05 Sedona Head Light Bulb

You don't remove the assembly. Inside the hood, in front of the radiator are the headlight assembly dust covers. On the passenger's side, you may need to unbolt the coolant recovery bottle for best access; on the other, there should be JUST enough room in front of the battery to get your hand back in there.

Make sure you open the OUTWARD cover (turning clockwise and not very far), as the inner ones are for the "brights." Take off the cover and put it off to the side, then pull off the electrical plug connector off the bulb.

The rest of the directions are in your owner's manual. You will need an H7 bulb - in a Sedona, I recommend an upgrade to a Philips NightVision or maybe a Sylvania SilverStar (though the latter doesn't last very long). Make sure you NEVER touch the glass on the bulb with bare fingers - only the base. If you do, clean the glass with a clean cloth.

To summarize - the HARDEST part of the job is that metal retaining clip that feels a little like a paper clip. Getting it off is easy, as you just push in on the spring (towards the front of the vehicle) and then you should be able to lift it up and turn it out of the way. You then just pull the bulb out.

But getting that clip back on, while at the same time making sure the bulb is in the EXACT correct position can be a real job, especially if it is cold outside. The key to the bulb positioning is to note the notch in the bulb. In Sedona's I believe it should go straight up, though in some models, it is straight down. But it will be one or the other, and it only fits in straight and completely one way.

Once the bulb is where it should be, theoretically you should be able to just turn the metal connector in, again push in on it, and slide it down into position. Sometimes you can (and should be able) to do it in seconds. There are times it has flummoxed me for 30 minutes, but that is my level of incompetency. But then put back on the electrical connector, and it should be fine.

Before you put the cover back on, you may wish to start the van, and make sure the new light works. Looking into the headlamp lens, the bulb should be in perfectly straight, and not tilted up or down. If it is tilted, you installed it incorrectly, though it is very hard to get the metal spring retainer on it if it is installed incorrectly. Re-check the direction of tha notch on the bulb.

One more note. If you are going to upgrade to a better bulb, best off replacing both at the same time. Once you have successfully changed one bulb, the other should be easy, as you are now an expert.

Sorry for the length, but hope this helps.

I disagree here. I have a Carnival 05 which should be more or less same car as your Sedona but European version. I spent painful hour trying to chnage light bulbs trying to fit my hand in too small space. Then finally I noticed that whole lampset (I do not know english word for that) is mounted just for three screws. I opened those and then the whole set moved so that there was more than plenty of space.

I will never again try to chnage light bulb in Carnival without getting the whole lamp away - it is so easy task and makes bulb change so much easier.

timo

Thank You, my hands were too big so I had to get my wife to install the bulb. We got it done. I don't think it is in place because we are getting light in trees we pass.

I wish mine were like yours, on the Sedona there is an attachment behind and below the headlight assy to prevent the assy from being removed. The only way I can see to remove it is to break it. Then the assy would have to be replaced. Kia messed up big time on this. Thanks for your input though.

Turn your headlights on (with the ignition on) and then look through the headlight lens - you should be able to see if the light is in there straight or not. If it isn't, the tilt should be pretty obvious, either up or down or off to the side.

There have been times that I have had to twirl the bulb around two complete revolutions before that notch in the bulb finds the spot on the socket and goes in properly. As I said before, it is usually should be either straight up (which is what mine is) or straight down.

Your hands must be pretty large. Mine aren't exactly small, and yet I can get the job done with the proper clearance.

Thanx for writing back.

Could it then be so that my European version is different about this than your US version. Strange but possible. However my European Carnival was one of the easiest ever - after I figured out how to do it.

timo

The European van is MUCH different - different dimensions, different specs, everything.

Based on wikipedia they should be more or less same. At least my Carnival looks excactly like cars on this website:

So what is the real difference?

timo

When you say Europe, don't include UK, we have Sedonas here.

One of the main appears to be the 2.9 diesel engine, giving ca 34 mpg, which is nice.

Sorry - my mistake. I forgot that there is some regions of Europe who still use real money - not euro. Drive from right and use measurements units that are out of systems where everything is divided by ten ;-)

Good comment - bad mistake from me.

timo

Well quite, standards must be maintained... ;)

MPG question. Is that Imperial gallons, I assume?

Correct