I ordered new gears/bushings/gaskets for my headlight motors from the Fiero Store after one of them stopped lifting (motor still runs when switched). The rebuild sets came with instructions but they are not as detailed as I would like as someone with very little mechanical experience. Didn't really find much by searching the forum, does anyone have more detailed instructions or an illustrated/video tutorial on how to do this? Or should I track down a copy of one of the shop/owner's manuals? My 88 Formula is my daily driver, so I'd like to get this done ASAP.

All the gen 2 motors I have fixed just needed the bushings replaced. They are the three small plastic parts. Just swap them out and it should be fine.

When you take it apart look at your original gears. Brush off the chips and they should still be in very good condition. Best to reuse the OEM gears. The aftermarket gears are a much lower grade of plastic and will most likely fail in time. I have only seen a handful of bad OEM 87/88 headlight motor gears in all the years I have been doing this. If you use these new gears save those old gears. You may need them one day.

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Rodney Dickman

Fiero Parts And Acc's Web Page:
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Here is a Youtube video.
It does give you a peek inside and some good tips.
The music is a little hard to tolerate though.
Some of the words used to describe the components is amusing.

Part1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuX6an9MJe0

Part2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ8IeZWyUMY

[This message has been edited by Jims88 (edited 01-06-2015).]

quote Originally posted by Jims88: Here is a Youtube video. It does give you a peak inside and some good tips. The music is a little hard to tolerate though. Some of the words used to describe the components is amusing. Part1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuX6an9MJe0 Part2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ8IeZWyUMY

Those are the videos that I used and was about to post the link to. I thought the hardest part was getting the whole assembly out of the car to take the motor off.

My motor seems to be suffering from a different problem. Mine would only go up if the hood was open and would make a terrible sound. I rebuilt it with rodneys kit, and the bushings I removed were still in decent shape. Put it all back together and I still have the same problem. The plastic gear looked perfect, I didn't inspect the metal worm gear that closely.

quote Originally posted by zmcdonal: Those are the videos that I used and was about to post the link to. I thought the hardest part was getting the whole assembly out of the car to take the motor off. My motor seems to be suffering from a different problem. Mine would only go up if the hood was open and would make a terrible sound. I rebuilt it with rodneys kit, and the bushings I removed were still in decent shape. Put it all back together and I still have the same problem. The plastic gear looked perfect, I didn't inspect the metal worm gear that closely.

The video of your headlight motor operating sounds like the motor bearings may be worn, on some motors the bearings can wear enough to cause the armature to rub against the stator. Causing loud noises.
Unfortunately you would have disassemble the motor section to inspect for wear marks.
Since the plastic gear looked good like you mentioned, I would think the metal worm gear is probably fine also.