Last year, Sarge came out for a day and helped me to convert my 86SE headlights over to the Generation II system from an 87GT. Using a few tips that Don Hulse had told me about getting the wiring harness out and in the areas of the front fascia, the installation went pretty easily for a couple of first-timers, except that the left marker and parking light go out when the lights are turned on and the left signal indicator stays lighted when the lights are on. They both work when the left signal is activated, though.
When it came to installing the control module, rather than removing the left front fender to mount the module as the factory mounted it, I simply removed the fender well liner and found a couple of openings in the sheet metal underneath the retracted headlight, near the left horn. I used a zip tie to hang the module and to help protect it from the elements, I placed a ZipLock baggie over it and zipped it up to the wire harness.
The system worked well for about a year. The car has been seldom driven this year and when I decided to take it out, the headlights wouldn't raise. After manually raising them, they wouldn't retract, so I suspected it was a bad module.
Today, I pulled out my 3 spare modules and set about to replace the failed one. Wheel removed, fender liner loosened and pulled back out of the way, I spotted the module but it was no longer encased in a ZipLock Baggie. So, my suspicion is that water got into it and shorted it. After all, it was hanging directly underneath a long slot in the sheet metal beneath the headlight. Part of the drain feature for that area. The modules aren't waterproof. The flat plate has an open seam all the way around its perimeter. I remember pulling one from a junkyard car and pouring water out of it.
So, I tested all three of my spare modules and only one of them worked. So, now the question is how to mount it so that it's protected and not remove the left front fender. My solution was to remove the headlight assembly and position the module on the fender wall. I marked the desired hole location with a small scribe then using a 17/64 bit, drilled a hole through the fender wall. My first attempt failed as I was also trying to drill through a reinforced area. I suggest that you feel underneath the fender and locate the module as far to the rear of the inside of the fender wall as possible when you're selecting the position for your mounting point.
Once I had the hole drilled, I did something that will make it a little easier to change modules should you ever need to. It seems that GM placed the head of the nylon expander plug up underneath the fender. These are the type that has the Phillips head screw that expands the push-in portion. How the heck are you supposed to remove it without removing the fender?
My solution was to insert the expander from the headlight side of the fender wall, plug in the module underneath the fender, then install it over the expander. At that point, you can install the little Phillips head screw that makes it expand and it's accessible from the headlight bucket area underneath the hood. Now my module should be protected from the elements as well as it was intended by GM.
The problem with the parking light seems to happen on some conversions according to what I've read on Pennocks. I have replacement sockets, but that's still for a future project. Maybe after I get a warning ticket that my parking light isn't working.
