• Got the Contributing Memberships stuff finally worked out and made up a thread as a sort of "How-To" to help people figure out how to participate. So if you need help figuring it out, here's the thread you need to take a look at -> http://www.corvetteflorida.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3581 Thank you, everyone! Rich Z.

C5 headlight gear replacement

pewter99

pewter99

This place cracks me up
Parts needed:

brass gear kit
10mm socket
13mm socket
1/4 drive ratchet
magnetic pick-up tool
phillips screwdriver

brass gear kit (you can get this from Rodney Dickman) at www.rodneydickman.com (yes I know he sells Fiero parts...trust me he sells the gears for the headlight) you can order online or call him. he is a super nice guy and ships the stuff Priority Mail.
you can also buy the kit thru MidAmerica.


Ok, lets get started. Turn the headlights on or manually crank up the bad light. If you turned the lights on you can unplug the bad light and turn the other light off so as not to kill the battery.

Remove the black plastic headlight surround, 3 Phillips head screws. Now look inside the opening and you will see there are basically 5 nuts/bolts that hold the assembly in place. the following pics show the locations.

removedside.jpg


removed.jpg





After these bolts /nuts are removed lift the assembly out and you have this.

assembly_front.jpg



Turn the whole piece on its side and you will see the round cover which is secured with 3 little screws:

assy_side.jpg




Remove these screws and take off the cover. You will probably see something that looks like this.


cover_open.jpg


cover_removed.jpg





Make note of how you remove things and clean all that stuff out of there so it will look like this.



gears_removed.jpg


pieces.jpg




Now install the new gears and replace the cover.


new_gears_installed.jpg





Install is the reverse of removal. Plug everything back in and you should have this.


finished.jpg
 
there is also a quick fix out there that seems to work well. takes all of 15 minutes. manually raise the headlight and take off the plastic shroud. then reach down and find the nut that holds the linkage and take it off. slide the linkage off the motor, then turn the motor manually again until it has gone 180*. you will then put the linkage back on and tighten the nut. put the shroud back on. lower your light and now you will be using the unused side of the gear. it should last you quite a long time that way. i did this a while back and have had 0 problems with it. after that strips, it will be time for a new gear and the above is the way to go at that point. thanks for the great write up. at least when i do have to change the gear i will know how to do it the easy way. i didnt think of pulling the whole light like that. i was just going to try and get to three bolts with the light on. that looked like a real pain, with the light out it looks 10 times easier.
 
Thanks for the very clear instructions and pictures. Doesn't appear to be nearly as daunting as I had imagined :notworthy: ..............Tom
 
Thanks...I am trying to compile more tech stuff...if you guys/gals have anything please post it up..or forward it to me and I will do it :thumbsup:
 
new write-up idea

how about a nice write-up on the clb install. you can use my car as the model for the photo shoot. :lmao:
nice job on the gear replacement write-up. when my gear is finally trashed, i now know an easier way of getting the motor off. :thumbsup:
 
pewter99 said:
Rich should be an expert on CLB install by now
Click to expand...

LOL!! No, not quite. I weenied out when I tried to install mine. But I may try again sometime. Maybe I just wasn't looking at things right. Of course, if I had taken pictures, I could show you all what the heck I was talking about.

Mark Dalton said:
Yeah, but I think he forgot to take pics.;)
Click to expand...

Arrgghh, I thought about doing that, but didn't. I actually wanted to do that when I installed my ported and polished throttle body and the bypass. But I didn't. I'm just a BAD person, I guess........
 
I haven't actually taken a look at my headlights in detail yet, but out of curiousity, how do you manually raise the headlights? Is there a knob your turn somewhere near the back of the light or do you have to physically reach under the light and find the gears and turn them manually? :shrug01:
 
Charlie882 said:
I haven't actually taken a look at my headlights in detail yet, but out of curiousity, how do you manually raise the headlights? Is there a knob your turn somewhere near the back of the light or do you have to physically reach under the light and find the gears and turn them manually? :shrug01:
Click to expand...

Just behind each headlight you'll see a round black rubber boot. On top of the boot it says "remove for manual operation". Just pull the boot off and you'll see the mechanism for manually raising and lowering the headlights. It simply rotates cw or ccw.
 
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