cars3

One of my cars being an 89 firebird formula with a 305 tbi has a bad passenger side head light motor. I went to the dealer and they are not able to get one for me. I went to advance auto parts and they want $90 for a rebuilt one. I've tried two of them from the salvage yard for $25 and never lasted more than a month each. I'm not interested in a rebuild kit and my question is where can I get one for less than $90. I don't want to sound cheap but I Have 2 carmaros and 2 firebirds to maintain, and since this car has alot of rust I'm only trying to keep it going. I have tried classic industies but the web site was down at the time. Thanks.

BC2002SS

not much help but I think I paid 75 at auto zone

quickchicken

is the motor not running at all or does it run and not lift? if its running and not lifting the fix is easy.
spray the side cover with PB blaster or something of the like and crack it open the next day. yank the gear, empty the grated cheese looking stuff and install 3 15/32 bearings and re assemble. the crumbled up stuff is what locked everything together to make your light door open.

cars3

Well, I went to autozone and they wanted $85 which I'm just not ready to pay yet. So I went back to the salvage yard and talked to them about my 2 bad headlight motors from them and they offered to give me another one for free if I gave them the first two back. I said ok and made the swap. Well, I put the 3rd motor in the car and it lasted about 2 days and does not lift anymore. I went back to the salvage yard very angry and told them the 3rd one does not work and I brought the car with me. Every time they gave me one it was sitting on the shelf, and they informed me that they don't have time to test every part. I told them then they should not sell the part before testing. I asked to get back my $50 for the first 2 I bought but they said no way. So, we agreed on $25. To make a long story short I have replaced this motor 3 times and have not got a good one. I guess the $85 is not sounding to bad after all and it comes with a 1 year warranty. This is the first experience I have had with an electrical component from a salvage yard and I will never do it again!

quickchicken

are you sure its electrical? as i asked before, are they running and not lifting or are they not running at all? you may be beating yourself up over nothing and it really be an ez fix.

cars3

Yes the motors are running. The headlight will pop up about half way then fall back down, then pop up about 1/3rd of the way then fall back down, maybe go all the way up. This is how it started with the drivers side and a friend gave one to me about a year ago and have had no problems since. Now the passenger side started doing the same thing about 2 months ago. And as I stated before the salvage yard did not garantee the parts were good.

quickchicken

do what i posted in post 3 and you will never have another issue. in the time you have spent swapping motors you could have done the fix. if you need further help when doing the fix in post 3 feel free to ask, i'll be more than happy to help.

Kevin91Z

The headlight motor master is Lon at http://www.top-downsolutions.com/

Gord's Green Z28

The above is absolutely correct. I just re-did my headlight motors using the repair kit and gear from Lon.

My electrical motor worked fine. But I was having trouble with my driver side either
a) coming up slower than the passenger side
b) coming up halfway
c) not coming up at all.

In addition, turning the headlights off, the motor would continue spinning for about 4 seconds after the headlight had come down.

Here is my driver side after taking it apart.



The passenger side was still working. But I knew it was only a matter of time. So I changed it as well.



The old "ear plugs" felt like melted candle wax. I could crush it with my fingers if I wanted to. The new plugs are rigid.

I decided to upgrade from the stock nylon gear to the anodized aluminum gear while I was at it. I was surprised that the stock nylon gear was in brand new condition when I pulled them out of my car (20 years old, had it since new). I was expecting the teeth to be worn down. But then again, my car is low mileage. Regardless, why not put it back together in stronger than brand new condition?

Nylon on left...aluminum on right (pics taken before I greased the heck out of everything)


Dealing with junk yard cars, you've got the same trouble as what you have right now: Age......Buying new motors from an autoparts store, you're paying waaaaay more than you should.
The repair kit from Top Down Solutions is about $20 (synthetic grease, all the gaskets for both sides, and all the "ear plugs" for both sides, and instructions). He sells both the stock nylon gear and aluminum gear replacements if you want them. I opted for the aluminum ($40 per side). But if you just need the repair kit, hey it's only $20.

Lon is a grade A guy to deal with. Very prompt with emails and shipping.

Gord's Green Z28

http://hardwayracing.com/89gta/hlrepair/hlrepair.htm

A write up with pictures. I used this along with the instructions that came in the repair kit.

Gord's Green Z28

Oh yeah, one more thing. The repair kit also comes with 2 extra screws and nuts for the driver side headlight motor. The original screws have a habit of breaking when you try and remove them. Wouldn't you know it? One of mine did. Very thoughtful to include those extra screws in the repair kit.

The passenger side doesn't need to have that part removed. You can simply remove the gear cover.

quickchicken

B usually the gear is in good shape. i have yet to find a bad gear when doing motor repairs.

as for that machine screw on the side cover, hit it with PB blaster a day before you crack into the project and there wont be any issues. everytime iv lubed the screws everything went off without a hitch.

cars3

Thanks for the info. This is the first time I've been on the internet in a few weeks.