Grant Eaton
09/17/2018, 06:51 PM
Work in a well-lit place; outside on a nice day is best. If you follow these instructions, it should only take you about 8-12 minutes to do both headlights.
1. Replace both 10 AMP headlamp fuses with 15 AMP ones. The fuses are in a box on the left-side of the engine compartment. Have a clean rag and some moist paper towels on hand to clean up the messy bulb grease you'll get on your hands when removing the old bulb. The clean, dry rag works best as the bulb grease is impervious to practically every detergent. Note: replacing the fuses is optional. Some drivers have had fuses blow when using high wattage bulbs with the high beams -- use your own judgment.
2. Start with the passenger side first, as it has a lot more room. There is a plastic 3-prong wire connector that plugs into the base of the headlight; this must be removed first. To remove it, wedge you fingers in between the sides of the plastic connector and the rubber boot that surrounds it (a bit tricky if you have big fingers like me). Squeeze the sides of the plastic connector and it should slide off easily. If it doesn't slide right off with little effort, you're probably not squeezing the sides in the right spot (they need to be squeezed at the very back, close to the base of the bulb).
3. Now slip the rubber boot off. The lightbulb will be exposed. It's held in place by a thin "springy" wire clip. You must be VERY CAREFUL at the point to avoid damaging the wire clip--a new headlight assembly is $300 (per Tone). To remove the wire clip, gently push in, down, and out on the right-hand side of the clip. This will "unlatch" the clip from the headlight lens frame; the clip then swings out towards your left (like a little door), freeing the lamp so you can remove it. Pay attention to the orientation of the lamp when you remove it, specifically the metal bulb collar with the three prongs on it. Notice how two of the three prongs face down, and one points directly up.
4. Put bulb grease on the 3 prongs on your new lamp. Be sure not to touch the glass as the oil from your hands will shorten the bulb's life. Bulb grease is available at Schuck's in a tiny tube in the section where they sell rearview mirrors, glue, and stuff like that. It's not required, but it will help prevent long-term corrosion (which ruined several bulb connections on my 1991 Amigo).
5. Put the new bulb into the headlight. The "collar" of the bulb should have 3 tiny metal prongs that stick out to the side; the edge with 2 prongs should rest on the bottom of the headlight assembly, while the edge with the single prong should point to the top of the assembly. This ensures that the bulb is seated correctly.
5. Now put the rubber boot back on (first making sure that it doesn't have dirt inside). Snap the boot down over the bulb and make sure it's secured in place. The boot orientation/rotation is important; one side must face down. Read the imprinting on the surface of the boot to determine which side goes up.
6. Plug in the connector to the bulb. Test the headlight.
7. For the other side, simply unsnap the air filter lid (if you still have a factory airfiter box) which will give you barely enough room to perform the replacement. If you have big hands, you may want to have a (careful) child or a small-handed friend replace the bulb for you. Either that, or unbolt the entire air filter assembly as some have done -- but that seemed like too much work for me, so I did it with the box in place. ;)
1. Replace both 10 AMP headlamp fuses with 15 AMP ones. The fuses are in a box on the left-side of the engine compartment. Have a clean rag and some moist paper towels on hand to clean up the messy bulb grease you'll get on your hands when removing the old bulb. The clean, dry rag works best as the bulb grease is impervious to practically every detergent. Note: replacing the fuses is optional. Some drivers have had fuses blow when using high wattage bulbs with the high beams -- use your own judgment.
2. Start with the passenger side first, as it has a lot more room. There is a plastic 3-prong wire connector that plugs into the base of the headlight; this must be removed first. To remove it, wedge you fingers in between the sides of the plastic connector and the rubber boot that surrounds it (a bit tricky if you have big fingers like me). Squeeze the sides of the plastic connector and it should slide off easily. If it doesn't slide right off with little effort, you're probably not squeezing the sides in the right spot (they need to be squeezed at the very back, close to the base of the bulb).
3. Now slip the rubber boot off. The lightbulb will be exposed. It's held in place by a thin "springy" wire clip. You must be VERY CAREFUL at the point to avoid damaging the wire clip--a new headlight assembly is $300 (per Tone). To remove the wire clip, gently push in, down, and out on the right-hand side of the clip. This will "unlatch" the clip from the headlight lens frame; the clip then swings out towards your left (like a little door), freeing the lamp so you can remove it. Pay attention to the orientation of the lamp when you remove it, specifically the metal bulb collar with the three prongs on it. Notice how two of the three prongs face down, and one points directly up.
4. Put bulb grease on the 3 prongs on your new lamp. Be sure not to touch the glass as the oil from your hands will shorten the bulb's life. Bulb grease is available at Schuck's in a tiny tube in the section where they sell rearview mirrors, glue, and stuff like that. It's not required, but it will help prevent long-term corrosion (which ruined several bulb connections on my 1991 Amigo).
5. Put the new bulb into the headlight. The "collar" of the bulb should have 3 tiny metal prongs that stick out to the side; the edge with 2 prongs should rest on the bottom of the headlight assembly, while the edge with the single prong should point to the top of the assembly. This ensures that the bulb is seated correctly.
5. Now put the rubber boot back on (first making sure that it doesn't have dirt inside). Snap the boot down over the bulb and make sure it's secured in place. The boot orientation/rotation is important; one side must face down. Read the imprinting on the surface of the boot to determine which side goes up.
6. Plug in the connector to the bulb. Test the headlight.
7. For the other side, simply unsnap the air filter lid (if you still have a factory airfiter box) which will give you barely enough room to perform the replacement. If you have big hands, you may want to have a (careful) child or a small-handed friend replace the bulb for you. Either that, or unbolt the entire air filter assembly as some have done -- but that seemed like too much work for me, so I did it with the box in place. ;)