Fun with headlights question. Binding? Stuck? Not enough power? (Page 1/1)
Mychel JUN 22, 08:54 PM
Hey,

New account, Myke was the old one, and I have rebuilt the TBI, changed the lower ball joints, upper control arm bushings yet I think I should have gone poly, and I thought I had a bad inner tie rod. I now have a brass bushing on order from Rodney for the rack. So I am now working on convenience issues before upgrading the suspension and updating the interior (mine is chewed and falling apart).

I have read (skimmed) about 100-120 posts about headlights and The Ogre's Fiero Cave, looking for Gen-2 specifically but also for my issues. I found a couple of posts that came close to my issue(s) but not close enough. Also, none seem to have the right answer for me, unless I am misunderstanding or missing something... I am getting older.

The headlight (driver's side only) goes up if I loosen the knob about 1/2 revolution and have the hood up. If I do not spin the knob it will not come up. The knob is very hard to turn like an over-tightened bottle cap. If the hood is down, I spin the knob, the headlight will come up to the door and MAYBE push the door open, but the percentage is between 0-50% raised.

I have taken the gear apart, and it looks like the Rodney kit was installed recently. I was thinking of using some lithium grease on the gear, but I was not sure if that was the correct lubricant (I have not rebuilt a Fiero headlight in 15-20 years). I checked the alignment of the headlight to ensure it is riding the plastic as it lifts (by raising, closing the hood, then recording as the motor lowers the HL and watching in slow motion), and it seems to be lined up well. The prop rod and hood mounts have been checked and adjusted for proper fitment.

Is there anything that I can adjust on the motor unit? I read there are no built-in stops on the motor unit, but there seems to be a bolt on the bottom of the motor unit casing. Even if it doesn't fix my issue, what is it?

Considering the above, what should I grease with? Is there a better way than eyeballing alignments of the hood and HL door? is there anything I can adjust? Is the headlight over-tightening when it comes down?

Myke

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Myke
88 coupe and others

1985 Fiero GT JUN 22, 10:55 PM
That sounds like not enough power getting to the motor, maybe check your grounds, use a voltmeter on the motor connector to see what the volts are as it is trying to go up, other then that, maybe the brushes/coils are burnt out on the electric motor inside.
cartercarbaficionado JUN 22, 10:56 PM
that knob should turn with almost 0 effort. take the motor apart and run it through the fully up and fully down position
theogre JUN 23, 04:15 AM
Headlight Aim & some other issues w/ bulbs... see https://web.archive.org/web...ierocave/lightme.htm
Note: Not All Fiero has H6054 when new. Depending on Trim Level & maybe Year, some had Guide 6052 Standard Tungsten.

Gen2 motor need spinning before turn up/down is likely someone "fix"/"rebuilt" it & screwed up.
see https://web.archive.org/web...ierocave/hlmotor.htm

Motor shaft has 1 very small BB @ bottom that get crap or wears the adjuster & need careful cleaning etc. This is often the or big part of why the module won't run the motor to open the door.

I no longer recommend any Delrin "pins." see http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/128600.html 2nd Gen Headlight Pin Replacement

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Dr. Ian Malcolm: Yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Jurassic Park)

The Ogre's Fiero Cave

theogre JUN 23, 07:47 AM
After re read...

quote
Originally posted by Mychel:
The headlight (driver's side only) goes up if I loosen the knob about 1/2 revolution and have the hood up. If I do not spin the knob it will not come up. The knob is very hard to turn like an over-tightened bottle cap. If the hood is down, I spin the knob, the headlight will come up to the door and MAYBE push the door open, but the percentage is between 0-50% raised.

Hard to turn by hand... Only @ first turn or all the time?
Only for first turn then motors are binding maybe not only in the gears & shaft bearings.
All the time then motor(s) are bad. Buy new motors.

Any binding then module will kill power to 1 or both motors. Listen to sound when doors try to open. Get help to switch On/Off if needed to listen to the motor better.

If motor get easy to turn but door won't open... see same page for pin replacement above because hard pins can make the output shaft to fail. more so when hear motor runs after door stopped. Buy new motors.
Orig88GT-NC JUN 24, 07:09 PM
I had a similar situation with the headlight motor. Disassembled and found the small BB ( TheOgre mentioned) missing and the retainer screw that the BB sits on Cranked Down on the motor shaft keeping it from turning easily. I'm sure it was done during a previous rebuild/repair.
Mychel JUN 24, 09:18 PM

quote
Originally posted by theogre:

Hard to turn by hand... Only @ first turn or all the time?
Only for first turn then motors are binding maybe not only in the gears & shaft bearings.



Only the first 1/2 turn, maybe 3/4. A moderate amount of effort is needed, then it is very easy to spin.



quote
Originally posted by theogre:

If motor get easy to turn but door won't open... see same page for pin replacement above because hard pins can make the output shaft to fail. more so when hear motor runs after door stopped. Buy new motors.



All sound ends when the motion stops. Noise until the HL presses the door, and when the door stops rising, the sound stops. If I open the hood while the motor is still active, it will continue to raise.

Edit: I did read both the post on the pins and the page in the cave (and a number of others) and I may have confused myself with the over-abundance of information. Very happy to "speak" with you again, Ogre. You helped me get my first Fiero back on the road in late 99 or early 2000. Thank you again.
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Myke
88 coupe and others

[This message has been edited by Mychel (edited 06-24-2024).]

Mychel JUN 24, 09:26 PM
I feel like I need a better picture of the motor, like an exploded diagram or detailed pictures.

Does anyone have a diagram of photo of the parts in a HL motor? Mine is a tear-down / rebuild 88 with a few "shortcuts" that I have found (and fixed). There is a good chance that when the HL motor was rebuilt (Just found the Fiero Store invoice), it was goofed.

If this was answered, I apologize, but what should I use to grease the motor/gear? Would all-purpose heavy-duty grease be bad? What about lithium grease?