Brian MD Barham:
Headlamp Motor Fix (part 1)

Symptom: When attempting to turn-on, there’s a lot of whining, then you don’t always manage to get it up, at least not all the way, conversely, after it’s been up and shining then it’s turned-off, it goes down with a bang and the whining continues after it’s tucked back in it’s resting place. Sounds familiar ?……

     This has never happened to me…..but a friend of mine had this problem and this is what I…I mean he did to cure it.

    After removing the the Headlamp Motor from the car, it is pretty simple to remove the three screws ‘A’ (English size I recall) holding the Gear Drive Cover to access the Plastic Driven Gear which was the root of my Headlamps impotence. To remove this Gear, I found that it was necessary to raise the Motor Housing by taking the two retaining screws ‘B’out and lifting the Motor about ¼ inch, at which point the Motor’s two spring-loaded Carbon Brushes step off the Commutator and come to rest on a smaller diameter section of the Motor Shaft, but at least you can now remove the Plastic Gear and begin the repair.

    The Gear is primarily comprised of three parts, the Plastic section carries the Gear Teeth and forms part of the Hub. The second part is a Die-cast assembly with an integral Shaft, and the third part is the substance that fills the space between the Die-cast ‘Clover Leaf’ and the correspondingly shaped but larger cavity inside the Plastic Hub.

     Inside mine I found a granular filling not unlike Cane Sugar Crystals, both in color and form. I’m guessing that the original condition of this material was rubber-like, giving the drive mechanism some flexibility (Otherwise there would be no reason for the huge clearance between the two parts ?).

     After thoroughly cleaning and de-greasing each part, I chose to use an RTV Silicone Adhesive to fill the Hub prior to re-assembling with the Shaft.

     Once the adhesive has cured you can test your patience by attempting to get the Motor Housing to mate to the main Gear Housing. The tricky part here is holding the Carbon Brushes against their springs as you lower the Motor Shaft. In order to hold the Brush’s apart through an ever decreasing gap, you will need to use something that can hook the Brush connection wires, yet be no thicker than 1/8 inch. I used half of two Cotter Pins, but I should think that a Paper Clip or similar could be modified to achieve the same end.

     Apart from the Carbon Brushes, the repair is very simple, and it could just save you the $170 cost for a new part.

AN UPDATE ON THE MOTOR FIX By Andy Yim (3/2000)

Headlamp Motor Fix (part 2)

     First, identify which side is having trouble. They utilize the same repair kit, but the left side requires a bit more work (this has to do w/ the brush installation on the armiture - I'll explain this later).

     The part is in kit form -- "for repairing Ford/Chrysler power windows."  I found them locally for $14.95/Kit.

Good Luck!

LEFT SIDE:
1. Jack up vehicle / Remove wheel / Remove plastic inner fender. The inner fender is held by (3-4) 10mm bolts in the arch of the well and (3) Phillips #2 screws on the underside. The inner fender can now be pulled out.

2. Open hood / Remove (2) 10mm bolts behind the headlight housing. Be sure to count the shims/washers under each bolt because they will fall out.  Doing this will make adjustments a lot easier!

3. Remove 10mm bolt retaining connecting rod at the light motor. (see pic below)

4. Remove (2) 8mm bolts anchoring the motor unit from inner fender. (see pic below)

5. The motor is now free to be removed from the vehicle.

6. The motor should be disassembled on a towel - to catch small pieces (small springs/bolts).

7. Remove the large bracket from the unit 8mm nut and bolt.  Remove the 10mm bolt on the drive arm. The arm can be removed by clamping in a vise and taping the center bolt with a small hammer.

8. Remove the (3) 1/4" bolts on the other side. Upon removal of this cover - it'll reveal the mysterious granules.  Remove the (2) 1/4" bolts retaining the housing for the Armiture (Don't lose the (2) springs behind the brushes!!!) Upon removal of the Armiture shaft -- the white plastic sprocket is free to be removed from the housing.

9. Clean the parts with compressed air, insert the new torque pins and re-lube the sprocket with grease. Insert the sprocket back into the housing. (see pic below)

10. Here's the tricky (hard) part. Get a strand of wire - can be found in a stripped length of speaker wire (see pic - "Torque Pins").  Holding the motor housing in one hand / Insert the (2) springs in the slots near the brushes. (see pic below)

11. With the strand of wire / Make a loop around the brush and insert the brush into the slot (see pic - "Brushes") Do the same with the other side.

12. While pulling the brush back w/ the loop of wire/Slide Armiture into the housing/When fully inserted, remove wire by pulling on one side of the loop/Do this on the other side/Attach (2) 1/4" bolts.

13. Position sprocket cover and install (3) 1/4" bolts/Attach large bracket to motor housing.

14. Place motor back into vehicle and install all bolts removed (just reverse the removal procedure).

This is a perfect fix, so it should last another 4-5 years.  The right side is easier -- you don't have to deal with the brushes -- essentially the same removal/installation.