Replacing the headlight
bulbs on this 2008 Chevy
Trailblazer was quite a job.
To replace the high and
low beam
headlamp bulbs, the grille has to be removed
so the head light assembly can be removed.
The red arrows show all
the snap clips that need to be released on the
back of the grille.
In this photo the red arrows show the location of
all the snap clip retainers that were
released.
To protect the lens from getting scratched or cracked,
I put two layers of masking tape on the bottom of the head light lens
and the top of the turn signal lens.
Using a
small screwdriver, I gently pried out the edge
of grille ends, releasing the two snap clips.
I
View of snap clips mounted on back of grille
ends.
View of snap
clip retainers of the headlight assembly.
I slid a big screwdriver between the
grille snap clip and the retainer. Then I twisted
the screwdriver until the snap clip released.
I did this along the top of the
grille first, then I leaned the grille out and released the rest
of the clips.
Then the grille was completely removed.
On the top of
the headlight, on the inboard side, I slid the
retainer clip up.
I found the outboard retainer underneath the
fender and slid it up.
Then I
pressed the release tab and pulled the
electrical connector
out of the side marker lamp (red arrow).
Before I could remove the headlight assembly,
there was another electrical connector down
below, and also a bulb to remove.
I removed the entire headlight assembly and
placed it face down on a towel.
The red arrow
points to the side marker lamp bulb socket. This
bulb can be removed by twisting it.
This is the
marker lamp socket and number 94 clear bulb
after being removed.
Caution: The metal prongs in the socket can bend easily,
resulting in problems re-connecting the wires.
At the bottom of the lamp assembly I
rotated the turn signal socket counter-clockwise
(green arrow) and removed it from the housing.
Then I lifted up on the tab of the
wire connector (red arrow) and pulled it out.
The turn signal bulb is #3157 Amber.
View of turn
signal and wire connector.
To expose the headlight bulbs I pulled off the
two rubber caps.
View of high
and low beam bulbs.
The high beam takes bulb number 9005.
To remove the
bulb I turned it counter-clockwise and pulled
it out.
To remove the wire harness I lifted up on the
tab and pushed the wire connector off.
I replaced the low beam bulb
with a number 9006 replacement bulb.
View of grille and headlamp panel.
This was a lot of work for just a couple of
light bulbs.
After changing the bulbs, I had to put
this all back together.
