So one of my headlamps died and i went to buy some new bulbs to replace them. I read the FAQ and removed the back cover and the two pins that hold the bulb in the headlamp housing. But then when i got to the bulb itself i found it was almost impossible to remove. There seems to be like glue or something that holds the bulb in the plasitc piece with the wires. Am i doing something wrong? My car has halogen bulbs.

 

if its theround plastic piece it comes with the bulb

 

Costs about $15.00 don't forget to wipe the bulb off with alcohol to remove finger prints etc,otherwise you will be buying new bulbs in a month.
welcome to the forum btw any relations to thenwhat?

 

I dont think it goes with the bulb because the replacement blub i bought doesnt have the plastic piece. The bulb is basically stuck to the socket (heh couldnt think of the word originally) and i cant get the blub to come out no matter how hard i pull.

 

the bulb is in an plastic housing. it is not by itself if you have a bulb with wires at the end
I believe you were sold the wrong bulb.the plastic piece comes with the bulb

 

Perhaps this is why your old bulb is not working. Check to see if the old plastic piece is still in the lamp.

 

Really? The bulb i bought looks like this (minus the ricer blue color)


The blub in the car currently also looks like that..but once again its stuck in the socket. The socket is connected directly to the wiring, and its impossible to remove unless i were to cut the wires off.
Thanks for the help...and nope dont know who thenwhat is...picked denwhat because my names dennis and i didnt know what to do next with my headlamps haha.

 

There is a clip holding the bulb in the hole, you need to push it down and around to get the bulb loose.

 

Exactly. First pull (not cut)the wiring plug (plasticpiece)off the end, then unhook those clips off each side, and the bulb will be free. I justreplaced mine last week. The first onewasa Bto unhook those clips, thought I was doing something wrong, but the second was no problem.

 

maybe there is rust or something holding the bulb in there. can you take a picture of it?

 

It sounds like the plastic bulb socket has "melted". Probably need a new socket.

 

Your original socket is melted to the bulb. Cut it off and use individual terminals - can't remember now which color is which, but hot to the bulb, ground to the post where the retainer wires clip in.

 

Okay guys, I tried turning it and pushing it in and turning it, but nothing. I took picures to show you what I am seeing:



I think its either rusted or melted together...and if thats the case, where could i pickup another socket?

 

that does not look like the OEM socket... the oem one is whit not yellow. i would just try to force it apart and see what happens. maybe they just jamed the bulb in there...

 

Could it be that the plastic is just old and now it turned yellow? you can see the rust/glue in the small hole in the metal...its the brown stuff. It should be a stock socket to my knowledge since the car has been dealer serviced since new and this is the first time i changed the bulb. (I am the only owner of the car).

 

Look closer - it's melted. You can't buy a replacement just like it (trust me, I spent a week trying). That's why I said use individual terminals and use the lamp housing for a ground. Mine's been fine for a month like that.

 

Okay..so heres the result. I stopped by the dealer yesterday and they said the entire light assemby was loose, causing the blowout and the melted headlight socket (um...wtf?). So they said i would have to pay $600 to have the entire assembly and the socket replaced.
10 seconds later i told them to go to hell and i would sacrafice his first born if they were seriously going to rip me off $600 to replace a headlamp.

Anyways...since that didnt go so well, i went to a auto shop that i used to go to fix stuff on my other cars. They basically told me that they cant get a socket, but they could wire it up using what RudyF6 said. So i told them to do it since the only reason i hadn't tried Rudy's way was because I woulnt trust myself to do anything over changing a lightbulb (hah). So 45minutes later, i have a working headlamp. Cost of labor $25. Light Blub $17.99. This brings the total cost to $42.99...versus the $600 of the dealer.

Thanks for all the help guys...if i hadnt posted on this forum I might have been suckered into paying the dealer.