Hi all,
As my base halogen
headlights
have been steadily approaching the point of nearly being worse than a couple of flashlights mounted on the bumper, I went to change the bulbs preemptively. I began with the left-hand (driver side) bulb. Inserted the 5mm wrench, twisted, popped the headlight unit out, etc. Reinstalled it with only minor swearing, and moved onto the right-hand (passenger) side unit.
However, after inserting the tool and a couple of twists, I was left with a headlight still firmly installed in its socket. Some googling revealed that a worn down allen head on the "clamping bow" was the likely culprit, but a quick check with a flashlight showed that the end is far from rounded off. The release tool also fits firmly onto the bow.
I'm able to rotate the tool in either direction easily–with no stops encountered. Interestingly, as the tool is rotated, you can feel a bit of resistance build up to a bit of a "peak" over the final few degrees. After a couple more degrees of rotation, the resistance drops and then builds again as you continue to rotate the tool. The headlight wobbles ever so slightly in its socket as you do so. Almost as if the clamping bow is trying to engage, but not quite making it all the way.
Almost exactly one year ago, the same headlight popped partially out after hitting an unseen pothole during a winter storm. I took it to my mechanic out of an abundance of caution (as well as to fix an issue with my
Numeric cables
), and they seemingly replaced it without incident. I'm wondering whether something was damaged when the headlight popped out, or when it was re-installed. Or, if it was simply re-installed incorrectly, leading to my inability to remove it. Has anyone else experienced this? And if so, how did you get the unit out?
I've not experienced this particular issue. However, I have had to pause, walk away, and return later before continuing the removal/installation process—it's so simple it can be difficult!
I hope you have managed to get this sorted and are back on the road.
No such luck, unfortunately. I agree though–definitely had to take a minute to regroup when I was reinstalling the driver side unit. I think this one is going to get passed off to my mechanic considering it would probably cost me just as much to even investigate the problem myself, much less fix it.
