well it used to be that this thing wouldnt go up without me giving it a little unwined first... but just the other day whenever i turn them off theres this huge rattling sound after the light is all the way down, but i dont have to help start it any more...

how do i make the sound go away?

 

you have to replace it, or buy metal gears for it.

 

Loudmouth and headers=no more sound from headlights

 

Nice


Checkout- http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headlightfix/index.htm for the gear fix.

 

Buy a set of brass gears... I bought a pair from a catalogue (Year One or something) a year ago. I repalced the driver's side and now it works perfectly. I have the other gear for when the passenger side goes bad eventually. The best part is, you'll never have to replace them again...unlike plastic gears. The kit came with idiot-proof instructions too. Hope this helps...

 

My motor was loose in the frame so when I took it out to spin the gear for the temporary fix I jb welded the motor to the housing. The tabs wouldn't tighten the motor enough for me so this was my solution. It has worked for me for two years now.

 

The plastic gear housing coming loose from the metal motor housing is another common problem. But, how did you "weld" the plastic housing to the metal housing?

 

does any company make headlight that dont pop-up for it?

 

Only for the 98+ and then it is a $1000 kit that I believe still needs to be painted!

 

(The plastic gear housing coming loose from the metal motor housing is another common problem. But, how did you "weld" the plastic housing to the metal housing?)

I used JB weld epoxy. The only thing I don't like about it, is when I do buy metal gears I will have to grind it down to get it off but for now it is a great fix!

 

I think we are talking about different parts! Are you talking about the "cover" that goes over the gear...

http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headl...ightgear34.JPG

I was talking about the metal gear housing and how it connects to the plastic gear housing. The metal gear housing is the cylindrical part in the picture below. You can see the tabs and how the kind "bend around" the plastic gear housing. Sometimes these tabs come loose and when that happens the motor housing and gear housing will "wobble" and this is no good. This can actually cause the gear to strip and can even strip a brass gear because what happens is the torque of the motor forces the motor worm drive AWAY from the stationary brass gear. It gets to the point to where only the very tips of the teeth are making contact and this just isn't enough even for a metal gear so it just slowly grinds away at even the metal gear. So, it is very important to make sure that these two pieces remain TIGHT and do not wobble.

http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headl...ightgear15.JPG

In fact, for all you Firebird guys out there you should check this regularly by lifting the hood and grabbing the metal motor housing and seeing if you can wiggle it. If you can, that is no good. Only the plastic gear housing is mounted. The motor housing is mounted to the gear housing. If the motor housing moves when you grab it and wiggle it then that means it is loose on the plastic gear housing (doubtful the gear housing has come loose from the car!). If it is like this, save your self some money and spend an hour or so taking the motor our and pounding the tabs TIGHT to ensure the two pieces are tightly held together!

 

I never broke to case around the gear. I only followed your directions to spin the gear 180* to the good side with non-stripped teeth. I then tried to tighten the motor to the plastic housing by bending the tabs but it would never tighten enough.
(this is why my teeth stripped in the first place)

I then bent the tabs as far as they would go and then mixed up some JB weld epoxy and smeared it over the tabs and put a clamp on it to keep it tight until the epoxy cured.

I haven't had a problem since. I will have to grind the epoxy off the get to the tabs if I ever replace just the motor.

 

True, but you'll be pleased to know you won't have to mess with it to change out just the gear. And, the motor itself RARELY ever goes bad so you should be good in that department