Reatta headlight repair

[Barney Eaton]

Just a reminder, while the weather is bad in most of the country, that I still rebuild headlight motors as well as having steel replacement bellcranks.

I have found quite a few Reatta owners that do not work on their own cars and if your headlight motors need new rollers, a mechanic will charge you more in labor to install the rollers than I charge for rebuilt motors.

If you have someone else do the work then consider getting rebuilt motors, in some cases, (especially if you live in the rust belt) the screws in the motor may twist off and you may not have the tools to remove the broken screw, etc

Send me the bad motor ....even with broken screws and I will fix it (cannot have broken case) Motors are completely disassembled, cleaned, lubricated, tested and returned. New rollers are put in all motors and if there are any other worn or damaged parts, replacement parts will be substituted.

I still have the original steel (Barney crank) bellcrank and give a lifetime guarantee with them.

In another post about antenna....for a limited time, I will rebuild your antenna and all you pay is the shipping both ways. I am experimenting with replacement plastic rod that goes in the antenna and need several antenna to

get the different choices tested in real life use.

Contact me at (Barney@texas.net) or call 512-869-5114 for more information.

[padgett]

It is all easy except for the two *^&*^&% lower bolts. I wind up giving a blood sacrifice every time.

[Ronnie]

It is all easy except for the two *^&*^&% lower bolts. I wind up giving a blood sacrifice every time.

These bolts?

[Guest Mc_Reatta]

Removing the lamp assy at the pivot points is definitely worth the little extra time it takes, and your hands and fingers will thank you.

[Barney Eaton]

If I were more technology savy......I would make U-tube videos of repairing the headlights, antenna, exposing the dash, and finding and changing the ECM and BCM.

Hopefully some of our younger Reatta owners will do this and we will have a file somewhere to locate them when needed.

[padgett]

Yah, suppose I should but old habits die hard (one done and other out of black car). Did have one square nut deweld. Oy.

[Jim]

Getting at the bolts that hold the motor to the housing necessitates getting the vertical filler panel support out of the way.

What I do is remove the one bolt on the top of the core support and then slide a piece of heavy paper or a rag under the filler panel support and the push it towards the center of the car. I then take a rubber snubber and hold it as far away from the headlight motor bolts as possible. This gives me enough access to the bolts to remove them.

The reason for the rag or heavy paper is so as you are sliding the top of the filler panel support towards the center of the car, you will not scratch the paint on the core support.

No bloody fingers this way.

[padgett]

Jim: Are you talking about the three motor bolts ? Is there enough room to get the motor out that way without removing the bucket ? YWTK

[Guest Circuit_Doc]

Thanks for the head light repair kit Barney. I installed new rollers on both sides and replaced the bell crank on just one.

The light work much better and don't shake while driving.

Thanks again!

Gary

Queen Creek, AZ

[padgett]

BTW when (not if) you need to replace the other crank, it can be done without removing the motor or the headlamp bucket.

ps I just found out the if the bulb is not plugged in or is blown, the assembly does not retract. DIscovered when I tried a rebuilt one in the black car before putting in the SilverStar & nothing happened.

[Guest squiretom]

have replaced both sides rollers and barney cranks within the last year. worked great except now, the driver side refuses to rotate on occasion (pass. side is fine ). it will work fine for five to ten cycles then no movement. if i pop the hood and give the manual a quarter turn , it will work fine for awhile and then the error occurs again. it has gotten so i pop the hood every now and then and give the motor a little crank just to be on the safe side.

could it be the brushes , commutator or mechanical bind.?

i had a 54 dodge hemi indy pace car that would vapor lock. it had its little preventative maintenance schedule also.

thanx for the posted tips.

[Ronnie]

have replaced both sides rollers and barney cranks within the last year. worked great except now, the driver side refuses to rotate on occasion (pass. side is fine ). it will work fine for five to ten cycles then no movement. if i pop the hood and give the manual a quarter turn , it will work fine for awhile and then the error occurs again. it has gotten so i pop the hood every now and then and give the motor a little crank just to be on the safe side.

could it be the brushes , commutator or mechanical bind.?

i had a 54 dodge hemi indy pace car that would vapor lock. it had its little preventative maintenance schedule also.

thanx for the posted tips.

My guess would be dirty/burned spot on the commutator or sticking brushes. Shouldn't have anything to do with the parts you replaced.

[Barney Eaton]

I have rebuilt a few headlight motors that have a dead segment of the commutator.

If the motor stops on that segment the motor will not run, but if you move it to the next segment they will run.

The problem can usually be fixed by soldering the winding wire to the segment end.

When they are made, the wire goes into a groove that is crimped around the wire. Over time it might loosen and loose contact.

The only way short of taking the motor out to test for this would be to disassembly the headlight down to the point you have access to the motor shaft. Remove the bellcrank and slip on something like a cardboard disc that you can make some marks on.... mark the disk into 10-12 segments and number them. Using something as a reference point, turn the motor to segment 1 and see if the motor will start, continue trying each segment until you find that one fails.

It is probably just as easy at that point to remove the motor from the cast bracket and open the motor and test the segments with a meter.

[Jim]

Jim: Are you talking about the three motor bolts ? Is there enough room to get the motor out that way without removing the bucket ? YWTK

Yes,

I remove the black bezel around the bulb and then after removing the three motor mount bolts I remove the clip on the flat steel arm at the end opposite the bellcrank and then the motor, bellcrank and flat steel arm will all come out.