How To Change A Headlight Bulb On 2011 Traverse

It'due south worse than running at night with ane eye closed: Yous've lost the illumination from one of your headlights. Either a bulb has burned out or a modest accident has claimed the lens, the reflector, or perhaps the lamp's entire housing. And also the obvious danger, in that location are too the risks of a citation from a sharp-eyed law-enforcement officer and the possible gouge from a repair shop'due south hourly charge per unit. Just you can handle the situation yourself, saving precious greenbacks in the process while feeling the warm glow of accomplishment past replacing a broken headlight yourself. We at Car and Driver know y'all tin. Here'due south how to change a headlight:

How to Replace a Headlight Bulb

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

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If the manual is missing but y'all know the make, model, and twelvemonth of your car (yous do know that, don't y'all?) you tin can consult with a counter person at an auto-parts store or refer to the headlamp booklet that normally resides in the parts store'southward headlamp aisle. And finally, you lot tin always pull the bad bulb and bring information technology to the store for reference.

How to Extract the Bulb

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

A few tricky models, still, may require removal of various splash shields, air-cleaner housings, and even washer-fluid bottles for full admission earlier you can change a headlight. That's why we'd propose 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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Former-school foursquare or round sealed-beam headlamps are different and larger simply very easy to supersede. They're usually retained by a thin metal band screwed into the lamp's shell associates. The retentiveness ring's screws are easy to loosen from the forepart of the car. But sometimes, other brilliant front-end trim must be removed starting time. A harness plug under the hood at the dorsum of the lamp slides on and off the lamp's copper terminals.

Remember This about New Bulbs

Filament lamp used in automotive headlights in vehicle

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When you lot change a headlight, information technology'due south critical to avoid touching a new bulb's glass, since contamination past the natural oil from your peel and even small amounts of dirt will cause early failure. Employ a bit of dielectric grease (available at an auto-parts shop if it doesn't come up with the seedling) 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'due south lens is cleaved, if the lens is super cloudy, or if an accident has damaged the housing, things are more complicated. You'll desire to replace the entire headlight unit of measurement, referred to equally 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'south fasteners.

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

The cost for new housings, including a new lens, ranges from expensive to very expensive. And still a relatively cheap gear up is even so possible, particularly if you accept a good salvage grand nearby where you tin pick up used (way cheaper) parts. Yous can even practice your offset removal process on the yard's "you pick it" donor auto.

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

After you've installed the replacement housing simply before you reinstall any parts you've removed to go admission to the headlamp unit of measurement, cycle the lights on and off to make sure that the loftier- and low-axle replacement bulbs and reattached wiring are fully functional. That will salvage you lot the time and frustration of discovering a loose connexion or an incorrectly installed seedling too late, which volition crave removing and reinstalling the bumper cover or grille pieces. And, of class, the headlights volition need to be aimed. For this nosotros suggest taking the machine to a repair store; 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 practise the job right.

DIY Tips

For working on your vehicle, choose a make clean department of driveway or a workspace (like a garage) with skilful light. Be patient and allow yourself enough of time (two hours minimum) for irresolute a headlight. It might be unproblematic, just it could also be more complicated than you planned.
Place whatever retaining clips and fasteners that you lot'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, and so it goes back on in the same mode, meaning correctly.
An erstwhile throw carpeting, a prophylactic mat, or a big piece of clean cardboard to prevarication on can make kneeling or working nether the motorcar more comfortable.
Listen for a abrupt click when connections are made.

Heed these tips and we expect that your headlight replacement efforts will become well. And we promise that y'all don't have as many bulbs to replace as this guy: