Headlight bulb removal

latief · Post by **latief** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:01 am

Newbie question:

One of my headlights died- the bulb is out.....Do i have to take out the air box to remove the driver's side headlight bulb? any tips on removing the bulbs?

thanks,

r/tguy02 · Post by **r/tguy02** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:23 am

nah its easier than taking out the airbox. Just unbolt the headlight, there's 2 long ones and then a short one on your grill piece and its ready to come out. You just have to jockey it around a bit to get it out. once the headlight is out the back of the headlight is now exposed, turn the retainer collar on the bulb about 1/4 turn counter clockwise and it should release, then unseat the bulb from the housing, theres just an O ring holding it in at this point. with the bulb now out just unclip it from the harness. other than that its just reversing the steps. Hope that helps

thanks again for the rims

Post by **occasional demons** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:40 am

Wow, you are just now needing to replace the bulb? Either you don't drive at night much, or it was a good one. Glad you live in Florida, or you might be having issues getting the headlight bolts out. They tend to rust weld to the tiebar. IIRC pics of your car are pretty rust free, so it should go relatively smoothly. Tho a shot of penetrating oil can't hurt. Here in the rust belt, it is a good idea to break them loose every so often to keep them free.

latief · Post by **latief** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:41 am

Glad you liked the rims...

if i remove the headlights, it will be hard to align them again....these should be designed so that you could change the bulb at any time such as driving down the highway at night......what a poor design this is.....

Post by **occasional demons** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 9:43 am

No need to re-align them. They will bolt right back in place. You will better see where the adjusters are once you have it out. I would soak those too, for good measure.
Edit:

Paul56 · Post by **Paul56** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 10:04 am

I just went through the grief of removing those headlamp housing bolts.

Yes indeed a poor design when replacing the bulbs requires removing the housing. Certainly not something I would want to be doing beside the road at night.

Despite the bolts having soaked for a week with penetrating oil the heads snapped off a couple of the bolts.

New bolts were used when installing the Depo replacement headlamp housings.

Post by **occasional demons** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 12:21 pm

Really no worse than fumbling with those tiny screws/rings that held the old sealed beams in. At least if you drop on of those 8" long screws they are easy to find.

sxmania · Post by **sxmania** » Tue Jun 09, 2009 3:32 pm

Ha ha you think replacing stock bulbs is tough, try aligning projectors lol its a joke and a half

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 1:39 pm

damn. when i put my silverstars in I just reached down, turned the plastic lock thing pulled the socket out replaced the bulb and put the plastic lock back on. no removing anything and this was when I still had my stock intake on

excon · Post by **excon** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 7:57 pm

latief · Post by **latief** » Wed Jun 10, 2009 11:41 pm

sidepipe87 wrote:damn. when i put my silverstars in I just reached down, turned the plastic lock thing pulled the socket out replaced the bulb and put the plastic lock back on. no removing anything and this was when I still had my stock intake on

intake or stock air box?

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 1:06 am

stock air intake, which is the air box yeah. No mods, I did nothing except change the bulb. Took a few minutes total.

r/tguy02 · Post by **r/tguy02** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 7:59 am

sidepipe87
you have the newer 03-05 style headlights (going from your sig) you might have a bit more clearance than latief and I with the 00-02 style headlights. maybe someone with small hands could do it on ours but other than that i'd just remove the headlight.

sidepipe87 · Post by **sidepipe87** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 10:13 am

Yeah, I have the '03+, but I imagine the clearance would be the same on both. I hear ya though, I guess I do have fairly small hands.

Post by **racer12306** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 12:11 pm

You know what they say about people with small hands......

they wear small gloves.

sxmania · Post by **sxmania** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 12:23 pm

...small gloves?
Try fog lights without removing lol

latief · Post by **latief** » Thu Jun 11, 2009 1:41 pm

removed the headlights and changed the bulbs. the only way to do it....!!!

thanks,

Chris04sxt · Post by **Chris04sxt** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 2:05 pm

I just remove the top section of the air box and reach in the back. Much easier than dealing with the rusty ass headlight bolts.