I had to replace my wifes headlight and found out what a pain it is...

Kind of makes you long for the days of the Sealed beams and 3 screws.
Anyway, after jacking the car up, taking off the tire and removing most of the fender liner I was able reach up and twist and remove the old bulb. The problem was putting in the new one. First, you have to be careful to not touch the glass with your fingers, then the dang thing just wouldn't go in! After about an hour (OK, probably 10 minutes) of trying, I thought "let's look at the other one and see how it sets in place". I found the the new bulb was not going in far enough. After comparing it with the old bulb to ensure that they were the same length, I dug around the socket and thought "hey, whats this red gasket doing in the socket when theres one in the new bulb?!" Yep, the gasket stuck in the socket when I pulled out the old bulb! After removing the old gasket, the new bilb went in without any problem.

Thought I would share and hopefully save at least one of you from doing the same stupid thing .

I have learned so much from this site, it is good to be able to pitch in once in a while.

 

I have numb hands, so anything that I can't see is almost impossible to do. I feel your pain, brutha!

 

Sure was easier with the sealed beams. I just changed the sealed beam headlight on a friends older Jeep. I think there were four screws, but it took all of five minutes to do.

 

I did the same thing when I put my HID's in. Frist one dropped right in, second one, I could not figure out why, then I found the gasket.....

 

Half way thru my night of news papers

this morn.. my left side bulb decided to

go out on me. So i have this to look fwd

to doing. Either just the bulb or getting depo's and

making the change that way ~!

 

Good to know. Thanks.

 

Yes that happens alot. So often in fact that I believe it is mentioned in the "how to" of replacing the bulbs.

I have thought about cutting a hole and making a cover to make replacement easier.

 

Would have been nice if GM had done that.

 

That actually happened to me once. So glad it didn't take me as long as you to figure it out. I was rubbing my hands around the back looking for an obstruction and the gasket fell into my palm.

 

it's almost easier to replace the whole light fixture by dropping the entire front bumper. it only takes 20 minutes, however, the light fixture is a lot more in price. If you need to do that , their is a complete youtube short movie on the procedure, it's a breeze to do it.