new toy

[paul]

I have a new car to play with!
I've sold the chameleon '93 T/A and have now got my 2001 Firehawk 10th anniversary on the road.
She has 25000miles on her and she's a six speed.My wife and I are enjoying it immensely but sometimes in reverse there is a metallic rubbing noise, any ideas?

[Christopherrr]

woohoo!! Pics? Congrats...maybe someone can help with the grinding in reverse...

[DierDesire824]

i dont know cause i dont have a manual


but did u trying putting it in neutral and then reverse to see if it still made the noise ?

[thomas]

sinchronizers? Maybe. I dont know, I cant even spell it right.
Some one here can help ya.

[95TransAm]

Hmmmmm.....grinding in reverse eh? If I remember right, I believe DJ Taso had that same problem after his M6 conversion. Then again, it may not have been him, but I can swear I remember reading that someone had that problem.


I'll try and search to find the thread, but I'm sure someone else will chime in on that one.

[wolfdogs]

put it in second gear first, then reverse. sometimes a too high of an idle causes that too.

[paul]

Thanks guys,I'll upload a pic soon.
I'll have another look at the gears and try your suggestions of putting it in other gears first.

[paul]

I think I've located the sound to the front left wheel, when in reverse and full lock to the left the rubbing/grinding noise appears when the brake is pressed,but it does it for a half a second or so.
Also It's the first time I've had the lights on apart from flashing someone out at a junction,and now it seems that when I put the sidelights on the doors come up and when I turn the lights off the doors come down but the left one keeps whirring causing a horrendous noise.
On a relative note,when my car was under conversion to UK spec lighting the garage rigged the headlight doors to stay up,so I wonder if there is a relation to my prob.
Sorry about the pic being small but the restriction of 100kb is very limiting!!!

[95TransAm]

Beautiful car by the way.

On a quick note, you said the doors come up and down. I'm assuming by doors you are referring to your pop up headlights. You also said the left one (driver's side?) makes a noise after it comes down. Does the noise stop after a couple seconds? If it does, then your headlight motor gear is stripped.

There are 2 ways to fix this. Both ways though require removal of the motor, which luckily is pretty easy to do. You have 3 bolts that hold the motor in place, as well as a bolt that goes in to the "arm" which enables your light to come up or down. To get to these, just manually lift up your headlight. You can do this by turning the knob that's right next to your headlight.

Once the motor is removed, you need to gently pry off the cover due to it being glued on. Inside you will see a plastic gear. At this point you have one of two things you can do.

You can either
1) replace it with an aftermarket metal gear
or
2) use your existing gear

If you choose to use your existing gear, just flip it so the other half of the gear is being used. The headlight motor only uses half of the gear when popping up or bringing down your headlights. By flipping the gear, you're using the other half, and obviously just solved your problem.

I've done it before as probably 90% of the people on this board....it's a pretty common problem. Took me a couple hand tools and a half an hour of my life to fix it. Just make sure to use a good epoxy when putting that cover back on, and make sure it is fully sealed.

[paul]

Thank you my family love it!
The noise is constant so I have to either turn the lights on or pull the fuse.
Oddly the lamp doors come up with the sidelights......?
Could it be something to do with the DRL module since it seems fine to raise and lower the lights in the daytime.

[PontiacFan]

Welcome to the club!
Awesome cars!


How about some more details on the SLP options?!?

Ours has the 1LE, Auburn, & A4, ..., Punch it & steer, ...

[wolfdogs]

Thank you my family love it!
The noise is constant so I have to either turn the lights on or pull the fuse.
Oddly the lamp doors come up with the sidelights......?
Could it be something to do with the DRL module since it seems fine to raise and lower the lights in the daytime.

when those headlight door motors go..they cause all kinds of electric gremlins. right now, i have the left front disconnected on our hawk, which is covered in the garage. i have a new motor to go in, just have not had time to do it. it drained the battery sitting still connected.

[Steel2686]

Flip-up headlights are a nightmare. This is where Camaro owners are really lucky. I've helped my brother replace several motors throughout the years on a couple of his cars.

The Corvettes are even tougher (C4) due to the rotating motion they use to come up. My brother's '84 Vette (it doesn't have the p.o.s. crossfire injection motor in it anymore) actually came off the track somehow and put deep scratches in the tops of the headlights.

Beautiful car, man. Enjoy it. These little problems are a PITA, but after you fix them, it gives you great satisfaction. Brings you closer to your car.

[SteveH95Formula]

I've got the brass gears about a year ago on my '95. Motors maybe different but had'nt had a problem since.

[Dave M]

You Brits sure do talk funny... It's like a whole 'nother country or somthin'