My friends mom's T/A

**cobrakiller99** · 12-06-2008, 11:41 AM

One of my good friend's mom has a 00 formula ta and just recently one of her headlights stop going down, so basically one headlight is down and one is up. Anybody know how to fix this or know what the problem is?

**DUBL0WS6** · 12-06-2008, 12:03 PM

Have the headlight motor replaced.

**cobrakiller99** · 12-06-2008, 12:45 PM

is that the only solution? nothing you can do about it, how much does those things cost?

**SS02** · 12-06-2008, 01:05 PM

Originally Posted by cobrakiller99

is that the only solution? nothing you can do about it, how much does those things cost?

I think if U want it work, that might be it?
I am sure there not cheap!

**shady milkman** · 12-06-2008, 01:13 PM

might want to take a look at the gear teeth...they are plastic...if they are bald on one side...move the good side to where the bad side was...since the motor only uses 180.....it is most likely a headlight motor...make sure and tell her to not open or close her lights when the car is in motion.

**shady milkman** · 12-06-2008, 01:14 PM

oh and by the way...all t/a's are formulas...but formulas arent t/a's

**BIG GUNS** · 12-07-2008, 05:07 AM

Originally Posted by shady milkman

might want to take a look at the gear teeth...they are plastic...if they are bald on one side...move the good side to where the bad side was...since the motor only uses 180.....it is most likely a headlight motor...make sure and tell her to not open or close her lights when the car is in motion.

Correct. I only open mine at medium to high speed. When I close them, I make sure I'm at or below 40mph. Fighting the wind to close them only wears down the gears.

**cobrakiller99** · 12-07-2008, 08:07 AM

how can you look at the gear teeth? how do you pull the headlight out? sorry guys i have no clue about headlights.

**02transamce** · 12-07-2008, 08:33 AM

check out rockauto.com that where i bought my left headlamp motor back in feb.the post about the gear is correct,but i chose to replace the motor because it was a bitch to get the gear cover off,at least it was on mine.

**JoshieDoom** · 12-07-2008, 09:41 PM

If that side makes a grinding sound when you try to close it then your gear is fried. If it makes no sound at all check the connection, unplug it, clean it out with electronics cleaner and then use dielectric grease and plug it back in. If that doesnt work then the motor itself is fried. They are usually 112 bucks from gm. I just changed mine out. I DO NOT open or close my headlights when i am moving.

**1998 T/A** · 12-08-2008, 09:34 AM

a moto cost me about 70 bucks at autozone and i got a lifetime warranty on it. good luck installing it, i had it put it in by a delaer mechanic while i was getting my brakes done. he said he had to take off the front bumper, its a real bitch.

**deepblue** · 12-08-2008, 12:50 PM

Un-plug the light pig tail and see if it has corroded. If so clean it and apply some electrical grease on the prongs and see it that helps. Water will spray on the plug when driving in the rain. The grease will help with the corrosion. A
frind of mine had the replace the pig tail due to this. he has 23K on a 2000 TA southern car and seen very little rain.

**cobrakiller99** · 12-08-2008, 02:01 PM

thanks guys, you've all be a big help, im about to do it when he comes back from school and see what happens. how do you unplug the light? do you have to go in from the hood?

**Mean Green Z28** · 12-08-2008, 05:38 PM

if you can hear the motor, the gear is stripped. Take off the black headlight trim, take the arm off the motor (10mm nut) and manually rotate the gear 180degrees (the flats need to spin around 180) by turning the motor and reinstall the arm.

**cobrakiller99** · 12-08-2008, 06:02 PM

Originally Posted by That Guy 2-1

if you can hear the motor, the gear is stripped. Take off the black headlight trim, take the arm off the motor (10mm nut) and manually rotate the gear 180degrees (the flats need to spin around 180) by turning the motor and reinstall the arm.

thanks

**JoshieDoom** · 12-09-2008, 01:05 AM

The headlight assembly comes out with three easy bolts.

The motor comes out with 3 easy bolt.

goodluck and keep us updated.

**02transamce** · 12-09-2008, 02:24 AM

Originally Posted by 1998 T/A

a moto cost me about 70 bucks at autozone and i got a lifetime warranty on it. good luck installing it, i had it put it in by a delaer mechanic while i was getting my brakes done. he said he had to take off the front bumper, its a real bitch.

i have replaced the headlamp motor and the front bumper does not need to be removed,pretty straightforward replacement.

**JoshieDoom** · 12-09-2008, 02:26 AM

A t20ish torx bit and a 10mm rachet will do all the work.

**BLAUPLOW** · 12-09-2008, 09:52 PM

thread would probably get alot more views if the title was just "my friends mom"

**fbird777** · 12-09-2008, 10:38 PM

Don't replace the whole motor assembly, just replace the stripped out nylon gear with a brass gear from Brent Franker. Why put the same nylon gear back in your car when it may fail months down the line. Here is a link to the headlight motor rebuild kit:

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