True bronze gears are available but are relativly expensive. After cleaning my plastic gears showed no wear after 15yrs and 60,000mi. The glass lens Hella lamps are about twice the weight of the origional headlights so in another 10yrs or so I may make the investment in time and money to change them.

this is one of the improvements you make if you can afford it. only way i would even consider it was if my gears were worn.

______________


















the dynamic duo

c3vr life member #97

[QUOTE=bagpipedave] I had the same problem with my '96 LT4. When you turn on or off the fog lights the headlight motors wouls run for a few seconds. Also when turning on the headlights the motors would run on for a few seconds and made a sound of light thumping until it stopped. The cure I found (right headlight didn't open all the way) was to remove headlight assemblies and take the motors apart. Be sure to inscribe light lines on the brackets so they can be replaced with the correct position. There are only four bolts holding the brackets in place. Before removing you will have to turn the hand knob until the headlight is half open and expose the two philips screws on each side of the the covers. One on each side and two bolts on the inside and remove the covers. [/QUOTE] might be the same for other years but on my 90 the factory manual says to turn on the headlights so they open and unplug them. the 90 has 5 nuts you have to remove and i didnt have to remove the covers (until after i got the unit out). it also says when you reinstall them to make sure they are in the open position and the headlight switch is on then plug them in and shut the lights off. this step adjusts the opening and closing of lights. as i said this is for my 90, may or may not be the same for other years. eddie208902011-05-21 05:04:42

______________


















the dynamic duo

c3vr life member #97

Thanks for the advice guys! The slight thumping sound occurs for a few seconds if I turn of the headlights or parking lights. If I do nothing will it lead to further damage?

 The noise will continue untill the headlights just won't rotate. Then it will have to be fixed one way or another! If they don't open when you're away from hom you can open them manualy with the knob on top of the motors. It takes A Lot of turns to open them.

mid america and ecklers sell the gear kit for you headlites.easy to follow instructions and this wil lsolve your problem.the headlites receive power when the sw is turned off and if the gears are worn,which i'm sure they they will growl until the relay relaxes,so rebuild them and your problem will go away.had the same thing on my 90 so i have the experience.

Thanks!

Dusting off this old topic, but I've noticed I'm getting a sluggish headlight, and I've also noticed when the parking lights are turned off the knob on top of both of the motors spin regardless that I haven't had the lights up (is that normal?)  So as far as the sluggish motor - am I looking at a rebuild?

______________

Most likely it's the nylon pins that sit in the little worm gear box that's integrated into the motor housing. You're describing the same issue I ran into a few years back. When I took everything apart, the original nylon pins were just a bunch of crumbs. Mid America, Ecklers, Corvette Central, etc all sell these for less than than 20 bucks. I''d start there before spending any money on the motors.

______________

 

Just finished replacing the nylon pins in both headlight motors.  Super doable job and like previously stated before I also found that when I opened up the gears there was just a pile of nylon crumbs!  They now work great and the motors don't just run and run after the lights turn off.  Thanks for everyone's help!

______________

now you can light 'em up figuratively and literally ! 

______________