Damn Pop-up head lights.

**arozar** · 10-13-2006, 05:06 PM

Hello all,
I just took the bird for a ride and my damn lights started grinding when I turn them on/off. Only 10,000 miles on it, I know its the gears. The main concern though is that when I turn the alarm on/off they pop-up and go back down. Also if I turn the parking lights on, they popup. It just started doing this, but I dont know what would make them popup when the alarm go on/off, and just the parking lights. Thanks for any help.

**AKIRA** · 10-13-2006, 05:20 PM

Id like to know why the headlights would even be triggered through the car alarm. Theres gotta be an elrctronic loophole to get the alarm on, without the lights being triggered..

I mean even if you locked the doors with the electric lock from the door panel, it still causes the headlights to go up and down.
(Manually locking them was my key to unlock myself out of embarrassing exits from the car's presense)

**99_natural_beauty** · 10-14-2006, 09:19 AM

I believe it's setup like that from the factory - for all the lights to blink when you turn the alarm on or off, because mine does that too and always has. There is a way to change it though. I read it somewhere, it might have even been in the owner's manual, to change it to where the lights don't come on when you turn the alarm on or off. You can also change it to where the horn does (or doesn't) come on for a second when the alarm is set. Anyway, I'm pretty sure that was in the manual.

As for the headlight fix, I'm sure it's been posted several times on this site already and is easily found with a search, but here is a link to a page that will tell you how to fix it without getting a new motor. Linky

All it is (usually) is the nylon gears inside the motor getting stripped. But the cool thing is you're actually only using half of the gear, so you can turn it 180 degrees and it'll be like new. At the top of that page he talks about putting metal gears in to replace the nylon ones, which is another option, but I just did the free fix because I'm cheap. It's near the bottom of the page, so you have to scroll down quite a bit. You don't even have to take the motor out, though I think he does just to get better pictures or better access. When a friend of mine helped me with mine (both times because yes indeedy it's happened on both sides now - thanks Brian!) he didn't even have to take the cover to the motor off or take it out of the car. It was like 10-15 minutes and has worked great ever since.

**AKIRA** · 10-14-2006, 09:29 AM

I turned my gears half way too and the fucking thing grinded after a few months, so I decided to just buy the two brass gears.

Well, installing the gears is easy, but putting that god damn motor back again isnt as simple. I glued that fucker tight and even left the motor in vice grips overnight to keep it tight. It apparently wasnt enough..the top came off and disappeared, next thing you know, my headlight is grinding from the weather removing the grease from the gear-gear connection.

Now I have one brass gear with one side of it grinded away. My only advice would be the hardest to advise...so someone else can tell you how to do what I plee. When you remove the top plastic part off the whole motor, dont fuck it up, the rough edges wont make for a clean tight fit.

What makes it easier? I hope someone else found an answer..

**juiced99ws6** · 10-14-2006, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by arozar

Hello all,
I just took the bird for a ride and my damn lights started grinding when I turn them on/off. Only 10,000 miles on it, I know its the gears. The main concern though is that when I turn the alarm on/off they pop-up and go back down. Also if I turn the parking lights on, they popup. It just started doing this, but I dont know what would make them popup when the alarm go on/off, and just the parking lights. Thanks for any help.

Hey man it is nothing more than your gears being bad. There is no electronic issue, i cant tell you why it does that but I can tell you mine did the same thing til I did the free fix and now they work just fine.

**Fastcar** · 10-14-2006, 11:07 AM

I have a 2000 T/A with the factory alarm. My headlights have never popped up when the alarm is armed / doors locked. Only the daytime running lights / turn signals, side marker and tail lights flash. If the foglight switch is turned on, they'll flash too. This won't help you with the worn gear problem, but I don't understand why your headlights pop up - seems like it would cause a lot of unnecessary wear & tear on the headlight motors.

**AKIRA** · 10-14-2006, 03:42 PM

When your gears grind, the headlights come up and down every time you electronically lock the car. If they dont, then your gears (and your headlights are not grinding).

There is no reason why a lock should affect the light's motors, but it does.

**YoMommasTA** · 10-14-2006, 04:34 PM

there are alarm options for the lights.Look in your owners manual for setup.ALSO remember NEVER EVER turn your lights on while moving,it destroys the gears fast from the force of the wind acting on the opening doors.My wifes 99 has 90k on it and the motors are like new,no grinding and she drives alot at night.But she never turns then on unless she is stopped.Guess how we know not to turn um on while moving?????

**AKIRA** · 10-14-2006, 06:47 PM

Owner's manual? Ive never heard of that. Why not just post a quick solution? I mean if its in the manual, it wont be too technical...

**YoMommasTA** · 10-15-2006, 05:50 AM

i'm not gonna post an entire section of a owners manual on programing the alarm system,geez get the book out and read it!

**02WS6dream** · 10-15-2006, 01:39 PM

arozar...don't worry its not an electrical nor alarm problem; its just the gears. When mine went out the headlights started reacting to the alarm too...i don't remember if they did it when i manually turned on the parking lights with the switch, but i imagine they would. I read on the guy's website that sold me the brass gears a detailed explanation of why...don't remember now..just the way it is. Replace your gears, and it will be fixed.

**Silver Streak** · 10-15-2006, 02:33 PM

A buddy of mine(BLK00WS6)'s car just started doing the same thing.. once the gears started to grind after he would lock/unlock or turn off the headlights.. they would pop up then down, and grind for 5-10 seconds

**YoMommasTA** · 10-15-2006, 02:36 PM

yep it will do that because the headlamp door control is pulsed.If the gears are stripped it causes the motor control to run through a cycle.There are also alarm option for the headlamps on-off...but thats a completely diff thing.

**AKIRA** · 10-15-2006, 02:46 PM

Originally Posted by YoMommasTA

i'm not gonna post an entire section of a owners manual on programing the alarm system,geez get the book out and read it!

My car didnt come with a manual. So I just cant believe this until I see it.

**YoMommasTA** · 10-15-2006, 04:05 PM

Originally Posted by AKIRA

My car didnt come with a manual. So I just cant believe this until I see it.

do you honestly think gm would sell a car without instructions to program its functions?

**Silver Streak** · 10-15-2006, 04:06 PM

Theres a site that you can download the year manual for you car.. looked at it uesterday but can't remember it for the life of me...

**99_natural_beauty** · 10-18-2006, 06:51 PM

Link

This is a link to downloadable owner's manuals that's posted in one of the stickys at the top of this forum section.

**crazyhic** · 10-27-2006, 03:42 PM

Hey guys. My TA just started doing the same thing yesterday. Now that the gear is going down the pooper, the headlights do open and close every time i set the alarm and when i deactivate it. I'm glad its just the gears. Thanks for the info guys. crazyhic - 2000 ram air black

**6sw00** · 10-29-2006, 06:39 PM

na no way its the gears.. my left headlight was not working for a while.. so i bought a new motor. still didnt work. then i bought a headlight control module (used) and it did the same thing..just recently, my right headlight has been poping up and down with the alarm but it has never done that before..then it just didnt want to work. did it by hand once and then it worked fine again..anyway.. i took it to my mechanic, and he thinks i need a NEW headlight control module priced over $200. so i didnt bother with that yet. since the right one was bugging out on me, im thinking of bringing it to a dealer and just pay the millions.

**02WS6dream** · 11-02-2006, 11:50 PM

think i would replace gears with brass ones (under 100 shipped) before i paid the 'millions'... Not sure if that will cure your particular problems, but its definately possible; and i do know that your gears will eventually strip out if they haven't yet so you won't have wasted your 100 if it doesn't fix the problem.