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1991 pop up headlights
- Thread starter Par4Ed
- Start date
Unfortunately, it's impossible to diagnose from here, you'll need to pop the hood and investigate. I'd start by just shining a flashlight around with the lights both raised and lowered to get a good look at the hinge mechanisms to see if you can see anything visibly wrong. Then from there have someone else activate the lights while you stand up front to see if it's only one side making noise or if both are a problem.
ive had this issue within the past few months and just posted on another thread a video on how to remove the headlight motor and what was causing my situation to be rusty. let me find the video for you
https://youtu.be/hBL45nENaks
One thing if found that will help narrow down the location of the rusty noise is to remove the motor assembly from the car and then remove the 2 screws as seen in the video at 2:13 and 2:14. slide the black off along with the metal internal part as seen in 2:30. With this part out, i had to twist the black cap back and fourth and i had heard the same noise youve described. my solution to this was to slide the middle metal piece out of the black housing and sand down the magnets on the inside of the housing down just a bit in mine there was a bit of corrosion. After i got most of the corrosion out, i added a thin thin layer of white lithium grease all over the internals of the black housing which i forgot to show in the video. At this point i would reassemble and test the electric motor while its inside the car not fully installed as seen in the video from 3:50 to 5:00, if all is well with no noise and youre getting the 180 degrees rotation from the motor end id would say youd be good to reinstall. Let me know how well it works!
https://youtu.be/hBL45nENaks
One thing if found that will help narrow down the location of the rusty noise is to remove the motor assembly from the car and then remove the 2 screws as seen in the video at 2:13 and 2:14. slide the black off along with the metal internal part as seen in 2:30. With this part out, i had to twist the black cap back and fourth and i had heard the same noise youve described. my solution to this was to slide the middle metal piece out of the black housing and sand down the magnets on the inside of the housing down just a bit in mine there was a bit of corrosion. After i got most of the corrosion out, i added a thin thin layer of white lithium grease all over the internals of the black housing which i forgot to show in the video. At this point i would reassemble and test the electric motor while its inside the car not fully installed as seen in the video from 3:50 to 5:00, if all is well with no noise and youre getting the 180 degrees rotation from the motor end id would say youd be good to reinstall. Let me know how well it works!
Follow MotorMouth93 's procedure of having somebody actuate the headlight raise / lower button while you stand out front and listen for the source of the noise. You can also visually check to see if one side is opening / closing slower / less smoothly than the other which can help to narrow down the problem.
The noise might be originating from the hardware pivots for the headlight assembly; but, I would expect that noise to occur going both up and down. Its pure speculation; but, I would think it likely that the drive motor assembly may be jamming on retraction. That could be due to wear or lack of lubrication (the grease in the drive is presumably 29 years old).
The noise might be originating from the hardware pivots for the headlight assembly; but, I would expect that noise to occur going both up and down. Its pure speculation; but, I would think it likely that the drive motor assembly may be jamming on retraction. That could be due to wear or lack of lubrication (the grease in the drive is presumably 29 years old).
So I had my son stand in front of both headlights and it’s only the passenger side that is making noise with a slight vibration when I turn off the headlights, the drivers side is fine and acceptable. However when I turn them on no noise is heard or vibration is seen on both on the way up, even on the passenger side headlight. Very strange. If it was the drive motor wouldn’t it be vibrating on the way up and down on the passenger side? Before I start to take apart and tinker with the motor I want to be sure it’s the motor. I greased all the hinges but maybe I’m missing some hidden areas?
From my experience i believe there is 3 bolts mounting the motor to the car and 1 rotating hinge that does the headlight up and down motion. my thoughts now are that the connection on the inside of the headlight motor that are responsible for the down motion of the headlight is worn away slightly causing the vibration. since it is only after the headlight is in motion i cant think of a way to test just that part of the motor without taking it apart. Without fully removing the motor assembly from the car, i would remove the headlight and headlight cover from the car to get a better view and disconnect the middle joint of the motor assembly and then have your son push the headlight button inside the car behind the blinker stalk and you listen if its still there since the noise *should* be pretty reduced since there is nothing big to vibrate on anymore. Thats if the issue is external to the motor. i *think* if the noise stays the same the matter is inside the motor and youd need to take it apart and inspect. Check if the motor still shutters when the headlight button is pushed. There may be other ways im unaware of to diagnose this properly but this is an idea for you!
