headlights jammed shut

[merc]

hi, just took delivery of a 71 Opel, so far so good but the headlights lights are shut and will not rotate open...where does one begin to troubleshoot the problem?

[sawdust]

You found the right forum. I would start here

[Lindsay]

http://www.opelgt.com/forums/2c-gt-h...es-please.html

[merc]

thanks a lot!

[baronbors]

Short and sweet of the problem- disconnect the activation cable from the buckets and try to swivel the buckets maually. If you can move them, you have a stuck or broken headlight cable. If they still won't move, you have swivel problems. If one bucket rotates but not the other - you know where to look for the fix.

[baronbors]

Quick tip- make sure you mark where the passenger side bucket is clamped onto the push rod before disconnecting. Makes life a lot simpler when hooking them back up. And of course- replace all the headlight wiring ASAP.

[nobody]

next is to disconnect the rod between the two lights and try them singularly. The rotating mechanism is prone to broken teeth on the start of it's rotation for various reasons. They both have to unlatch at the same time or it sticks and hangs up. The werkstat handbook is very good for tuning in the lights on a GT but hard to get. Think rubics cube for getting them back in time. Every motion on the bottom has an opposite reaction on the top. good luck.