How do you change headlight in 1998 Oldsmobile cutlass?

Answer 1

That depends on whether you have a 2 or 4 door car. The 2 door car use a slim sealed beam headlight system (more on the later) while the 4 door uses either a drop in 9006 bulb for low beam or a 9005 bulb for high beam. I'll start with the 4 door as it is more common and easier to replace. First you'll need to disconnect the wire harness from the burned out bulb (with the headlights off of course). To do so you might need to use a small screwdriver to gently pry up on the retaining tab on the rear of the bulb. Next turn the bulb counter clockwise (looking from the rear of the bulb)approximately a quarter turn. The bulb should then be free to remove. Insert a new bulb by reversing the above steps being very careful not to touch the glass part of the bulb. It is a halogen bulb which burns very hot and by simply touching it you can transfer oils from your fingers to the bulb thereby creating a "cool" spot on the bulb. When you turn the headlight on the glass expands slightly because of the heat generated but it won't expand as much at the "cool" spot you created and this could cause enough stress in the thin fragile glass to cause it to break. If you do inadvertently tough the glass of the bulb wipe it clean with isopropyl alcohol before installing. Now the 2 door cars use a slim profile "sealed beam" headlight. It is not actually a true sealed beam headlight because all it really is is a 9005 or 9006 bulb simply glued into the back of a glass housing unit. I won't go into the actual mechanics of how to remove the "sealed beam" unit (you might be able to skip removing it if you want to take a stab at replacing the bulb only in place) but I would recommend removing the whole glass unit. Once you remove it you have the choice of buying a new "sealed beam" unit (rather expensive- probably 5 times the cost of a replacement bulb) or buying a 9006-low beam or 9005-high beam bulb. As mentioned above the bulb is simply glued into the back of the bulb. The glue isn't particularly strong and you should be able to carefully pry the old bulb out using a flat blade screwdriver or other suitable instrumental. DO THIS CAREFULLY OR YOU WILL RUIN THE PLASTIC INSERT. NOTE THE ORIENTATION OF THE BULB BASE because if you put it back in differently the wire harness might not reach. Once you have old bulb removed use some high heat silicone or other suitable adhesive and glue the new bulb in place giving caution to the warning under the 4 door headlight system. Worth a shot versus buying a very expensive unit in my opinion.