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Selling Me Your Old/Bad Headlight Motors

I am almost always buying working or non-working headlight motors.  Since I rebuild all motors I receive, I pay the same for working and non-working motors.  I give $25.00 for 84-86 motors, $25.00 for 87-88 motors and $40.00 for 93-02 motors.  You are responsible for shipping costs to send me the motors.  Please contact me first if you plan to send me more than a few motors.  Your 84-86 motors should be relatively complete, but I accept these motors in nearly any condition.  Since I don't intend to be able to use every part from the cores I get, I'm not too fussy.  For the 87-88 motors, they should be in decent condition with no cut wires or missing parts. 

There is often some confusion about where the motor ends and the rest of the car begins.  If you are sending cores, please try to send what it is you received... the single piece arm that extends from the motors main shaft should be included with your core motor.

Parts for Sale

I generally have parts available.  They come and go.  Here is what I currently have and what I'd like to get for it.  Please email me if your looking for something that isn't there.  My father-in-law owns a salvage yard with several Fieros.

No parts available right now.

Diagnosing Your Headlight Motor Problems

1984-86 Fiero (82-86 Firebird)

There are a number of things that can be wrong with your headlight system and not all of them involve replacing the headlight motors.   Some options are:
If you purchased your car with non-working headlights, do not assume that your headlight motors are plugged in.  You may incorrectly diagnose the problem because the headlights were never connected in the first place.  People generally disconnect the headlights because of a bad motor.  The main gear becomes stripped and the motor does not turn off even with the keys out of the ignition.  There is a single blue wire that connects directly to the motor and a pair of green and grey wires that connect to the motor through a relay which is attached to the headlight assembly. 

Lets eliminate the easy options:   Fuse and switch.  You can check your fuse box easily enough and verify that the 20amp fuse that controls your headlights is not broken.  If one headlight is working, but not the other, you can also eliminate this problem.  If your headlights shine, but do not move up or down, then the interior switch is functioning properly and is not to blame.  Another easy fix not listed above is to tap on the knob on top of the motor.  This will sometimes get the motor off and running again, though if you need to do this regularly, I would suggest getting the motor rebuilt as it is obviously not running as smoothly as you would like.

It certainly helps if one of your headlight motors is working.  If it is, you can eliminate the isolation relay.  You can also move the actuator relay from the working side to the non-working side to see if that changes the side that is not working.  If so, you have a bad actuator relay. 

If also helps to check if the motor works in only one direction.  Disconnect the blue wire and manually turn the motor until it is about half way up.  Reconnect the blue wire and try turning the headlights both on and off.  If the motor works in one of the directions but not the others, there is also a good chance that a relay is to blame. 

Removing and Installing Headlights

These directions are for the Pontiac Fiero.  Be sure to disconnect the electrical connector first.  For 1982-86 motors, you need to disconnect the blue wire.  For 87-up motors, there only is one connector.   You will be removing the entire headlight assembly and then removing the motor from the assembly.  The assembly is attached by 4 10mm bolts.  It is easiest to access the lower 2 bolts with the headlight in the upright position.  Take your time and turn the headlight up manually if it is not already.  The bottom bolts can just be loosened instead of removed, but I prefer to remove them completely.  They are a bit tricky to get at and a short 3" extention on your ratchet will help.  Remove the top bolts next.   Disconnect the wires to the headlight bulb and then disconnect the wires to the relay.  They later are often sometimes difficult to get out of the relay... make sure the tab on the side of the connector is fully depressed and give it some wiggling.  Gently dissonnect the wiire restraint that connects the "bulb wire" to the assembly.  Make sure all the wires are free.   The headlight assembly seems to be easiest to lift out of the vehicle when the headilght is in the down position.  Just take your time and manually turn it down.  The lift the whole assembly loose making sure to keep it free of the studs it was mounted to.

The motor is attached to the headlight assembly by 3 10mm bolts and by the motor arm. .Remove the long arm from the motor first by slipping the c-clip off with a small screw driver.  Try to do it gently if you don't have access to more c-clips or you will be on your hands and knees looking for a c-clip.  Don't remove the arm just yet.  Remove the 3 10mm bolts  Then remove the arm from the motor.  The motor may be difficult to remove from the assembly because it still has its small arm and and odd looking piece attached to it.  It may help to turn the motor knob (are you sick of that yet) until it is lined up more favorably to be remove from the headlight assembly.   Watch out for a little plastic sleave that may be inside the long arm or still attached to the motor.  Whatever you send me to rebuild is what I will send you back, so don't loose these little pieces.
  
Re-installation will basically be the above steps backwards.  However, if you bought rebuilt motors before or without sending in cores, you may have a motor with just a small arm on it and not the extra odd looking piece that your core has.  You need to move this piece over to your motor.  Notice which side is facing away from the motor BEFORE you remove it.  It is attached by a c-clip. Make sure it is on with the same side facing out as was on your old motor.  You can now perform a similar but reversed sequence of steps to install your motor.  Always connect the single blue connector last (1982-1986 motors).  BE SURE TO KEEP YOUR HANDS AWAY FROM MOVING PARTS WHEN RECONNECTING THE BLUE WIRE.

If you rebuilt motor does not work as expected, see the "diagnosis" section for information about other possibly causes or send me email.

Links

Here are some Fiero links that I have in my bookmarks:

Contact & Payment Information

Email:  mfdgs@yahoo.com Shipping:     David Solt
             1421 Buena Park Dr.
             Frisco, TX  75034
Paypal:    mfdgs@yahoo.com

I accept checks, but must wait to clear.  I do not accept credit

cards other than through Paypal.