[DeTomaso] Headlights don't go up, take II

Sun Aug 31 17:20:54 EDT 2014

Yest it is possible, by loosening ONE of the three small bolts the motor drive gear can be pivoted so it goes further into mesh with the sector gear. This is also how you fix 'jiggling' headlights, once they're up. Something different was done to GT-5 headlight bar parts around s/n 9301, according to the Illustrated Parts List. So if the sector gear is bolted rather than welded directly to the headlight bar as with early cars; perhaps a bolt loosened up and allowed the big gear to shift a bit under load? Finally, I'd pull both front wheels and both small splash shields and take a peek in there while someone is actuating the headlight-raise switch. Maybe something like a horn or other part shifted, blocking a bucket from rising.

Any other theories other than something moved somehow and the motor and
   headlight raise mechanism aren't making good contact and I'm skipping
   teeth? Is it even possible to adjust to engage the teeth more or less?

-----Original Message-----
From: Charles McCall <charlesmccall at gmail.com>
To: detomaso <detomaso at poca.com>
Sent: Sun, Aug 31, 2014 9:20 am
Subject: [DeTomaso] Headlights don't go up, take II

   Thanks for all the replies regarding how to remove the headlight motor.

   It wasn't fun, but there are worse jobs. The good news is that I got
   the headlight motor out and opened it up. The bad news is that it looks
   perfect.

   The headlight motor was actually quite well sealed, and took some
   persuasion to get it open. But the grease was still greasy and the
   insides looked really in pretty good condition. This is bad news
   because I was expecting to see a broken plastic gear, which I was
   betting was the cause of my problem. Since it isn't broken, now I'm
   sort of out of ideas.

   Before removing the gear, I had my wife turn the headlights on while I
   watched the motor. The motor gear turned, the headlights began to raise
   a quarter inch, but then the gear started skipping and the headlights
   stopped going up. I had assumed that this juddering was due to a jammed
   plastic gear.

   The only other thing that occurs to me is that perhaps the motor has
   somehow come out of adjustment and wasn't making good contact with the
   headlight raise mechanism and it was skipping teeth? The motor gear
   "wheel" was all coated with years of road crud, which may inhibit
   making good contact, but I've never heard of the teeth of this wheel
   getting filled up with road crud and not meshing well enough with the
   raise mechanism.

   Any other theories other than something moved somehow and the motor and
   headlight raise mechanism aren't making good contact and I'm skipping
   teeth? Is it even possible to adjust to engage the teeth more or less?

   Thanks

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-------------- next part --------------
   Yest it is possible, by loosening ONE of the three small bolts the
   motor drive gear can be pivoted so it goes further into mesh with the
   sector gear. This is also how you fix 'jiggling' headlights, once
   they're up. Something different was done to GT-5 headlight bar parts
   around s/n 9301, according to the Illustrated Parts List. So if the
   sector gear is bolted rather than welded directly to the headlight bar
   as with early cars; perhaps a bolt loosened up and allowed the big gear
   to shift a bit under load? Finally, I'd pull both front wheels and both
   small splash shields and take a peek in there while someone is
   actuating the headlight-raise switch. Maybe something like a horn or
   other part shifted, blocking a bucket from rising.

Any other theories other than something moved somehow and the motor and
   headlight raise mechanism aren't making good contact and I'm skipping
   teeth? Is it even possible to adjust to engage the teeth more or less?

   -----Original Message-----
   From: Charles McCall <charlesmccall at gmail.com>
   To: detomaso <detomaso at poca.com>
   Sent: Sun, Aug 31, 2014 9:20 am
   Subject: [DeTomaso] Headlights don't go up, take II
   Thanks for all the replies regarding how to remove the headlight motor.

   It wasn't fun, but there are worse jobs. The good news is that I got
   the headlight motor out and opened it up. The bad news is that it looks
   perfect.

   The headlight motor was actually quite well sealed, and took some
   persuasion to get it open. But the grease was still greasy and the
   insides looked really in pretty good condition. This is bad news
   because I was expecting to see a broken plastic gear, which I was
   betting was the cause of my problem. Since it isn't broken, now I'm
   sort of out of ideas.

   Before removing the gear, I had my wife turn the headlights on while I
   watched the motor. The motor gear turned, the headlights began to raise
   a quarter inch, but then the gear started skipping and the headlights
   stopped going up. I had assumed that this juddering was due to a jammed
   plastic gear.

   The only other thing that occurs to me is that perhaps the motor has
   somehow come out of adjustment and wasn't making good contact with the
   headlight raise mechanism and it was skipping teeth? The motor gear
   "wheel" was all coated with years of road crud, which may inhibit
   making good contact, but I've never heard of the teeth of this wheel
   getting filled up with road crud and not meshing well enough with the
   raise mechanism.

   Any other theories other than something moved somehow and the motor and
   headlight raise mechanism aren't making good contact and I'm skipping
   teeth? Is it even possible to adjust to engage the teeth more or less?

   Thanks

_______________________________________________

Detomaso Forum Managed by POCA

DeTomaso mailing list
[1]DeTomaso at poca.com
[2]http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com

References

   1. mailto:DeTomaso at poca.com
   2. http://poca.com/mailman/listinfo/detomaso_poca.com