Ain't Headlight Buckets Misbehavin'

[Joe C.]

So here's one that caught me by surprise: one headlight bucket rotates beyond full open and beyond full closed, so initially I thought that the "Y" stop was broken or cracked. Upon inspection, I find that it is not. Before I remove the hood, inspect, order parts, wait for delivery and reassemble resulting in a lot of downtime, does anyone know what it probably is so I can drive the car and order the part before removing the hood to get a better look?

If the motor works beyond the "Y" stop travel limit, does it have enough torque to strip the grooves from the "Y" stop so that it's free to rotate on the shaft?

[Gene M.]

Re: Ain't Headlight Buckets Misbehavin'

Joe,
I would say the motor does not have enough torque to over ride the splines of the Y yoke stop. But if the stop has been loose for a time the splines (aluminum) could have eaten them selves up from chucking back and forth. Another remote possibility is the shaft on the drive pivot is broke. Loose or missing screws on the Y stop will allow the buckets to turn more beyond up and down position.

[Richard M.]

Re: Ain't Headlight Buckets Misbehavin'

Joe, I'd agree with Gene's assessment, and add another regarding the Y-stop. It's possible that the previous installer mounted it incorrectly, i.e flipped it 180* so that the splines didn't match up with the splines on the steel shaft. It'll still work that way with the pinch bolt tightened, but it may slip around the shaft over time. The Y-stop is the same part# for either side, so you have to ensure the splines line up to the shaft splines on each one. You'll have to remove the motor to investigate.

You may not need any parts, just a flip of the Y-stop if the splines are still okay and a re-tighten it. But it's going to be tough to get in there and see what's going on. You'll also have to adjust the stop bolts for proper up/down headlight position.

I've done this work with the hood on before but my arms are narrow. I always put a extra bolt in the hood support though for safety. If there's a way you can safely tie the hood straight up to the ceiling with the hood support bolts released, it'll give you more room.

Rich

[Frank D.]

Re: Ain't Headlight Buckets Misbehavin'

I seriously doubt the headlight motor would push a bucket past the "Y" stop - the main motor gear will get galled before that happens and usually does. Might be interesting to run the motor with the manual thumb wheel into the stops just to see what happens and how much stopping resistance there is though...

I have a 3-section extendable aluminum pole from an old teepee-style boat cover with rubber cups on the ends that I use to extend the hood fully while working on the headlight motors. One end goes behind the shielding near the wiper motor and the other end goes below the rearmost hood brace. As noted you do NOT want that hood closing when you have both arms jammed down in front of it up to the elbows. Hurts, very embarrassing with your butt up in the air and self rescue is impossible!!

[Joe C.]

Re: Ain't Headlight Buckets Misbehavin'

Not ignoring you all, just haven't gotten around to investigating yet. It could be a long while.