C5 Popup Light Problems

I had the same problem. It gradually deteriorated to the point where there was a grinding noise, then the light may or may not pop up. This was the final and EASY solution.... Pappy

My 99 C5 has started doing this. I generally give myself a couple of minutes before driving at night - just in case I have to try the lights a few times - and people don't like the C6 lights. WTF - getting rid of pop-up- headlights means 1 less thing to fail. OK, it's not a problem if you a. sell the car after 2 years or b. are an accomplished mechanic - I'm neither.

Right now, my 99 has a. seat slop. b. airlock in cooling system. c. R/R wheel with cracked chrome (or wheel). d. sagging door hinges. e. headlights that don't always pop up. f. abs & traction control that keep intermittently saying they're not working. g. center section of airdam pushed back (hit part of the carcass of a truck tire on the freeway, at night).

So all in all, I hope car designers will think about what is going to fail on the car as it ages. no pop-up headlights mean - the pop-up can't fail. Right now, if I didn't hate F**d drivers so much, I'd buy a 2006 GT500.

And on mine (a '98) both side arm rests have wrinkled and cracked and the center console has several splits in it. BTW I found that there's a knob on the headlights so you can manually crank them open if the motor fails.

Rufio- Your car is 7!!! years old. Although we are all annoyed at the seat slop, the sagging door hinges, cracked wheel, airdam are not really quality issues. More like people leaning on opened doors, running over pot holes, and truck tires (GASP!). The airdams sell for about $70 on ebay and attach with two bolts. You probably dont even need a new one just get in there and pull the truck tire out from under your car and it should come back down. I would be curious if your car is overheating. (airlock in cooling system) C5's need the air dam in the down position to direct air to your radiator.

Oh, I'd also be curious if your cracked R/R wheel broke a sensor when it got cracked. I've heard of C5's having a traction warning when making fast right hand turns from a stand still. My 2000 does that sometimes but I usually don't accelerate fast unless there's a hopped up 5.0 next to me under a light.

-Stan '99 Blown Vert '00 Coupe

I've not had an air dam for years on my C5 and the temp has never exceeded

Sorry for the delay - Opera decided you were spam. My airdam isn't so much "no airdam" as "anti-airdam". When I drive my evening commute, I spend 1 hour & 45 minutes on the freeway in Scottsdale Arizona - at 0-25-0 MPH. It gets up to 228F & then the fan cuts in. But then it could be worse - at least I got out of Plantation in 1996 (how can you stand the humidity....and the East Coasters coming South in Winter?).

But a Rolls Royce that is 20 years old is a GREAT second hand car - it NEVER ages :-)

I didn't break a sensor when I cracked the rim - my traction control & abs were already playing up long before that - but het - a good driver doesn't need them (and at $2,500 replacement cost - why bother).

So I've now got a new chromed OEM rim. But Discount Tires threw a wobbly when they saw the Nittos on the back - said they were bald - bollox. Couldn't get F1 Supercars, so I have a pair of GS-D3's & they're fine for the difference in price (compared to Supercars).

I just got a pair of ramps & I'll be woodworking this weekend to build a pair of low angle extensions so I can get my C-5 up the ramp & I can straighten the airdam.

I DO love my C-5 90% of the time (but maybe Recaro's on the shooping list, if I can't fix the seat slop - leather's split & stained by the orginal owner, so I'm not giving up much).

Well its a good thing it's a C5, if it happened to a C3 you'd be screwed. Those suckers had (have) vaccum powered popups... Thank god mine still work.