Hi all,
Is there a way to bench test headlight motors out of the car? I read this post ( https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/087068.html ) I but got absolutely no results at all....no movement of the motors.
I didn't have any relay hooked up, would I need to?? (noob here) I have a second set that I would like to verify are working correctly before I put them in the car, as I have read several posts that demonstrate this (headlight motors) is another problem that can get you chasing your tail if you're not careful....
As always, TIA
Brian

Your best bet might be to watch Buddycraigg's videos on the motors.

Here is part one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ3zppMREiU
If you do a search on youtube for "Buddycraigg" and "fiero" you will find all his videos.

There are two on testing the lights and 7 of re-uilding the motors

As far as testing one off the car, closed would be putting +12 on the BLUE wire and ground or neg. on the Green.
Open would be +12 on the Green and ground on the Gray.

But the motor will not stop running unless you have the motor in the bucket so it hits the stops.
That is what causes the motor shaft to shift and trip the stop limit switches in the motor at either end of travel.

Watch all Buddy's videos on the lights and you will know all.

[This message has been edited by Dodgerunner (edited 03-16-2008).]

welcome to the forums.

quote Originally posted by Bnemo: I didn't have any relay hooked up, would I need to??

if you dont have any relays hooked up, then you wont get any movement. unless you are using jumper wires straight to the motors.

quote Originally posted by Bnemo: I have a second set that I would like to verify are working correctly before I put them in the car,

there is no way to truely test the motors out of the car.
without the motors being attached to the bucket assembly, you cant tell if the limit switch is working
and without the motors being attached to the bucket assembly and in the car fighting against the spring tension of the headlight cover, you cant tell if the big plastic gear is stripped.

Thanks guys,
I watched the utube video of gen 1 /part 1 and have found my first hurdle....the isolation relay is missing on my car. The ony place I could find one was at a dealership for $35. Is there anyone/anyplace from the forum that has them for less??Or is that pretty much the going price for the iso-relay?
p.s. My second set is the complete headlight assembly /motor/bucket/lights. But as stated in my first post when I did the 'test' on the assembly according to the referenced post, I got no movement...

[This message has been edited by Bnemo (edited 03-12-2008).]

I think buddy sells used relays that he has tested and cleaned.

Oops, thought I had saw that on a post... Sorry..l

[This message has been edited by Dodgerunner (edited 03-13-2008).]

quote Originally posted by Bnemo: The ony place I could find one was at a dealership for $35. Is there anyone/anyplace from the forum that has them for less??Or is that pretty much the going price for the iso-relay?

i have not found a replacement isolation relay from any store. be grateful GM still sells them.
and 35 is about right,
you can get them for a little less from gmpartsdirect.com, but after you add in shipping it's about the same price.

quote Originally posted by Dodgerunner: I think buddy sells used relays that he has tested and cleaned.

nope.

[This message has been edited by buddycraigg (edited 03-13-2008).]

update... I went to a local boneyard and found 5 fieros, at least 2 of them were 84' so I got 2 isolation relays for $5. Got home and put one in and the driver's side sprang to life!! went down with the lights off and up with the lights on! SWEET easy fix there. The passenger side is another story. Motor goes down when the lights are off but it doesn't stop when the light is down all the way. It also doesn't go up when the headlights are turned on. So I checked out the rest of buddycraig's utube videos and got it diagnosed. It appears the headlight relay on the passenger side is bad.I can get the light to go up and down using jumpers at the headlight. But the limit switches are not working in either direction. I checked out the videos for the motor rebuild but buddy didn't really touch on the subject of bad limit switch (well not in the first 2 videos anyways...) Are the limit switches fix-able or can they be 'rebuilt'? Did I stop watching the vids too early?? Or is the drive gear maybe slipping causing the limit switch to fail since the motor never stops running when it reaches its limit. It doesn't bog down it just keeps spinning...
BTW Buddy , the videos are very helpful and informative! Kudos to you! (I noticed that you removed all your safety gear though... tsk tsk...) Can the limit switch be fixed?? As usual .. TIA
Brian

[This message has been edited by Bnemo (edited 03-16-2008).]

If you watch more of the videos if the motor keeps running the plastic gear is stripped out. You need to take the motor apart (probably should do both just to clean them before the other breaks also) and clean the crude out and rebuild it.
If the gear is stripped you can disconnect the arm to the bucket and turn the motor output 180* and get by again.

But you need to clean and work the gears over anyway.
The usual problem with a bad limit switch is the motor not running.
Buddy's rebuild video is good.

quote Originally posted by Bnemo: Motor goes down when the lights are off but it doesn't stop when the light is down all the way. It also doesn't go up when the headlights are turned on.

i think you have a stripped gear.
they act differently depending on how bad they are stripped.
but they all sound like this...