How to Remove Entire Headlight Case to Change the Bulb on 2002 Chrysler Town and Country Lx

It's worse than running at night with one eye closed: You've lost the illumination from one of your headlights. Either a bulb has burned out or a minor accident has claimed the lens, the reflector, or perhaps the lamp's entire housing. And besides the obvious danger, there are also the risks of a citation from a sharp-eyed law-enforcement officer and the possible gouge from a repair shop's hourly rate. But you can handle the situation yourself, saving precious greenbacks in the process while feeling the warm glow of accomplishment by replacing a broken headlight yourself. We at Car and Driver know you can. Here's how to change a headlight:

How to Replace a Headlight Bulb

Fortunately, it's often easy to change a headlight. Most of today's halogen high-intensity-discharge (HID) or light-emitting-diode (LED) bulbs are simple to replace. They are held in place by thin wire clips or rotating bayonet-style retainers. They can be quickly popped out from behind the headlight housing, unplugged from wiring, and swapped for a working bulb. But in order to change a headlight, you must first identify the type of bulb you need. The first place to look is in your owner's manual.

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If the manual is missing but you know the make, model, and year of your car (you do know that, don't you?) you can consult with a counter person at an auto-parts store or refer to the headlamp booklet that usually resides in the parts store's headlamp aisle. And finally, you can always pull the bad bulb and bring it to the store for reference.

How to Extract the Bulb

You can usually gain access to the headlight's bulb by simply opening the hood and removing the lamp connections at the back of the headlight housing. Some vehicles may provide added service space through small hinged or rotating panels inside the front wheel wells.

A few tricky models, however, may require removal of various splash shields, air-cleaner housings, and even washer-fluid bottles for full access before you can change a headlight. That's why we'd suggest keeping a pair of mechanic's (or latex) gloves, a flashlight, a flat-bladed screwdriver, a small box of sockets, and a pair of needle-nose pliers handy.

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Old-school square or circular sealed-beam headlamps are different and larger but very easy to replace. They're usually retained by a thin metal ring screwed into the lamp's shell assembly. The retention ring's screws are easy to loosen from the front of the car. But sometimes, other bright front-end trim must be removed first. A harness plug under the hood at the back of the lamp slides on and off the lamp's copper terminals.

Remember This about New Bulbs

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When you change a headlight, it's critical to avoid touching a new bulb's glass, since contamination by the natural oil from your skin and even small amounts of dirt will cause early failure. Use a bit of dielectric grease (available at an auto-parts store if it doesn't come with the bulb) for a weather-resistant connection on all lamp plugs and terminals. And try not to confuse headlamp-beam adjustment screws for the usually smaller retaining screws.

Replacing a Headlight Housing

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If the lamp's lens is broken, if the lens is super cloudy, or if an accident has damaged the housing, things are more complicated. You'll want to replace the entire headlight unit, referred to as a housing. These molded housings are clipped or bolted to the front end's metal radiator support. At the back of the housing are the wiring-harness connections, which must be removed. And unfortunately, in some cases (for example, versions of the Ford Fusion, Chevy Malibu, and Toyota Camry), the front-bumper fascia must be loosened or removed to reach the housing's fasteners.

We'd suggest purchasing a repair manual or at least watching multiple YouTube videos for housing replacement specific to your vehicle. (But be careful—these gritty DIY videos vary in quality and thoroughness.) And if replacing an entire headlight housing requires removing parts like a bumper cover, you'll probably also need access to slightly more sophisticated hand tools.

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The cost for new housings, including a new lens, ranges from expensive to very expensive. And yet a relatively inexpensive fix is still possible, particularly if you have a good salvage yard nearby where you can pick up used (way cheaper) parts. You can even practice your first removal procedure on the yard's "you pick it" donor car.

Most headlight bulbs are easy to replace; headlight housings require more work.

After you've installed the replacement housing but before you reinstall any parts you've removed to get access to the headlamp unit, cycle the lights on and off to make sure that the high- and low-beam replacement bulbs and reattached wiring are fully functional. That will save you the time and frustration of discovering a loose connection or an incorrectly installed bulb too late, which will require removing and reinstalling the bumper cover or grille pieces. And, of course, the headlights will need to be aimed. For this we suggest taking the car to a repair shop; you could attempt to aim them out on the road, but this is a hit-0r-miss process at best. A shop has the expensive aiming gear to do the job right.

DIY Tips

• For working on your vehicle, choose a clean section of driveway or a workspace (like a garage) with good light. Be patient and allow yourself plenty of time (two hours minimum) for changing a headlight. It might be simple, but it could also be more complicated than you planned.
• Place any retaining clips and fasteners that you've removed in a jar or can. They're too easy to lose otherwise.
• Use masking tape and a felt-tip pen to mark where the wiring came off, so it goes back on in the same way, meaning correctly.
• An old throw rug, a rubber mat, or a large piece of clean cardboard to lie on can make kneeling or working under the car more comfortable.
• Listen for a sharp click when connections are made.

Heed these tips and we expect that your headlight replacement efforts will go well. And we hope that you don't have as many bulbs to replace as this guy:

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How to Remove Entire Headlight Case to Change the Bulb on 2002 Chrysler Town and Country Lx

Source: https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a27034088/how-to-change-headlight/

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