why is my headlight motor still crapping out?

[Kronic Budz]

Ok well my front right headlight was making the stripping noise about a month go. I thought it was just the gear so i kept my lights always up untill i got the gear sent to me over ebay..

I just instllaed the gear yestreday and put some grease from the other one on it and stuck it in the right way and added alittle liquid grease. I hooked it back up and it worked perfectly. Then i got off work later that day and tried it and they would strip once they would close. I reassembled the motor part/gearing again today and put it back together properly and tried it again with the same results.


Wheni would try the motor to watch the rod spin with it not connected to the light it would spin the same time both ways(on and then off) and only when i would hook it up it would strip when closed.

Is my motor out?

-Noah

[Vanquish]

Re: why is my headlight motor still crapping out?

Rotate that gear 180* and see if it still happens. If it does, then yes your motor is going.....

Or, by slight chance the reason the guy was selling them on ebay is because the gears were already going anyways and you got ripped off.

[Kronic Budz]

Re: why is my headlight motor still crapping out?

no man. This gear was brand new and it has no wear at all. So even turning it which i did do when i tried fixing it the seond time wouldnt help.

****! my motor is going out!

[Vanquish]

Re: why is my headlight motor still crapping out?

Don't jump to conclusions just yet. Are the motors interchangeable on our cars? Or is it one specifically for the left, and one for the right?

If they can be swapped, swap the motor from the right to the left, and the left to the right and see if the problem still exists on the same side, or the other. If it still makes the grind on the side you changed it to, then yeah, it's your motor :(

But, I may have the motors for sale here soon for my 97 bird here shortly

[Kronic Budz]

Re: why is my headlight motor still crapping out?

ok well i dont no if i even want to go threw the hassle of trying to fix them by switching them. I have laready taken apart the motors and back together again like 5 times.

I am interested in a motor of your bird. PM me when u have those for sale.

-Noah

[dafirebird]

Re: why is my headlight motor still crapping out?

It may also be that the gear you sent for is not actually the correct size...

[slow6]

Re: why is my headlight motor still crapping out?

ok, well I dont know if I even want to go through the hassle of trying to fix them by switching them. I have literally taken apart the motors and put back together again like 5 times.

I am interested in a motor from your bird. PM me when u have those for sale.

-Noah

Which bay area are you from? Cali?

[black98V6]

Re: why is my headlight motor still crapping out?

I have a question for you, you say the gear is still stripping?
so when your headlights close the motor keeps running? if so are you sure it's the same one you replaced? are you sure it's not the one on the other side that is running?

if you are sure it's the one you replaced then check where the actual motor mounts to the housing that holds the gear. Is it loose? if the motor and housing aren't tight this will cause the gears to not properly mesh. If the gears aren't meshing tightly then what happens is after the lights close the force will move the large gear out of alignment with the screw/motor portion this will give the motor room to spin without resistance causing the motor to keep spinning once the light is closed.
the motor and the housing are held together by some metal tabs, mine was loose and with a small hammer and some needle nose pliars I was able to tighten them.
With your motor only spinning when the lights go down I am willing to bet that is your problem, see when they rotate up the two parts of the motor and gear mesh tightly causing it to stop after the light is open, the torque of the motor and slack cause them to separate when rotating the opposite direction.

Finally you need to be sure that if you do decide to swap the whole thing out that you are getting one to match your car, 97 and down have a different assembly and plugs than a 98 and up.

[PaganEgyptian]

Re: why is my headlight motor still crapping out?

One reason I am going to use Brass gears instead of Nylon. Never again will I have to deal with that again. They are a bit more, but are wirth it. The motor uses a thermal switch to shut off,once its up or down, the motor stays on fo ra few moments until it activates the thermal switch.... thats the reason the nylon gears strip out in the first place. Take a look at the article. Your worm gear could be loose inside the motor. its a good read for both 4th gen and 3rd gen cars.
http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headl...htgearfailures

[v-6dailydriver]

Re: why is my headlight motor still crapping out?

http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headl...htgearfailures

:bowdown: ...WOW!!!...great find/post pagan, thanks for the info....

[Kronic Budz]

Re: why is my headlight motor still crapping out?

I have a question for you, you say the gear is still stripping?
so when your headlights close the motor keeps running? if so are you sure it's the same one you replaced? are you sure it's not the one on the other side that is running?

if you are sure it's the one you replaced then check where the actual motor mounts to the housing that holds the gear. Is it loose? if the motor and housing aren't tight this will cause the gears to not properly mesh. If the gears aren't meshing tightly then what happens is after the lights close the force will move the large gear out of alignment with the screw/motor portion this will give the motor room to spin without resistance causing the motor to keep spinning once the light is closed.
the motor and the housing are held together by some metal tabs, mine was loose and with a small hammer and some needle nose pliars I was able to tighten them.
With your motor only spinning when the lights go down I am willing to bet that is your problem, see when they rotate up the two parts of the motor and gear mesh tightly causing it to stop after the light is open, the torque of the motor and slack cause them to separate when rotating the opposite direction.

Finally you need to be sure that if you do decide to swap the whole thing out that you are getting one to match your car, 97 and down have a different assembly and plugs than a 98 and up.

yes its the same exact gear as the stock one and i did notice that it didnt fit snug, it was alittle loose. How can i make sure it is in there snug so it would strip.

It also is stripping going up and down now. I prob shouldnt using my lights untill i strip the new gear..