95 Firebird flip up head light question

When I turn off my headlights they go down fine, but the driver's side makes a horrible grinding noise for about 10 seconds which is coming from the motor with the rubber boot over it to manually flip up/down the lights. I'm assuming that this is the headlight motor with stripped gears...There is a number on it that looks like a part # 16521997LH, but I can't find it at GMpartsdirect.com. Anyone have the number to this "motor" or have a driver's side laying around they don't need and would like to sell? Thanks..

--Alan

Might be able to fix it simply by "flipping" the nylon gear, or buying a new metal gear. Check out the info in this thread from a couple days ago:

http://web.camaross.com/forums/showthread.php?t=369025

Thanks Fred...Just went to dealer...$179 with a decent discount...I'll try the FREE fix first...thanks again..

--Alan

Well, as luck would have it the free mod didn't work...Now it makes noise in the up position :mad: Oh well, guess it's time for either the gear replacement or a new unit for $179...I'm leaning towards a new one only because with my luck I'll bust the casing trying to put in the new gear, plus the light was hesitating just a little before it moved...Oh well, thanks Fred and Brent anyway...

--Alan

Before you pay $179 for a motor, contact Dal or Jason Cromer and see it the price isn't a lot better.

Thanks, I'll check with them...I have a local guy who matches/beats GMpartsdirect prices...once you add the s&h GMpartsdirect charges...the $179 includes tax...

--Alan

You most likely won't need to spend the money on a new motor. Try the free fix and at the worst you'll need to remove the nylon gear and rotate it 90 degrees for the free fix to work. Good luck!

The free fix should work at least once, sometimes twice. When that stops working because the whole gear is worn out, you can get a replacement metal gear here and this should fix your problem for good:

http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headlightfix/index.htm

The guy who runs this site is awesome and should be helpful. Good Luck.

The free fix should work at least once, sometimes twice. When that stops working because the whole gear is worn out, you can get a replacement metal gear here and this should fix your problem for good:

http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headlightfix/index.htm

The guy who runs this site is awesome and should be helpful. Good Luck.

Thanks! :D :D :D

When you do the 180 trick and the gear strips on the way up instead of down, for example, what that means is that enough teeth are worn in that one area that it now affects the operation in the other direction. This can still be fixed for free by paying attention to the orientation of the gear and shaft and rotating the gear 90 degrees instead of 180. This puts the bad teeth completely out of the picture on the side that isn't used (just have to rotate it the correct direction!). However, easiest and longest lasting fix will be the brass gear. Even with a completely new assembly, it will likely fail again. I've talked to people who have had 3 new setups fail on the same side. On the 4th failure they found my page because the car was out of warranty and they didn't want to spend $400 on one light :D Several I've talked to have had several failures like this with all new units... the design is very poor.

Thanks, I'll check with them...I have a local guy who matches/beats GMpartsdirect prices...once you add the s&h GMpartsdirect charges...the $179 includes tax...

--Alan

And if the free fix doesn't work and you don't want to put in Brent's gear check out e-bay. There's lots of headlight motors for sale on there (new and used). I've been looking for whole assemblys for my Formula and have seen alot of motors up there.

Thanks all...I just found a deal on a new motor for $90 from a friend...I'll see how long it lasts then go with the brass gear...Thanks all again...

--Alan