at 6:02pm
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Cross cross undercut....
------------- You dream it up....I'll make it |
Posted By: Patrick
Date Posted: 07 March 2011 at 7:20pm
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Jab jab roundhouse....
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Posted By: Romeo
Date Posted: 07 March 2011 at 11:54pm
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Feint feint CHUCK NORRIS.
------------- Never shift into reverse without a back-up plan. |
?Posted By: Boxin' Robin
Date Posted: 08 March 2011 at 7:22pm
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Good news!!! The headlight received a knock-out blow! It is now
working perfectly! Thanks to you all who recommended taking it apart and doing it all over again. I guess I didn't line everything up properly before I shut the two halves the first time around. This time it only took about 1.5 hour from start to finish. This comes from a guy who didn't even know how to properly check the oil half a year ago! You guys gotta be proud of me 
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Posted By: Patrick
Date Posted: 08 March 2011 at 7:42pm
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I betcha this time was minus the brewskis. Ya ya, we're proud of you!
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Posted By: Bassman
Date Posted: 08 March 2011 at 8:01pm
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Good job...I do have a Dickman brass headlight motor gear for that one day I'll have to rebuild...lol ------------- Brian (Bassman) 86 GT Fastback 3.2L 2013 Mazda3 Sport GS SkyActive [IMG]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u243/Bassman68/BassmanSignature.png"> |
Posted By: Boxin' Robin
Date Posted: 08 March 2011 at 8:41pm
One Canadian to get started. And one Canadian to celebrate 
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Posted By: Patrick
Date Posted: 08 March 2011 at 8:53pm
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Gotta love a patriot!
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Posted By: kharmata
Date Posted: 09 March 2011 at 9:17pm
Are these still available? How much $ thanks. Found em. $35 for each motor. Aluminum gear should be better than nylon(plastic) i think. More info on plastic replacement here = http://www.westcoastfieros.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?FID=1&TID=2361&PN=1&get=last - http://www.westcoastfieros.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?FID=1&a mp;a mp;TID=2361&PN=1&get=last Cheers ------------- Kevin 08GSXR1000 |
Posted By: Nexus
Date Posted: 16 March 2011 at 5:10pm
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how hard is it to replace the motors on these...mine goes up and down by hand but runs nonstop when plugged in...or is it a different problem for mine? ------------- Charlie 84 SE |
Posted By: Romeo
Date Posted: 17 March 2011 at 12:42am
Could be something simple like the relay. Have you tested it? If it is (And I strongly believe it is) it's an absolute cakewalk to do. ------------- Never shift into reverse without a back-up plan. |
Posted By: Boxin' Robin
Date Posted: 17 March 2011 at 8:30am
I had the exact same problem. It would go up and down by turning the knob, but would spin non-stop when plugged in. Opened up the motor and saw that the teeth on the gear were stripped. Not very hard to do, if you know what you are doing. If I could do it, anybody could do it! Took me 5 hours the first time around and only about 1 hour the second time around. |
Posted By: Nexus
Date Posted: 17 March 2011 at 1:12pm
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Ok I will start with the relay!!
I happen to have a spare from and Idea I started when i had a jeep...jeep is gone SO here comes the next dumb question!!! How do I test a relay? ------------- Charlie 84 SE |
Posted By: Romeo
Date Posted: 19 March 2011 at 1:02am
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Connect a multimeter to the voltage setting and backprobe the power-side of the motor (tan wire). Check with the switch off (Or "down"). Should be 0V. Hit the switch on, and it should jump to around 12V (Might deviate slightly due to resistance). http://pff.hostkansas.com/pffimages2/Headlight-Relay_3c.gif - Here's an electrical diagram to help you get your bearings, so to speak. ------------- Never shift into reverse without a back-up plan. |
Posted By: Romeo
Date Posted: 19 March 2011 at 1:05am
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As it happens, hotlinking is not allowed by their site. Go http://www.clubroadster.net/vb_forum/showthread.php?p=285710 - here, and look at the first post, second image. Click that, it'll pull up the electrical diagram. ------------- Never shift into reverse without a back-up plan. |
Posted By: Nexus
Date Posted: 19 March 2011 at 10:57am
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right on thank you very much!! ------------- Charlie 84 SE |
Posted By: Nexus
Date Posted: 19 March 2011 at 9:29pm
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OK so as it turns out I went out and hooked up the wires and the motor retracted the headlight that I had manually cranked up. I turned the lights on and the lights came up properly until it came to the end of the cycle. At this time the motor would keep running while it skipped gears endlessly. I removed the light assembly and notice green gear like plastic in the drain hole at the bottom of the assambly...I'm guessing it's my gears!!! maybe my limit switches are sticking also...it'll come apart and get fixed so I will rebuild this unit with the Rodney metal gear I have and put it back in the car. As it turns out, while I was playing with the headlights, the driver side didn't want to go up this time but I haven't put any thought into it for I'm sure it is a simple problem because it worked a couple of months ago ------------- Charlie 84 SE |