headlight motors rattling

[benny13]

Hey guys, I was lubing up the hinge on my headlights because they were sticking, then I put them up and down manually to loosen the hinge a little bit. When I tightened the knobs they kind of popped and became loose again. Now when I turn of my lights with the switch from the interior of the car the lights go down fine but the knobs keep spinning once the lights are already down and make a knocking noise for about 5 seconds. I don't know what I did and or if they can be fixed or do I need to buy new ones? Thanks for the help.
Benny13

[95Formula]

You broke a tooth or two off of the large nylon gear inside the headlight motor. It happened to me more than once on my 95 Firebird and has yet to happen on my 2000 T/A. You can either replace the motor(s) or you can try a couple of different fixes. I would suggest that you look over this page http://www.bfranker.badz28.com/headlightfix/index.htm on Brent Franker's site. It details a few different fixes for this problem. My recommendation would be to go with the brass gears that he offers rather than doing the free headlight fix. As he says on his website, the motors themselves are very durable but the nylon gears are not. Hope this helps!