Hey,

1985GT all is stock. I took it out of winter storage yesterday and when i started it up, I noticed a clicking sound from the front driver side. Upon opening the front, I can see the round knobby thing (yes very technical name for it) is moving a tiny bit back and forth.

When the car is shut off, it stops doing it as long as the headlights are down before I turn the car off. If the headlights are up when I turn the car off and then put the headlights down, the movement continues to happen. When the car is running I the turning continues to happen, it doesn't matter if the lights are up or not and I can see a slight change in the brightness of the headlights as the "click" happens.

Is this an electrical issue? Or would this be some of the gears in the motor missing teeth?

Thanks

The switches inside the motor housing are the culprit.

One of the more complex assemblies on a Fiero....

https://www.fiero.nl/forum/A...110502-2-068642.html

When the bump stops inside the large plastic gear start to crumble, there's not enough rigidity to make the points of the limiter switch fully open and stay open. As they reestablish contact, the knobby-thinga-ma-jiggy will twitch. Eventually, the drive plate will start to make contact with the hard plastic gear, and without cushion, will cause the gear to strip. You are in store for a rebuild. I offer that service if you don't want to tackle the job. You can email or PM me for information and price.

In the meantime, I would suggest that you disconnect the single wire barrel connector going to the motor each time you raise or lower the headlights. I know it's a pain to do this every time, but it can prevent the motor from melting, or possibly catching fire.

PM sent to FieroFool.

PM replied.

I have found out through much diag, that when they do that, the motor is weak, and the armature needs to be replaced.
'Sometimes' you can clean all the contacts on the relays and connectors and it will fix it, but if it doesn't then replacement is necessary. (always try this first)

I have never heard of a weak armature. In my opinion the reason for most all of the problems in the early systems is:

Most that have headlight motor problems want to blame the headlight motors. They replace them with rebuilt headlight motors but many times still experience the same problems. Some replace the relays but again still have the same problems. Why? The problem in most all cases is a diminished path for the voltage and amperage from the battery reaching the armature of the headlight. The armature is spring loaded and if it does not spin with enough strength and momentum it will not operate the contacts in the headlight motors correctly.

The path for the voltage from the battery and back (all the grounds) is a long one. As on any older vehicle, time takes it's toll on the wiring connections, grounds etc. There is never any one place to look. It starts at the battery terminal and little by little the voltage and amperage diminishes along the way. Slightly corroded connections in all the various connectors. Corroded grounds. Every marginal connection diminishes the voltage and amperage to the headlight armature. By the time the voltage gets to the armature in the headlight motor it can be seriously diminished.

The kit I am making eliminates many of these marginal connections. You remove the isolation relay and the relays on each headlight bucket. My unit splices in to the wires from the wiring harness. I include butt splices and adhesive lined shrink tube to make water tight connections. My unit is in a plastic box and potted thus making it waterproof. My unit also has two ground wires coming out of it to insure an excellent ground. You splice on new connectors to each headlight motor, again using butt splices and adhesive lined shrink tube. Once installed the largest part of the headlight control system is now all new and waterproof. Incorporated into this new relay unit are snubbers for each headlight motor. What does a snubber do? It absorbs the arc you get every time the relay opens thus reducing the degradation on the contacts in each headlight motor and the relays in my new unit.


I'm very close to having some test units finished for a few to test. I'll be posting that in the Fiero Facebook group. Someone here thinks I am using people here to do my R&D and will probably jab me more if I offer some here free for R&D. If you would like to try a relay unit free for N/C PM me so it is not shown on the forum to try and keep the peace here.

http://rodneydickman.com/ca....php?products_id=412

In my opinion my new relay units should fix most all the problems like this in the early headlight systems.

------------------
Rodney Dickman

Fiero Parts And Acc's Web Page:
All new web page!:www.rodneydickman.com
Rodney Dickman's Fiero accessories
7604 Treeview Drive
Caledonia, WI 53108
Phone/Fax (262) 835-9575