Flip Door On Headlights

When I close down the headlights, it sounds loud as sh*t, similar to a dump truck. Has anyone experienced this?

my question is it a loud clunk when it hits the bottom cause thats probably normal but if its a grinding or scraping noise thats bad and you should have it looked at and posibily fixed under warrenty

my question is it a loud clunk when it hits the bottom cause thats probably normal but if its a grinding or scraping noise thats bad and you should have it looked at and posibily fixed under warrenty

It is a loud clunk. I had taken it to the dealer and they said it was normal for these kind of flip headlights.

I thought so cause mine do it all the time:)

My Headlight on my firebird '97 also make a terible grinding sound only on the left headlight when they are turned off, and when in "P" they come up...when they asre supposed to go on when they are past the P. Also, when I activate the alarm, they pop up and down as well as make that noise. This all just started happening 2 days ago.

anybody know if this is typical and if this might be a motor or electrical problem?

You headlight motor wheel (it's plastic) is stripped out. Mine did the same thing. Everytime you set the alarm they pop up and down and make a horrible grinding noise. Take it to the dealer and have it replaced if you are still under warranty. There is a guy Brent Franker who also sells replacement wheels that are metal for about $70. Good upgrade if you ask me. Here is the link http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headlightfix/index.htm If not, you can pull the headlight motor out and just flip the plastic wheel to the other side (motor only uses half the wheel) and it'll get you by another couple of months. Hope this helps. Email me if you have any questions.
:D

Yup, that is the problem i have been expirencing for the last month or so. its a pain and very annoying. i wil probably a set of those gears. isnt there a way to deprogram the car from having the head lights come up and down? because every now and then the noise will stop until iraise them again; when i lock the car it just honks, doesnt raise the lights. the lights only raise up and down when it makes the noise.

Yup, sounds like you need a new headlamp actuator.

You headlight motor wheel (it's plastic) is stripped out. Mine did the same thing. Everytime you set the alarm they pop up and down and make a horrible grinding noise. Take it to the dealer and have it replaced if you are still under warranty. There is a guy Brent Franker who also sells replacement wheels that are metal for about $70. Good upgrade if you ask me. Here is the link http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headlightfix/index.htm If not, you can pull the headlight motor out and just flip the plastic wheel to the other side (motor only uses half the wheel) and it'll get you by another couple of months. Hope this helps. Email me if you have any questions.
:D


This site is simply awesome. I had the same problem. Went to the site and downloaded the video clip. Excellent. Now the lights go down without problems... when they strip again I will send for the metal replacement.

Thanks!!!

That site shows how to change the plastic wheel inside the headlight motor. But is there any way to fix the headlight from opening and closing too hard so it won't break the plastic wheel inside the motor?

Get the metal replacement so that the wheel doesn't break...

I got that. The metal replacement won't break. BUt i was talking about fixing the headlights so they won't open and close so hard. If i replace the plastic wheel with the metal wheel, the metal wheel won't break anymore but the headlights will still keep opening and closing hard. Any way to fix that?

I had the same problem and never fixed it and now the light that did not make noise stopped working ( the motor went out) So if you have this problem you might want to try and fix it because these stupid lights are messed up and if you fix the light the free way it usually will make the other one start to make noise somehow. I just never drive when it's dark cause I couldn't see with the lights on because they needed to be adjusted. And when you do other stuff electrically that makes the lights pop up for no reason and make the noise just lock your car manually and it wont make the noise. Might be harder to do that little manual labor but at least you wont see people looking at you with weird eyes that your car sucks because it makes that noise.

The closing noise doesn't bother me but the flip-ups on my '97 recently stopped coming up when I start the car in the dark. :banghead: I release the parking brake and all the lights come on automatically, but the flip-ups stay down (with the lights on). I turn on the light switch but no change. I have to turn off the engine and restart & then it works. This only happens once in a while, most of the time they work fine, and began a couple of months ago. Anyone else have this problem, and what was done to fix it?