I recently purchased new headlight bulbs for my '02 Dakota... the bulbs are called "Silverstars" or something like that... Anyhow, I viewed the owners manual on headlight bulb replacement and was unpleasently surprised to find out how poor the diagram and instructions were on the replacement aspect. Could anyone shed some light or direct me to a place where I could find easier directions or pictures? I don't have a lot of sockets, let alone one that is about a foot long to reach the inner fender (which is what the instruction kinda shows). Please help

 

I got silverstars in my 01' Dak, I had to remove the whole housing. First you have to remove the corner light, there is one T10 or T15 torx screw that hold it in. undo the bulbs and remove the corner. Next, There are 3 bolts that are holding the housing in, remove these and unto all the bulbs and it should come out.

If you need pics and or other info let me know, im here to help

 

here's a link with some infos on how to replace your headlight. hope it helps.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2630_replace-car-headlight.html

 

The only torx screws i found seemed to just spin in place... i figured they were for allignment purposes. but i did locate the bolts on the inner-fender area. i just need to find a socket wrench long enough to get in there. if those torx screws will eventually come out, i will keep trying. also, the web site was informative but not in this case. keep in mind, i am mildly retarded when it comes to replacing/fixing things! (i can't even fix a sandwich!!) i appreciate any and all help. Thanks!![sm=WTFsgign.gif]

 

I don't know about having to wrench the housing out, but I reached in to the back of the housing from the engine compartment. It's a pain to get them back in but maybe I'll try the wrench method...
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The Cliff Condominiums Pattaya

 

You really have to exert some force to pull the housing out of there after the screws are out. I thought I was going to break something but with some patient pulling and twisting they came out. They push into rubber grommets and they ARE tight![:@]

 

This is where the torx screw is, remove this and the corner light will pull out. Then you should be able to see the other bolts. 1 more thing the other torx screws are for adjusting; I found out the hard way. my headlight was pointed up a lil bit too much.....

 

don't do it in cold weather, i found that out the hard way, Now I'm lookin to upgrade to IPCW one-piece deals
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group Webcam

 

I recently did the headlight bulb mod, replaced mine with GE NightHawks. Too lazy to do it myself. The first place I went to at Monroe they said they'd have to remove the airbox and a bunch of other stuff from the truck to get at them and it was gonna be some serious $ for labor. I said screw that, took it down the street to the Pep Boys. They did it free cause I just recently threw 700$ in work their way. I watched through the window. It looked to be a serious PITA for the guy but without removing the headlight housing or unbolting anything else he was able to jam his arm down in there and get the old ones out and the new ones in. It took awhile and he had to twist his arm and hand and take it out to rest a few times but he managed.

 

it isn't necessary to remove the entire fixture, I recently replaced my standard headlights with the silverstars, it's really easy
lets try the passenger side first.
if you bend over the front of the car in towards the engine campartment (back of the headlight fixture) "Use a bright light to see better"
You can see the headlight wiring fixed to the back of the headlight housing, with the tip of your finger lift up the retainer and gently move the wiring plug back and forth while pulling on it, it will come off, once the wiring plug is off, reach in and grab the round grey plastic nut that holds the bulb housing in the back of the light fixture, unscrew it and it will easily come off, grab the back of the bulb and ease it back out of the fixture, I would suggest you use thin plastic gloves so that you don't get skin oil on the old nor the new blub.

place the old bulb in a safe place so it won't fall on the ground or in some greasy area, then wearing gloves open the package of the new bulbs, and grasping the bulb from the back with the flat area of the bulb base pointing up, and put the round grey washer on the back, carefully insert the new bulb into the housing, if you bend over you can look into the headlight lens and see if the new bulb is lining up with the hole properly (it has three slots that need to match up before it will insert fully into the whole), once you have the three slots lined up, and the bulb inserted fully, screw the gray plastic nut on the back to hold it in, then grab the wiring plug and insert it onto the back of the bulb.

The battery side is harder as you can't see really well, but if you managed the passenger side you can do the same thing on the battery side

at least this is what I did on my 1998 dakota