Consistency of Headlight Motor Balls

[sahein]

I made the washers that Barney designed and they worked for a couple of weeks before failing. When repairing again I noticed play in one of the motor drives so I disassembled it. What I found was steel nuts in the place where the plastic balls should be. Are the plastic balls of a consistency that will allow them to collapse?<BR>If they can collapse, I surmize that the failure of Barney's washers and maybe the original arms failed due to overload. I suspect that not using the correct balls to repair can be more expensive to repair than getting the correct replacement parts.<P>Anybody have any comments?

[2reattas]

The plastic in one of mine had started to crumble, wasnt quite powder. The new ones I recieved from Ecklers are hollow, with about 1/8th in. wall.

[justfish89]

Hey Guys,<BR>I repaired my headlamp motor gears several months ago and they're still working fine. If you'd like yours repaired just e-mail me and we'll work out a deal. My e-mail address is justfish89@worldnet.att.net<BR> Danny Walker [img]images/icons/grin.gif" border="0[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif" border="0[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif" border="0[/img]

[Barney Eaton]

I have ask several allegid plastic experts what kind of plastic the original "rollers" were made from. If I were still employed, I could have them analized, but I like retirement better than gaining that little bit of knowledge. <P>It appears the mechanism was designed some years earlier for other GM cars to act as a clutch. If the headlighs were stuck open or shut because of ice or snow, the big gear would turn and the rollers would be "squeezed" between the lobes on the die cast part attached to the outpput shaft. The rollers probably worked fine but the plastic aged and after a number of years could no longer take the compression forces and started to crumble. The rest is history if you have disassembled a motor.<P>The Reatta has a headlight module that senses the current consumed by the headlight motor and this module shut off the electrical supply when that draw reaches a predetermined limit. To my knowledge, the other GM cars did not have the current sensing module so they needed the rollers. Because the Reatta has the module, I believe there could be a solid connection where the rollers are located and it would not hurt the motors.<P>I still install plastic rollers when I rebuild motors because the rollers are available and I don't want to take a chance on burning up a good motor. <P>And before you ask, the other motors that use this design will not interchange with the Reatta.<BR>The Firebirds and Fiero used the clutch but the motor, and mounting are different, The Corvette used the clutch but only a single motor with a shaft going out both sides.<P>One final comment... the washer in the headlight repair procedure was not a great design. I have replaced it with a later design that is an arm and that will be published in an upcomming Reatta newsletter.<BR>Because of my loyalty to the BCA and Reatta division, it will not be updated on the other procedure until after it is published in the newsletter....(politics)