C5 Random headlight probs

[427James]

Hi,

Just gone out to the pride and joy this morning and the headlight cover (right hand side) looked suspiciously close to the wing - touching it on two sides and generally looking out of place. On a preliminary prod, the thing seems to move about with finger pressure.

It hasn't been hit and doesnt look to have been interfered with. Anyone got any ideas?

[Mello]

The cover is only held on by three screws... any of them loose, or is it the light unit itself?

[vetteheadracer]

Do the headlights come up when you switch them on? could be the motor if doesn't.

[427James]

Cheers guys. THe lights raise but sloppily - one side hangs down by 2 inches and is moveable by hand into the correct position. It just feels slack. Cant see anything immediately wrong with the cover or the light cradle. Anyone else had this prob?

[v8yea]

I remember vaguely an article years ago about the plastic gears that raise and lower the lights on a C5.The teeth wear out apparently.
I think you could buy a beefed up set of gears maybe somebody else on here knows the fix ?

[Corsette]

Pop up the lights and then manually turn down the one that's not working.

(There's a manual knob on top of the motor).

Turn off the lights. Turn on the lights - see if they work.

Fixed my floppy light

[Dee Gee]

You may have two problems. To adjust the headlamp covers, decide where your low point is. With the headlights lowered open the bonnet and remove the 2 screws on the rear of the cover. They're #15 torx IIRC.

Raise the headlamp doors and remove the 3 screws on the black bezel. There are two at one side and one at the other.

Remove the 2 torx screws on the side of the cover and than lift the headlamp cover off. Make sure you put it somewhere safe and don't stand on it

There are white capped screws which adjust the height of the cover. Turn the torx screws clockwise to lower and counter-clockwise to raise.

Refit the cover. You can adjust the position of the cover within the hole by adjusting the position as you tighten the screws. Fit the side screws first and get the fore and aft position right. Fit the rear screws last.

Check for the fit. You may need to do it a few times to get it right.

If the doors are not raising properly and you get a machine gun type rattling your gears are stripped. Its a common problem. You'll need to replace whichever headlight gear is damaged. Check the sticky in C5 General on the Corvette Forum. Run down to the section on headlight gears and you'll get all you need to replace it with a brass gear.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c5-general/984927-...

Edited by Dee Gee on Tuesday 7th April 21:06

[427James]

Cheers guys going to look at it this weekend. Suspect that something has snapped though.