Headlight Bulb Replacement

[Rinko]

Hi guys,

The driver side headlight bulb went on my corolla - so I thought I would just swing into Halfrauds grab a pair of new bulbs, fiddle about a bit and get them fitted.

However - i'm still trying to work out how the fudge i'm supposed to do it.

The manual is about as much use as a chocholate fireguard from what I can see.

The driver side access to the back of the headlight unit is blocked, and the passenger side is only marginally better. I thought I might just have to take the headlight out, but after removing the top two screws there is obviously something else holding it in place and I can't see what.

Anyone shed some light (pun intended) on the situatiuon for me???

[DaveSR]

Im affraid it comes down to one word .......... Struggle :P

There is no room what so ever, and it's a right pain in the **** to unclip the bulb from the inside

However it is possible ;)

Get a lady friend to help or someone with small hands

[Rinko]

Rang the local Mr T to ask if they could give me any info ... the response was

"yeah - it's pretty hard work to replace them ... we'd recommend removing the headlamp itself to make it easier for yourself"

When I asked how I actually removed the headlamp (as there is obviously another bolt under the headlamp, aside from the two visible from the top they said:

"Oh yeah - you have to drop the whole front bumper off to access them"

I mean - jesus ... is it me, or is it just !Removed! stupid that one of the most commonly replaced items (at least during my time driving) is so ludicrously hard to do ?!?!

[rents1977]

Eek! I was looking to do this too... Do you think it is worth paying Halfords £6.95 or whatever it is for fitting? Or do you think they might find it too tough, give up and refund the charge?

I need to replace my side repeater bulb too as it is getting a bit too white, and not very orange. i know that it can be an MOT failure. Is it just as hard to get into?

Thanks..

[Rinko]

To be honest I don't think Halfrauds would manage it very easily - although I am tempted to get them to have a go.

Sidelights look pretty straightforward, you just pop them out ... even the full beams look simple ... it's the sidelights and dipped beams which are the pains from what I can see.

I tried to do the passenger side myself to see if I could - but after a good 20 minutes I couldn't even get the block connector off the back of it.

[Rinko]

Gave up and went to see Mr T - they guy spent 45 minutes replacing a single bulb (albeit without removing the bumper and headlight) - but thankfully they only charged me for the bulb because I complained at how stupid it was.

[DaveSR]

Gave up and went to see Mr T - they guy spent 45 minutes replacing a single bulb (albeit without removing the bumper and headlight) - but thankfully they only charged me for the bulb because I complained at how stupid it was.

Haha ...... good one !

[MarcTS]

*sigh* I love threads like these. I read it the other day and thought "**** that sounds like hard work. Hope I don't have to replace a bulb anytime soon". As luck would have it, I pulled into my driveway this evening and was casually told that my front offside light was out. Then I got told to calm down as it's only a bulb and should be easy to fix.

[hifienthusiast]

I just changed the passenger side headlamp bulb last week myself. It is not impossible, but requires some fiddling. I didn't exactly follow the handbook's procedure which requires the removal of a long plastic cover on the bulkhead.

I unclipped the 2 X 2 inch cover and managed to wiggle the connector and took it off the bulb. Refitting is fiddly but straigtforward.

I was going to change the driver side light bulb, but the space is even more limited. I may have a go when the weather is better.

[MarcTS]

I managed to have a go myself this morning on the passenger side and I took off the plastic cover that runs along the front, then removed the Battery. That then affords you loads of space to get at the bulbs. Total time was about 35mins including finding where I'd left the socket set.

And the drivers side looks like a nightmare to do. Glad that one hasn't gone - yet!!

[nrgizerbunny]

a pair of bent nosed pliers will do the trick. thats what i used and had the bulbs changed in about 5 mins. passsenger side is obviously a bit more involved as the Battery has to come out.

[Rinko]

It was the drivers side that went on mine - and the Mr T mechanic was using a pair of bent nosed pliers to work on it.

The main problem I had was that I couldn't get the block off the back of the bulb.

[vijaykuen]

Yeah i have a 2003 petrol Corolla T3.

I spent ages today changing the main headlight bulbs and what should have been an easy job took ages.

The first problem i had was getting the old bulb out. In particular getting the electrical connectors out. The book says to take the connectors out, then to remove the metal wire clip, then to remove the bulb.

I personally found it impossible to do this as the connectors were far to stiff to be able to be pulled out like this. So instead i undid the metal wire clip first, and then took the bulb out of the headlight whilst still connected to the electrics. I then wiggled the bulb away from the connector. And by wiggle what i mean is a lot of pressure pulling apart from one side, then same again on the other side, then same pressure on the other side, and so on, and so forth..... until eventually the connectors slowly came off, bit by bit.

Then with the old bulb, i kept putting ONE of the bulb pins in and out of each hole in the connector, so as to loosen up the fixture a little bit to make it easier to do this job next time.

Second problem was with putting the new bulb in. It was that if you try and put the connector on first when putting in the new bulb, then the wires block the movement of the wire clip. So I made sure to do the wire clip first, and then the connector afterwards.

Getting the wire clip on and off is tricky too. There is a knack to it, which is something like this, you push it in towards the headlight, and then across. To take the clip off you push in, across, and then it falls out away from the headlight.

There isn't much room in the engine bay for your hands, but i managed to change both of my main headlight bulbs without removing the Battery or the washer fluid reservoir.

Hope that is helpful to someone out there, as it took me ages to do!

[eddieinvader]

Drop the bumper, much easier as stated on previous posts about this subject it can be off and back on in about 45 mins.

Drop it, drop it, drop it

[noedel]

I have got xenon.

For MOT it's not permitted, so have to switch them back once every year.

First time I did it, I thought "Holy moly!"

But after doing it 2 times it's going smoother :)

First of all, open the clamps at both side of that plastic plate.

Then you will see there's a (brown) clamp which holds the bulb in place.

Before u open that one, u must take off the plug with the wiring, just pull it backwards.

Now it's time for the hard job on this :P

I found a pic on the net, where you can see what kind of clamp i mean:

In our corollas, u have to push them to the front side of the car, and then softly push them to the left or right, and this small clamp will come off. Don't worry to let it fall, it can rotate at the bottom of it :)

When done that u can simply take out the original bulb.

Put in the new bulb, get the small clamp back in place by doing the opposite from opening it.

Connect the plug, put on the plastic plate, case closed ;)

Not to show off, but when u do these steps, and u got the feeling for it, it's a 2 minute job.

Grtz

[d4dsr]

Hi , its not impossible, just a bit awkward, I've got hands like shovels, but managed, I upgraded both my bulbs a while back and found the use of a small mirror came in handy to see what i was doing........... patience is a virtue

Jerry

[pimp1chez]

took me 25mins of swearing and cut knuckles just to do the passenger side on halfrauds carpark ,id have know chance with the drivers side

good job i got someone else to install my xenons

[rallyfan1986]

i found the hardest bit was getting the bulb to sit square in its holder.

I found the easiest way was to look from the front of the car to where the bulb goes through into the light rather than looking from the engine side

[marc4242]

Thanks for this thread. I've spent a good hour searhcing and reading about headlamp (main beam) bulbs but still don't know what actual bulb I need for my 2005 T Sport?

I can see I'm in for fun ...

[Gasmater]

Hi marc you need H7 (55 watt) head lights

[john77]

Yes, it is difficult to do this. When my first bulb went it was on the passenger side and after trying myself I got Halfords to do it. When the second one went, it was on the drivers side and I had another go. As everyone has noted the hard part is getting the connector off the back of the bulb - I eventually managed to lever it off using a flat bladed screwdriver.

The next hardest part was to get the spring clip back into place - I eventually got it in by trial and error. However I wasn't using a mirror and inadvertently misaligned the connector when I put it back on, such that the top blade was in the bottom socket and the top socket was empty - hard to describe but easy to do. Wasted a bit of time checking fuses before I had a look with a small inspection mirror, one of those round ones about 2 inches across on a flexible handle, which I'll definitely use from the start next time.

Hope this helps anyone else.

John

[Zydeco Joe]

Have just had the dreaded drivers side headlight blow, had a go trying to get the connector off but failed.

How much do Mr T's men charge for this job.

Doing the nearside about 2 years ago I had the spring clip fall off and ended up removing some of the plastic engine undertrays but in doing this some of the silly push in round clips broke, all was well till 18 months later when on way to Dover to catch a ferry in the rain on the M1 the undertray started to fall of dragging on the road. Ended with a AA call who used cable ties to secure the plastic under tray. To replace clips by my local Toyota garage who have serviced the car from new was far too much so cable ties are still in place.

So not very keen to do this simple or should I say should be a simple job (thanks Mr T), this has been the worst job in eight and a half years of my ownership and its a bit annoying that Toyota build cars with this into a part of all cars that will fail as all bulbs do fail at some time.

Regards

Zydeco Joe

[Liftmeup]

I neede to change a bulb once, look what happened!

[Liftmeup]

prob best to have all new side light, indicator and low beam bulbs ready to change for new when pulling the lamps out. High beams are easilly accessable.

Love it, dident take to long just dont try to rush it :-)

[noedel]

Damn, I really don't understand why it's so hard for you guys to replace them :P

When taking off the plastic cover from the headlight unit, U can see the wires sitting on the bulb (yellow and black wire in the black plastic, at the right on the picture).

Pull the wires off (if U can't reach it with your hands, carefully use a scewdriver or something).

When the wire is off, u can easily get with your middle finger above the bulb, and get the bracket open.

U should push it to the front of the car, and then push it away to the passenger side, so it will open.

Following picture shows the bracket when it's open:

Take out the bulb, put the new one in, close the bracket again, put the plastic cover back on, and problem solved :)

Grtz