Headlight Issue

[silver87ta]

I posted this in the other forum but got no response, figured I'd try here:

When the car is not running and parked, when I hit the Door Lock button on the remote, the headlights dont come on, but they pop up for a second, then go back down, and the driver side makes a nasty grinding sound. Im sure that the grind is a gear on its way out, but whats making them "auto-pop" like that? Is it just trying to tell me theres a gear problem? Also, they pop up when I turn on the parking lights, which never used to happen.

[puppy2]

Ive not heard of such a thing before, has it always been that way? My first thought have you had any electrical work done on it? if so sounds like some wiring has gotten crossed. lol, that's a new 1 for me. i just dont see how that's possible, when looking at both the power locks and where the light switch in at on the dash. ?????

[brass_monkey93]

i don't know the answer to your question, but i know my car aso did this and after i replaced the headlight gear my headlights no longer popped up.

[silver87ta]

Thanks, Brass, that was what I was hoping to hear. Anyone got a site where I can order those gears?

[97cavalier]

well my dads 2000 firebird v6 did the same thing when he went to lock it his head lights came up, turned out it was his head light motor, it was messing up with his alarm.

[brass_monkey93]

you can buy a new brass gear on ebay. basically you have to take the motor out, take it apart and put in the new gear. from what i hear it shouldnt be too hard to do. I plan to do this next time i need to replace my headlight motors.

[98BlackTransAm]

Originally Posted by silver87ta

I posted this in the other forum but got no response, figured I'd try here:

When the car is not running and parked, when I hit the Door Lock button on the remote, the headlights dont come on, but they pop up for a second, then go back down, and the driver side makes a nasty grinding sound. Im sure that the grind is a gear on its way out, but whats making them "auto-pop" like that? Is it just trying to tell me theres a gear problem? Also, they pop up when I turn on the parking lights, which never used to happen.

there's a free fix to this,, can't remember where the write-up is but just search online for it. my car did the EXACT same thing and you don't need to blow $$ on new brass gears. what happened was the teeth on the current gear got stripped, but the headlight popping up only requires a 180º turn of the gear. therefore only half of the teeth should be stripped. basically all you have to do is take apart the headlight and unscrew it from the gear, then rotate the gear 180º while the headlight is not connected and then re-attatch the head light. now you'll be using the fresh teeth on the other side of the gear which havn't ever been put to work. I did this like 4 months ago in about an hour and the light's been perfect ever since.

[brass_monkey93]

yes, you can do that and it is a free fix. However these teeth will go bad eventually so if you want to fix it once and for all I would just go right to the brass gears. But if money is tight, then just moving the gear around will be the fix for you.