1990 Reatta Headlights Overhaul

[BRD]

Overhauling my headlight assemblies/motors/wiring and have some questions that I could not find answers to in the terabyte of information on Reatta headlights already online.  Greatly appreciate any insight you are able to provide!

 

1.  Is there a latest-and-greatest “preferred” gear and rollers set that have come out over the past couple years?  I know many variants exist over past 30 years and some are better than others.  But I have purchased several “lifetime” sets and they have also failed over the years from normal use.  [Not talking about the bellcrank - I have the “Reatta Parts West” edition of these and they are rock solid with zero noticeable wear]. 

 

2.  Currently have Eckler’s plastic gear/rollers as a back-up set in my possession (photo attached). Have not tried these before but willing to use.  Do they work well?  Does the hollowed-out design have some mechanical advantage or is this just to save on materials/weight in production?

 

3.  What type or brand of gear grease should I use for the plastic gear mechanism and the drive shaft in the headlight motor assembly? 

 

4.  Should I also put gear grease inside of the plastic gear surrounding the three rollers?  If so, how much?

 

5.  What type or brand of lubricant should I use on the other metal parts of the headlight assembly? (e.g. bearings, arms, etc.)

 

6.  If the motor itself has failed, other then the obvious (not working or locked up), what should I look for to indicate failure?  I took one apart to inspect and had to use high-strength fishing line loops to hold each of the magnets in place when reinserting drive screw into assembly. 

 

7.  Why is there a hole in the bottom of some of my motor assemblies and not on others (photo attached)?  Should it be covered?

 

8.  Noticed that some of the spacer washers (shims) were not evenly distributed.  Is this intentional or a mistake?  Read in another post just to put equal number on each side of the arm. 

 

9.  Any updated recommendations on how to get the broken off small screws out of the gear housing (photo attached) ?  Have seen in multiple posts that sometimes two of three of these meld in place and break off.  30% of mine are broken off in place.

 

10.  Should both headlight doors have the “rubber gasket washers” for the “top” two larger bolts? (photo attached without gaskets inside)  Mine only had on the driver’s side.   

 

11.  Headlight “up-stops” seem to fail often.  Three of the four I have also failed.  Is there a more robust repair or fix?  I.e. why is a plastic nut used if it always seems to fail?  Can this be done with metal parts?

 

My right headlight door would not come up every 15-30 cycles.  I noticed two things when examining my headlight assembly.  Would like to know if either of these findings are what likely caused the failure: 

 

1)  The right headlight door “up-stop” was completely loose and not in place (photo attached), and

2)  When I inspected the three rollers in the plastic gear, I think that one was actually laying horizontal (photo attached).

 

12.  Would it make sense that the cause of the intermittent but fairly regular door problem is that when the gear cycled to the “horizontal roller” it would not work.  To get it to work, I would manually turn knob approximately 6-10 turns and then it always worked perfectly.  My guess is that I was manually turning the gear to a point that the other two rollers (in correct vertical position) would then be able to engage.  Do this make sense?

 

13.  There is a lot of exposed terminal between the end of my Sylvania SilverStar H6054 headlights and the Reatta receptacle (photo attached).  Have replaced my lights 2-3 times a year and always wondered if this is normal?

 

14.  Have used the premium SilverStar headlights for several years now.  Definitely better than OEM but decidedly dimmer than modern headlights – especially for a daily driver with frequent cross-country trips.  Is there an even better headlight or supporting wiring configuration to get more power to lights that has come out within the last year or so?  Not looking for LED or HID to blind oncoming traffic or provoke road rage in cities even when using low-beam.   Just something commensurate with the majority of cars on the road today.

 

15.  When I press the “Lights” button on my switch I send power to the headlight motors to start opening or closing the door.  But what triggers the motors to stop?  Is power sent to motors for a pre-determined amount of time?  Or is there something mechanical that tells motor that door is fully-up or down and to stop running?  If mechanical, how can I inspect or test for proper operation (now that my headlight assemblies are fully disassembled).  Asking this to troubleshoot potential that my car thinks the headlight door(s) is not fully-up or closed and sending erroneous signal to headlight door module and pulling parasitic power.

 

16.  Any good source of headlight manual motor turn knobs?  I have two but missing two on a spare set.  Do they just pull off or are they glued into place?  Have had a couple just crack and randomly fall off over the years.

 

Thanks!

 

BRD

Edited July 16, 2020 by BRD

[Ronnie]

Here is the Readers Digest version of what would otherwise be a long post:

 

You don't need to change the large white gear unless it is obviously worn or damaged. Don't use a metal gear. The plastic is plenty strong enough to do what it was designed to do.

 

Don't take the motor apart unless you suspect it is bad. Since your headlight door fails intermittently you might want to take that motor apart and check it for a bad spot on the commutator or a bad brush. Be prepared for the small screws to break because they probably will.

 

The bushings (rollers)  are not going to last forever. They are designed to slip or break in the event the door hangs or gets pushed down when open. They will denigrate and crumble with time even if you don't use your headlights. Replace with the same ones you got with your headlight repair kit. Be sure they fit tightly. Some bushing on the market are slightly smaller and will cause extra slack between the the gear and the shaft that turns it. They will fail quickly and at best cause sloppy operation of the headlight doors. Don't use anything harder than the stock bushing and make sure they are the correct size.

 

Use a light grease of your choice to lubricate the large white gear and bushings Don't pack grease around the bushings. They don't rotate. I don't know why they are called rollers.

 

The upstop screw isn't really intended to stop the travel of the headlight door as it opens.  It should be adjusted after the headlight door is fully open to take any slack out of the headlight door linkage to keep the headlights from bouncing.  If you try to adjust it to stop the door it's going to break. 

 

I don't know why the headlight socket doesn't fit your headlamp properly.

 

 

[BRD]

Thanks Ronnie!