02 stratus, freakin headlight

Mar 20, 2006 1 Replies

Ok, I get the joke now, its like water torture, right? So how the hell are you supposed to replace the freaking head light bulb? Its virtually impossible to get your hand in there, then, the little plastic do-hickey is over the plastic tab on the bulb. And if I could get that harness off, I still have no idea how the damn bulb is held in the housing? twist lock? pressed in? wire retainer clip? majic beans? Any help before I disassemble this car with a sledge hammer? thanks folks Jon


I know the feeling. On my '98 it's far easier to remove the headlight assembly. Under the hood, there are two screws holding it in, from the top, on opposite corners. On mine, one screw was just beside a rubber protrusion which I suppose the hood rests on. Once those two screws are removed you can pull the headlight assembly forward, away from the bumper, and try to lift it up a bit at the same time since it's resting in a detent. I noticed the lamp wiring was too short to work with comfortably so watch you don't put too much strain on it. Once you get the retaining ring off and pull the bulb out of the back of the headlight assembly, you have to remove the bulb from the socket. In my case the bulb comes in its own little plastic assembly which snaps into the plastic socket. They are held together by a little plastic clip, which must be pried open with a screwdriver or something, otherwise it won't come out. The '99 manual just says to "pull" the old bulb but that wouldn't work for me.

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