How do you remove and replace the front sidemarker bulbs on a '96 Nissan Pathfiner?

Answer 1

Open the hood and look for a bolt/screw in the corner, over the headlight (you'll see that it holds the enclosure via a flat piece of plastic. Remove the bolt/screw and pull the enclosure forward. The problem with this design is that the metal pin that holds the enclosure to the car gets rusted after a while and expands. This can result in the pin breaking off as you pull on the enclosure. There doesn't seem to be anyway around this, since the only access to the pin is by removing the enclosure. If this happens, you can try and glue the pin back on (which, in my experience doesn't last too long), or replace it with a new one (aftermarket is much cheaper and looks just as good). Once you've removed/broken the enclosure, twist off the bulb holder and remove/replace the bulb.

In 2010, on my 2001 pathfinder the enclosure was indeed stuck and I was loath to break off the"metal pin" so I spent some extra time on this. I was changing the passen ger side front turnsignal. So from the underside in front of the tire, I removed 3 screws holding down the lower part of the black plastic mud flap that is attached to the plastic bumper. Once these are out it is easy to peel the flap up a bit and see inside. This by the way is how you have to change the fog light. But from below with a mirror was able to see the pin which was black plastic. The square plastic pin assembly (and pin) snaps into in a square metal holder that is cast into the car frame. Anyways, from below and using a long (12") slot screw driver I was able to insert the slot between the plastic assembly and the metal holder and twist a bit until the pin came loose. Then from the front of the car the light assembly finally comes out snd its easy to change the bulb and snap the pin back in.

The driver side turn signal is much hard to loosen up from under the car because there are other parts in the way on that side.