Remote lock system freaking out

[Ram98]

Every time i hit the lock or unlock on my remote, the headlight doors open and close then the door motors run for about 4-5 sec. Anyone had this problem

[Matto4785]

I believe thats a sign that your motors are dying. Happened to my buddy's 99 ta, did that for about a month, then the motors completely died, one in the up position, the other about 3 days later in the down position.

[PontiacFan]

I believe thats a sign that your motors are dying. Happened to my buddy's 99 ta, did that for about a month, then the motors completely died, one in the up position, the other about 3 days later in the down position.

^ He's right, ..., the gears in the motor package are getting bad, ..., Time to repair/replace the gears.

http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headlightfix/index.htm

[K-ram]

regarding the 98 ws6 with the head light door issue. it appears the motors do not run,they just make a growling noise. If the fuses for the door motors are removed the system works fine. There must be a power module that controls power flow. This vehicle only has 30k miles hardly ever driven at night.

[Matto4785]

there is a separate control module for the headlights, i believe its near the underhood relay center. Though, if the motors are growling, then that generally means the gearing in them is toast, and the growling is it grinding up.
Here's some info on the headlight motors, and how to fix them. You can get replacement brass gears there too, instead of the crappy nylon ones.
http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headlightfix/

[1 badblack transam 01]

When I first got my car I had the same problem when I locked the doors. One of my light gears were stripped. I turned the motor 180 degrees and now when I lock the doors the only that happens is the horn sounds. Try turning your light motor, this should fix your problem.

[TransAmMan]

my car did the same exact thing when my headlight gears were going out. Just replaced them. Problem fixed. Really easy.

[Viprklr]

Sorry to dredge up an old thread but this finally happened to me. Could someone explain how a stripped nylon gear could cause electrical gremlins like these? Wouldn't it make more sense if it was the headlight module going nuts?

[Matto4785]

Its the way the headlight system works. Instead of having a sensor that says the headlights are in full up or down position, it simply relies on the increased resistence in the motor when the headlights are in full up or down.

Let me clarify, cause that makes little sense. The headlights motors are 2 way motors. When power is applied one way it runs up, when the positive and negative are reversed, it runs down. In order for the module to know when to cut power to the motors to turn them off, it reads the resistence from the motors themselves. When the headlights are moving, there is little resistence. As soon as the headlights reach the limit of travel, resistence spikes because the headlight cant move any further and jams the motor. The module sees this, and turns it off. The problem is, since the motors are are still trying to move the headlight when its jammed for split second before the power is cut, it creates a lot of stress on the crappy nylon gear. Eventually the gear strips. if it strips all the way, then your lights arent moving. If its partially stripped, then your lights will still move, but the motor will run until it gets enough "grip" to jam the motor, and cause the resistance to go up. There are brass gears availible, which eliminates the stripping problem. Or you can simply flip the nylon gear around. The motors only travel on 180* of the gear, not the entire thing, so if one side is stripped, just flip the gear around to the good side, and it will be good for a while.

Cheap, simple, Gm design basically.

[Viprklr]

Thanks. Got that part.
But how would stripping nylon gears cause a "remote lock system freaking out"?
Mine's doing weird stuff with it's lights like spontaneously winking at me.

I have the brass gears on order.

[Matto4785]

Well, either the gearing is stripped partially, which could "slip" over the the bad section of teeth, and stop when it hits a good section. But if the car is randomly winking at you when its just sitting there, then its some electrical problem with the module, headlight switch, or remote locking system. But if its doing it when you hit the remote and the lights pop up and down, then its just the gears. I am not 100% as to why the remote system can cause the headlights to pop up and down when the gears are bad, but I believe it has to do with the way the remote locking system is wired with the lighting system. Basically, when the button is pressed, power goes to the lighting circuit to flash the lamps to show you that it unlocked/locked/etc. If the gears are bad and weak, that little bit of power is enough to overwhelm the weak gears causing it them to open. When the power is cut, the module sees that the lights are off, and then closes the lights. That would be the winking.

I hope that helps some.