1988GT Driver side headlight has a mind of its own (Page 1/2)
John W. Tilford JAN 25, 07:41 AM
1988 GT with 3.4 and 4T60. Bambi smacked the passenger side headlight a few years ago, but the driver side headlight "basket" should be original – should be. I’m not the original owner.

In the several years distant past I did replace the driver side headlight motor with a rebuilt from what seemed to be a reputable company.

Symptoms: for several months the driver side headlight has consistently finished in second place when turned on. Not by much, but noticeable. About three months ago one foggy morning I tried to show off for some scouts who were impressed with pop-up headlights in general. Engine was off but I hit the lights on switch. Passenger side came up with no problem on battery power only. Driver side struggled and died about half-way. I turned off, both down. Started engine and hit on, passenger up easy, driver side went up but slowly.

Three days ago I used the Fiero for a run to town. Dim misty morning. Concrete slab in garage was “sweating” moisture. Fired up the engine, turned on headlights. Driver side did not move at all, passenger all the way up no problem. Raised front “hood” and tried again. Same results. No binding of individual headlight doors. Nothing obvious regarding wiring. Couple hundred manual counter-clockwise turns later the driver headlight was up. Turned on headlight switch. Both headlights up after passenger came up to match the driver side. Both headlights lit. Turned off, both off and down. Lowered hood. Turned on headlight switch, both came up all the way, driver side slightly in second place. Drove to town in rain. Turned off lights at my first stop. Both off and down. Came back out to car, turned on lights, only passenger side came up. Drove that way in town and back home.

Yesterday, suspecting moisture, opened hood, disconnected twin “moisture proof” lead to driver side motor. Squirted Water Displacement-40 in each internal side of connector. Shook out excess. Reconnected. Both headlights went up, driver side a bit slower than passenger side.

This morning got in car in same moisture-sweaty garage, started engine, turned on headlight switch. Both came on and went up, driver side slightly slower.

Get some connector water proofing grease and apply within power connector to driver side headlight motor?

Slow driver side pop-up indicate dying motor? If so, the only time I replaced a headlight motor the out of the box rebuilt polarity did not match in spite of my clearly specifying driver side. Returned to seller, seller replaced. Polarity still wrong. Bought one of those little “move pins inside connectors” tools and switched polarity on the lead to the motor. Worked. Don’t want to go through that again if possible to avoid. Is there a seller who’s 1988 Fiero driver side headlight motors come with correct polarity?

As always, thank you for comments and advice.


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John W. Tilford

[This message has been edited by John W. Tilford (edited 01-25-2024).]

Vintage-Nut JAN 25, 08:21 AM

quote
John W. Tilford:
the only time I replaced a headlight motor the out of the box rebuilt polarity did not match in spite of my clearly specifying driver side. Returned to seller, seller replaced. Polarity still wrong. / Is there a seller who’s 1988 Fiero driver side headlight motors come with correct polarity?



BTW - You didn't include the name of the "seller".....

Headlight Motor 88 Formula by Mcain5
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/146653.html

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Original Owner of a Silver '88 GT
Under 'Production Refurbishment' @ 136k Miles

John W. Tilford JAN 25, 10:05 AM
Vintage-Nut, because I could not remember.

Update: about an hour after the successful test earlier this morning (both headlights up, driver side a bit slower) I went out to drive the Fiero into town. Fired up the engine, hit the headlights switch, driver side did not go up. Turned off headlight switch, engine still running. Raised hood, hundred counter-clockwise turns of The Knob to raise driver side headlight. Closed hood. Back inside the car clicked on the headlight switch. Both headlights on, passenger side raised to match driver side. Drove into town. Parked and shut down. Came back to car a few minutes later. Both headlights worked, on and up, driver side a bit slower on the up.
John W. Tilford JAN 25, 11:06 AM
Autozone in Bloomington, Indiana guy said they no longer sell either Fiero or Firebird headlight motors from that era.
Kitskaboodle JAN 25, 05:07 PM
I just bought a pair of 87-88 headlight motors from Amazon just a week ago. Brand new only $49.00 each. They worked great…,
Kit
olejoedad JAN 25, 07:32 PM

quote
Originally posted by John W. Tilford:

Autozone in Bloomington, Indiana guy said they no longer sell either Fiero or Firebird headlight motors from that era.



Ask about a Corvette of Reatta motor.

And NEVER buy anything electrical from AutoZone.

[This message has been edited by olejoedad (edited 01-25-2024).]

John W. Tilford JAN 26, 05:45 PM
Is the driver side slow pop-up a symptom of a weakening headlight motor? AND the symptom of no movement at all at times is also? Or are they unrelated?
Raydar JAN 27, 01:39 AM
Mine was doing something similar, a few years ago. With the hood open, the lights would come up just fine.
With the hood closed, the left side would only come up about halfway, and then stall.
I took the "gearbox" apart, and discovered that the large gear was cracked, which caused it to deform just a bit. When the crack moved around to the worm gear, it would bind. The binding, added to the force of the headlight doors, would cause it to stall.

Rodney, I believe, sells replacement gears, if his stock has not been depleted.
Or just buy a new motor from one of the online vendors.
John W. Tilford JAN 27, 10:25 AM
Raydar,
It's been a few years since I replaced a headlight motor. Is the "gearbox" an integral portion of the motor? Looking down I see what I would call a "push arm" which pushes up and lets down the pivoting headlight. Is the gearbox where the back end of the push arm connects?

Oh, I just re-read your comment. Obviously the gear box is integral with the motor. Thank you!

[This message has been edited by John W. Tilford (edited 01-28-2024).]

Mike in Sydney JAN 28, 05:03 PM
John, Ease your pain. Buy new or remanufactured motors from RockAuto. I did this for my '86 SE after I converted to a '87 / '88 headlight system. The price was reasonable.