My sister called me to change a blown light that a local auto service chain couldn't do anything with. So I examine everything. According to manual, changing the light doesn't involve much more than popping the bulb socket out of the rear light's housing, pulling the old bulb, popping a new one in, then re-inserting the socket into the light housing.
"This _should_ be easy," I thought to myself, minding the fact that a paid professional couldn't do the job.
And, over the next 20 minutes, I find out why: The bulb won't budge. Not with average office-Joe strength. Not with a strategically-placed screwdriver that, I hoped, could leverage the bulb without breaking the bulb's glass or the socket. It was dark and getting colder by the minute, so (with some struggle!) I unplugged the socket from the car's power supply, and worked on the socket in the house.
After fiddling with the socket a little more with a screwdriver, I became tempted to use a industrial-strength pair of pliers I have to remove the bulb. Right then I realized that I'd only put myself in the hospital, something that the paid professional probably realized.
Given that the bulb seemed determined to stay where it was, I semi-resolved to break the bulb away from the socket without, hopefully, damaging anything permanently. I begin to chip away and pry up at the plastic surrounding the base of the bulb glass. A few minutes later, the bulb pops out. I didn't damage the socket, but I realized why the professional had so much trouble.
There was _epoxy_ gluing the bulb to the socket. And there were enough chunks of it left in the slot to doubt that a new bulb would make a good enough connection to light up. And there's no way to test the connection (right now) because the new bulb fell further into the rear light housing upon replacing the socket, and I can't reach it.
This is the first time that I've changed a bulb on any car, so I can't say whether this "method" of securing bulbs is typical for the car industry, GM, or the Cavalier. I _can_ say that I would have designed a socket that can secure a bulb properly without chemical additives, and make it possible to change a bulb in less than 40-45 minutes.
The car is out-of-warranty. Is there a proper fix for the situation?
-d