my right headlight is bouncing like a fish in a boat.

i guess its time to buy a headlight repair kit.usually i would just get the cheapest one.anyone that has guidance on this please pm me.thanks.

$45 for Barney crank kit including shipping

Handmedown - I have deleted my post as, after seeing Padgett's comment and re-reading your the thread, realize you requested a PM, not an open product promoting post. My apologies and I have sent a PM.

Kingsley

If it goes up and down properly but jitters when driving you are probably just missing the upstop.

it sometimes opens and sometimes just bounces a couple of times.

If the bellcrank is totally stripped, the headlight will not open. There is no fixed rules on what happens, but the bellcrank is almost always worn to some extent. The hole starts to look like a "bow-tie" and that is part of the slop. Inside the motor, the plastic rollers crack and the action of the parts are like a dull food processor..... the cracked parts are cracked more and more until the rollers are the size of "kitty litter". This is floating in the gear cavity so more slop is added to the mix. Bottom line, if your headlights are "stuttering" on the way up and slamming shut, you need to order replacement parts. I have never seen a Reatta headlight that "healed" itself. All the replacement bellcranks available today will last the life of the car. The rollers are and should be plastic. Being plastic they will fail again someday, so why not put aluminum or some other "perminanent" roller material in as a fix? Consider the plastic rollers a "fuse" if there is a bind, frozen door, or some other reason the headlight door will not open, the plastic roller will break before some other, more expensive part fails. The plastic rollers are cheap, the other parts are more expensive....... do not use steel or aluminum rollers to repair your Reatta headlights.

I think the fish had the jitters just before he swallowed the hook and it was downhill from that point.

I think that the utilization of the travel stabilizer screw and insert is of limited effectiveness once the looseness in the linkage rises to a certain level.

To ensure the best possible view of an operating headlight, I use the bench testing unit that I have which incorporates the '90 wiring harness and both left and right headlight assemblies. When testing my crank arms (and I feel certain that it is true in the other units that are offered), when using the manual knob to open and close the headlights, there is normally about 1/8" or so of "up and down" play when the headlight are half open. This is primarily the inate looseness in the spherical brass bushings in each end of the link arm and can be worsened by even minute wear in the headlight motor shaft bushing. Occasionally the bolt and nut holding the link arm to the moving assembly can loosen a bit.

However, when hard open, the linkage will be firm and there should not be any "jitter". I do not think you will find any jitter when new crank arms are installed. This is not a sales pitch, it is just a matter of fact when I test my crank arms.

Let's take the case of a headlight assembly which has an OE crank arm. As these tend to round out, you get looseness in the linkage and any up and down motion, in the scenario mentioned above, will be increased. With the inertia created as the assembly opens in a nano second, all looseness is in play and the assembly is in its most open position as it moves to full open position. Let's say that the travel stabilizer screw and insert nut have been adjusted to take that looseness out of the linkage. The metal tab on the assembly, against which the travel stabilizer comes to rest, makes contact with the head of the screw and that screw has to absorb the impact of the max open assembly until all of the looseness/play is taken out. It is a rather hard slap and that is why it is most unusual to open up a headlight assembly and find the travel stabilizer screw and insert nut intact. Not unusual to find the insert nut broken and the screw missing.

These are my observations and I would like to receive comments from any interested forum participants.

Kingsley

NOTE: Barney's post above was made while mine was being written. My comments were made on the assumption that the torque rollers were in good condition.

Headlight problems like indidicated earlier in this thread are the most common mechanical issue that Reatta owners will encounter. All Reattas will have have these problems sooner or later but the good news is that it is an easy fix with the right parts. See: http://forums.aaca.org/f200/headligh...ts-280826.html

There is only one kit on the market that fits better than the original, is constructed of the highest quality materials, and includes both variations of upstop nuts. This repair is not as difficult as some would make it appear but if you have any questions at all before the sale, during installation or after the sale I provide phone support 7 days a week during business hours and beyond.

$45 for Barney crank kit including shipping

one

I had both original crank arms on my car. One side had a rebuilt gear assembly with new nylon bushings, one did not. Both crank arms were worn enough to need replaced, but not completely stripped. The one with the original, subsequently chewed up, bushings on the gears did this. I cannot recommend a good rebuild kit as I had nothing but trouble with the first one I used and fabricated my own for the other side.

I've been asked to clarify this problem. As far as I understand it, several forum members manufacture kits and they do a fine job of it. I've never used any of theirs and so I cannot recommend one more highly than another. The first kit I bought was not from anyone on here, suffice it to say.

All the headlight kits sold here are good..... they fix the problem and you should never need to replace the arm/bellcrank again. The plastic rollers in the kits are plastic and see lots of torque....it is impossible to estimate how long they will last. They are probably good for 5-10 or more years, but the rollers are cheap.

I have always used Delrin torque drive pins and have not had a problems with crushing, deforming, etc

Kit

If it is just the soft arm rounded out I take a small drill bit and drill thru the arm, thru the mount, and out the other side of the arm. I put the arm on the mount with a dab of J B weld to fill the rounded area, put a small nail thru the drilled hole and never deal with that problem again. 5 minute fix.

If it is just the soft arm rounded out I take a small drill bit and drill thru the arm' date=' thru the mount, and out the other side of the arm. I put the arm on the mount with a dab of J B weld to fill the rounded area, put a small nail thru the drilled hole and never deal with that problem again. 5 minute fix.[/quote']

Until the nail snaps from having all the torque from the electric motor spread over the very small surface area of the nail.

Then your motor is completely screwed up as well from the use of the JB weld.

I've seen too many cars with this "fix", and too many owners that had to shell out the money for a whole new motor because bad fixes like this, not to mention Ill-fitting crank arms that get misaligned and bind up the motor.

If you're reading this and need to fix your headlights, do yourself a favor and do it right the FIRST time. Don't go the cheap and easy way. It will always end up costing you more money. Always.

You make me sound like a complete moron... First, the nail acts like a pin, many types of drive units use a pin in their assembly. This nail, as used, will never, ever shear. The J. B. Weld fills in the "wallows" and thus aligns the crank on the motor. Nothing is going to explode. So far I have 7 years on one and 5 years on another. Besides, if I bought an aftermarket crank someone will come out of the woodwork and chastise me for having a non stock part on my car.