I have a 1988 GT with approx 9300 miles on it. My driver side headlight began to twitch and not go up. I bought the Rodney rebuild kit, replaced the crumpled delrin disks and other parts, reassembled and all was good on that side. I figured if I fix one side, I'll fix both. I took apart the passenger side, replaced the delrin disks (though they looked perfectly fine), reinserted the springs and brass contacts, closed up the motor and it also worked fine with the hood up. Once I put the hood down, the passenger side motor would only lift the headlight motor 1/4 of the way up and then stop. Lift the hood, both lights lifted fine. I took apart the passenger side again, all looked fine, the manual screw rotated freely so I put it back together.

So, that's question 1 - what did I do wrong in the reassembly that the motor will not push up the headlight door?

Problem two - I decided to forget about it and go for a ride. As I was driving, I decided to test the headlights again. This time, both motors fully engaged, the headlights popped up and I celebrated, prematurely. Just to push my luck, I lowered the lights and tried to raise them again. This time neither motor engaged at all. They continue not to engage. The headlights do light up.

Question 2 - Do you think it's a fuse, fusable link, or just time to blow up the car as a total loss
I checked my Haynes manual for help, but I'm new to this and it wasn't much help. I have seen threads that say to order a new headlight switch and or take off the front wheel/fender liner to gain access to the block that controls the motor, but I could use some help from someone with Fiero knowledge and some grease under their nail.

Thanks for reading!

Do you want us to 'guess' or do you need some help to troubleshoot?

If you want the latter , try this link to start:
http://www.fieros.de/en/articles/headlight.html

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Original Owner of a Silver '88 GT
Under 'Production Refurbishment' @ 136k Miles

That is very helpful, I'll try those trouble shooting suggestions and see if I can get it working. Thank you!

You're very welcome and please, post your results or if you need more help....

PS - In the last five years, I have seen that the motors and/or the headlight switch were common causes of their problems; not the control module.

Even my 136k mile '88 has the original control module...

[This message has been edited by Vintage-Nut (edited 10-25-2025).]

Sometimes when the assembly is removed for any reason, it doesn't get replaced properly. Make note of the contact points on the headlight assembly when the lights are raised and the hood open. Contact points should touch the headlight door cover at the same time. I had your problem with my 86 when I converted it to the Generation 2 system.

On my 87, the same symptoms were caused by a faulty headlight switch. I discovered that by pressing a little harder on the light switch, then the headlight would completely lift.

Update: Saturday 10/25
I went out to manually lift the lights so that they would be up if I needed them. I pressed the power switch and the lights retracted normally. I then powered them again from the switch and the driver side went fully up and the passenger side went 1/4 up. I will disassemble the passenger side again and verify that the brass contacts are assembled on the springs correctly.

If you're hearing the motor still turning when the headlight stops moving it's a headlight motor issue. If you don't hear the motor spining and it has stopped partally up, then its the module or headlight switch. You can disconnect one motor at a time if you need to isolate.

Thank you for all of the feedback. The motor does not continue to run once the lights pop up/partially pop-up.

I did watch a video that showed that removing the right gearing/delrin assembly would require backing out the motor (unlike on the driver side) and would require reassembly of the brass contacts/springs. Is there a trick to getting that assembly back in? When I take apart the right side now, I do not need to back out the motor assembly, the gearing can just slide out. Perhaps the reason the light is not lifting all the way is that the gearing isn't as tight now and when it encounters the resistance of the hinged door assembly, the gearing pops out? I can buy a new switch from the Fiero store, but I don't want to fire the parts canon at the problem if I've just reassembled the motor/gearing improperly.

Sorry to be such a PIA about this, but I am learning a lot from you guys and really do appreciate the time you are taking to respond to this simple issue.

When you disassembled the motor, were you careful to retain the very very small BB that the bottom end of the shaft rides on? If you lost that little BB, the motor can malfunction. There is a dimple in the bottom of the screw shaft and an corresponding dimple in the assembly in the bottom of the case that captures the BB and acts as a bearing for the motor shaft to rotate on.

The motors shut down due to one of two factors. The module times out, or the Ohms rise to a certain level.

[This message has been edited by fierofool (edited 10-28-2025).]

Or buy a new motor and be done with it...
New Headlight Motors
https://www.rockauto.com/en...,headlamp+motor,1412

My Tip: NEW CARDONE is the best on this list...

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Original Owner of a Silver '88 GT
Under 'Production Refurbishment' @ 136k Miles