C2 Headlight Motors

[Joseph S.]

[Frank D.]

Re: C2 Headlight Motors

Reworking a set of C2 headlight motors. Cannot find a spec for the worm and drive gear(s) grease. Has anyone had success with something that won’t congeal with the limited use they will most likely get? Also in the past I have rotated the worn drive gears 180 degrees with some success. Can’t see how but has anyone had a bad experience with this practice?
Thanks Joe

People flipped the gear back when the bad repros were being made for the main gear. (they were too thick)..sometimes it worked, often it didn't depending on how badly galled the gear was.

With the newer repro gears properly sized and available I wouldn't mess around flipping worn gears.

[Ed S.]

Re: C2 Headlight Motors

I just completed a rebuild on both HL motors for my 64. I installed new gears. You can rotate the original 180 but if you reassemble the motor and then bench test it you will have no idea what the position of the gear is, unless you open the gear box and reposition it. Gears are cheap - also the new gears are a few thousands thicker than the originals - which I have been told is an advantage because they have less movement or slop - don't know if this is by design or by accident.

As for grease - I found numerous recommendations to: 1) Do not use white lithium grease - it dries up and hardens to fast, 2) use a high temperature bearing grease that contains lithium, an EP 2 grease. Don't know how it will behave over time but again, if you do a search for C2 motor rebuilds on this forum you will find numerous posts that recommend EP2 grease.

[Ed S.]

Re: C2 Headlight Motors

Joe, I suspect that you are not a novice at this C2 HL motor rebuild exercise but.... if you are interested in reading & learning what others have documented on the process I invite you the the Mid-Atlantic Chapter Tech Library where you will find at least 4 articles on the procedure by different authors / technicians. Here is the link to the tech library page, just scroll down to "Electrical" and look for topics on headlights. http://www.ncrsmac.org/Tech-Library

[Paul J.]

Re: C2 Headlight Motors

Hi Joe,

I'm not familiar with the spec for the motor grease, but I have a couple of favorites in my shop for non-hardening greases. One is an old fashioned graphite high temperature wheel bearing grease (the best of all worlds). The other is dilithium grease, which while it's not known for its lubrication qualities, it seems to last a long time before it hardens. Considering the stresses and the tempuratures of the motor gears, as well as how often they are used, I really wouldn't worry much about this.

Paul

[Duke W.]

Re: C2 Headlight Motors

Since the headlight motor gearbox is "lubed for life", you need a full synthetic grease, which will take much longer to dry out than non-synthetic. Something like Mobil 1 or equivalent NGLI #2 full synthetic grease is the best choice.

Duke

[Joseph S.]

Re: C2 Headlight Motors

Appreciate the input. However, Paul, I cannot find any reference to dilithium grease?
Joe

[Richard G.]

Re: C2 Headlight Motors

Use Duke's recommendation "a full synthetic grease."
This is one that will never harden;
Blue Polyurea Electric Motor Bearing Grease
May or may not be the best synthetic for this application but I am sure it is the no-hardening type.
Rick

[Ed S.]

Re: C2 Headlight Motors

Appreciate the input. However, Paul, I cannot find any reference to dilithium grease?
Joe

Joe, just do an internet search for NGLI #2 synthetic grease, you will get a lot of links with products, including Mobile 1 that Duke recommended. With no disrespect intended, I think the "di" in the lithium may have been a fat thumb intervention.