Question about :BUICK REATTA HEADLIGHT MOTOR REPAIR KIT on Ebay

[NCBRIJEN]

Hey all, I have a Question about the BUICK REATTA HEADLIGHT MOTOR REPAIR KIT on Ebay item #7963902767, Are the bushings worth the price and do they realy work?
i am just looking to see if anyone helse has puchased these and if they are happy with the results.
Thanks

[Barney Eaton]

First you must understand what goes wrong with the headlight opening function.
The Reatta experiences two problems. Your car might have either or both.

On the outside of the motor, there is a arm, which we will call the BELLCRANK.
This Bellcrank is made of zinc which is softer than steel. The shaft of the motor that goes into the bellcrank is steel. Over time the shaft wears on the bellcrank and at some point, the hole where the shaft enters, gets worn to the point that the bellcrank will spin on the motor shaft. GM still sells the bellcrank (part #16510108)for about $105 retail.

Inside the motor there is a large white plastic gear, it is attached to the steel output shaft by three plastic rollers. We believe these were originally intended to be a clutch or at least a safety device to protect the motor. Over time, the operation and cycling of the motor to open the headlights, crack the original rollers. They then break into pieces and finally are ground to powder by the inner working of the motor.

You usually cannot determine which part you need without partially disassembling the headlight.

The rollers sold on Ebay and by Eckler's Corvette parts work fine. Are they worth $4.95? That depends if someone else sells them cheaper. They are nothing but plastic rollers. However they do need to be slightly under 1/2 inch in diameter, so you cannot just go to a plastics supply store buy some rod, cut it to length and put it in the motor.

Go to www.reatta.net and read the headlight motor rebuild procedure.

Finally, my pitch. I have developed a steel replacement headlight bellcrank. Because it is steel, it will outlast the factory unit (it might last the lifetime of the car) my price is $35 each including shipping.

I also offer a KIT that includes the bellcrank, three plastic rollers, and the plastic nut for the up-stop for $40 each, including shipping.

These prices are for cash,check, or money order. If you want to use PayPal, the price goes up $1.70 for each bellcrank because that is the fee PayPals
deducts from the money you pay to me.

If I can help you contact me at Barney@texas.net

[harry yarnell]

Excellent post Barney, excellent!!!

[NCBRIJEN]

Thanks Barney, I could have not received a better answer. I appreciate all your help here.

[spongebob]

Barney..my 90's headlights have a "jiggle"..with the headlights in the up position, i can move the headlight cover up and down..maybe a 1/4 "..will this kit take care of this condition??

[Barney Eaton]

The KIT will fix your problem, but you may not need the kit either.
Go to www.reatta.net and click on Headlight repair on the left side.
The last picture shows the back side of the headlight and the UP-STOP is shown.

The one shown is good, most have a bad plastic nut that the UP-STOP screw into.
Check your UP-STOP ....if it is sloppy, go to the autoparts store or home repair center and find a blister pack of plastic nuts. These nuts look like the kind used on license plates but are for screw size #8 you can usually get 5-6 in a package for under $2.00. Replace the nut and see if most or all the jiggle goes away. The screw should be adjusted to be in slight contact with the back of the headlight when it is full open.

When you are working on the lamps, check the link for free play, or see it the bellcrank can be rotated more than a few degrees. That extra movement in the bellcrank can cause some of the problems.

[spongebob]

my right side up screw has no nut on it, i can push up on the bottom of this screw and it will come clear out..on my left side, there is a nut of some sort and when i push up on this nut theres about 3/8" "play"..

what do i need?

[jimustanguitar]

my headlights don't always raise the first time I try, but once they are up, they stay up and are pretty securely held up if i try and push them down. this means that my bellcrank is fine and just these rollers are faulty, right?

[Barney Eaton]

I don't want to make a judgement via long distance. Remove the black plastic over the headlights,(4 T-15 screws) With the headlight up, you can see the bellcrank and by turning the black knob and holding the bellcrank, you can determine the problem.

IF...you turn the knob and the nut on the bellcrank does not move with the turning of the knob, the rollers are bad.

IF...you turn the knob and the nut TURNS but the bellcrank does not, then the bellcrank is bad.

If you think the rollers are bad, pull the bellcrank and inspect the hole where the shaft enters....it should have flats on the sides, if it looks like a BOW TIE it is going bad, if it is round, it is past bad.

[EDBS0]

The bellcrank still could be bad. There might just be enough friction to lift the second time. Once up the headlight would still be difficult, because of the geometry to push it down.

With a helper you may be able to see if the armature is spinning in the bellcrank.

[Americo]

Hi all,
I am new to the Reatta community. I just bought a 90 coup yesterday. I LOVE IT! However my headlights are permanently in the "up" position. The guy I bought the car from was selling it as is and since there was practically nothing else wrong with the automobile I decided to buy it. Does anyone know where in Los Angeles or the surrounding area I can take my car to be repaired?
I would love to do it myself but I simply don't have the time. Thanks all.
Americo.

[EDBS0]

Americo, Barney is the resident headlight guru. This is a DIY job.

[Barney Eaton]

Since the light are permantly open, I would suspect he has unplugged the motor connection or pulled the fuse.

You should be able to see if they are unplugged and look for fuse #1 & #2 to be pulled. This would be located in the fuse box, in front of the air cleaner.

Next you need to go to www.reatta.net and read the headlight motor repair procedure. You can then tell if you need bellcrank, rollers, or both.

[imported_wiggie]

Ithink that the previous fits me, but I want to make sure. Last night, when I went to turn on the lights they would not come up. You could hear a humming grinding sound. If you hit at least 25 mph then they come up. So I need a new bellcrank or nut, and not a new motor? This happened to both head lights. They just came out of storage last saturday. Thanks for your help.

[Barney Eaton]

I attempted to explain the problem in my 3/30/05 post above. I cannot tell you long distance exactly what your problem might be.

[89REATTAJIM]

Barney, are these still available? Price on 2 kits sent to Fl (33614)? Sent U an Email on 5/28. Must have been lost in the cyberzone.. Tks.
Jim

[MauiWowee]

Barney has the "ultimate headlight repair kit" currently on eBay. I recommend
using the whole kit. If your bellcranks aren't bad now, they are on their way out. Lousy pot metal pieces. The "up stops" are always bad. Barney also includes very clear directions for this replacement as well as for the plastic rollers, which apparently have a tendency to turn into dust. I tore into mine because of a flutter (up stops) and found all the pieces had problems. If you run into difficulty, this forum has a wealth of info on this topic.
Good luck.

[Barney Eaton]

I put the bellcrank kits on Ebay for people that don't come to this forum.

I sell the bellcranks two ways........
Just the new steel bellcrank, with instructions is $35 including shipping.
The KIT, with bellcrank, three rollers, plastic up-stop nut, and instructions is $40.00 including shipping.

I don't want to put a phone number or address here. Click on my name at the left and that will get to my profile, with email address. Send me a note and I will give you ordering information.

[Cadillac White]

One thing to consider when headlights wont raise, is the wiring. When I first got my 88, only one light opened (drivers side) and the passenger side only opened manually. I did some tests on the wires, and the passenger side one wasnt getting any voltage when I pushed the button. the wiring on those are very weird, I cant remember how it worked exactly, but it was odd. Funny thing is, I got it to work by jumping it into the drivers side light, but after about 4 uses, it stopped again. This time it was the rollers becasue it had sat so long un used they turned to dust. I wonder how long the guy before me did have use of that light. He told me he took it to a shop and they couldnt figure out what was wrong with it.

Now, I dont take my car to shops for diagnosis because they never know, I jsut have to study this board, figure out whats wrong, and tell teh mechanic to fix it if I dont have the right tools.