haiven20

Well, my new "silvered" blinder bulbs came in and I was anxious to get them installed. After figuring out how to get the lights in and out of the housing I was having trouble getting it to blink. So I removed it, reseated it and it worked outside the housing, put it back in, no workie.....

I went to pull it back out of the headlight assembly when to my utter amazement, the bulb popped out inside the headlight assebly and cascaded to the bottom (incert string of explitives here). I still have the OEM, and it was reinstalled with no problems.

I guess what I am asking is, is there anyone in the Pembroke Pines, Florida area that has experience and the tools to open the headlight assembly to get this bulb out, or do I need to just go ahead and use this as my excuse to purchase the color matched assemblies to install?

Thanks ahead of time.

Z CRUZN

Did the same thing here after about 5k miles in - bulb worked loose & dropped into the driver's side headlight assembly. You don't have to disassemble the light - Only way to get it out is to remove headlight & turn it on it's end to get the bulb out thru the hole in the top (where the turn bulb fits in). I'm telling you - I tried everything, but had to remove the assembly. Whatever you do, DO NOT try to stick anything in thru that hole to try to fish it out - anything that touched the chrome finish on the reflecting material will ruin it....a little embarrassing, but I speak from experience!!!

haiven20

Thanks for the heads up, I honestly did not think of that, now.. to get the headlamp assembly taken out...

Genji

iTrader: (1)

Actually.... you CAN get it out from the parking light hole. I used a flexible pick-up tools with a string attached at the end so I could control the 'bend'. Grabbed the bulb and pulled it up next to the hole and released it there. Then used a smaller pick-up tool to pull it out of the hole. A real PITA, but better than taking the whole thing apart!

Z CRUZN

I'm telling you that if ANYTHING touches the reflective surfaces in the headlight assembly, it is Phucked up with a capital P! After reading your post Genji you must be one patient fella - ha! There's barely enough room for the bulb to fit thru that hole let alone the bulb with pick-up tool clamps around it. Kudos to you!! I did the same thing & messed it up royally (to me it was messed up, but then again, I'm pretty picky.. - ha!)

haiven20 - Unless you're as skilled as Genji, just remove the headlight and don't take any chances until you're willing to bet $5-600 for a new headlight assembly (minus bulbs) if you screw up (unless you don't mind hairline scratches on the reflective surfaces or if you can find a used headlight assembly & keep your fingers crossed that it's in good shape if you find one). R&R the headlight takes maybe an hour or two. In a perfect scenario:

1) raise front of car or put on lift
2) to make it easier, remove tire if you want
3) loosen front of inner fender well
4) remove the 3 bolts that hold the bumper on (one side only) - can do a search here on removing bumper to see exactly where bolts are) - easy to get to after fender well is loosened. After loosening, pull down that one side of the bumper cover.
5) If I remember correctly, there are 3 or 4 10mm bolts that hold the headlight assembly in - again, a search for "removing headlight" here will show you. 2 bolts on side & 2 in front.
6) Unhook electrical connections from back of headlight assembly
7) Remove headlight and shake, shake, shake until bulb comes out.
8) re-assemble in reverse order.

Yeah, it's a pain, but it's a safe way to get 'er done. I learned my lesson the hard way. After years of playing with cars, I've learned there is certainly more than one way to do most things - just giving you my .02 here in this particular matter. Hopefully, like Genji, others that experienced this problem will speak up here to help you & give you options.

BrickydZ

iTrader: (22)

Call a local auto trim installer. They have a flexiable rod tool with a strong magnet on the end for grabbing errant nuts and bolts inside door and deck panels.

Providing that the bulb has some metal it should work with some luck. or you could try to make one from a coat hanger and duct tape the magnet on.

good luck

haiven20

Thanks for all the help, this will be my project for this coming weekend. If no one hears from my Sunday, either check the morge (cuz I worked myself up so much I had a heart attack), or a local dealer.....