How do you replace a headlight on a Geo Prizm?

Answer 1

How do you replace a headlight on a 1990 Geo Prizm? I just had to do that on my daughter's car. It's a pain in the neck because the idiots who designed the front end made it difficult for a guy with normal hands to get to the light. Here are the steps (you're only replacing the bulb, not the entire lamp, so you don't remove the headlight): 1) Unplug the power cord from the socket at the rear of the headlight (under the hood) 2) There's a plastic ring securing the bulb to the lamp housing. Turn it to the left (your left if you were looking from the windshield toward the front of the car) 3) Pull on the bulb to remove it from the housing, along with the plastic ring. 4) Insert the new bulb into the housing, replace the plastic ring over the rear of the bulb, and turn it to the right to tighten it. Reconnect the power cable. Sounds simple, doesn't it? Well, the replacement bulb, even though it looked the same as the old one, didn't go all the way into the housing (there are 3 small bumps in the housing that fit into 3 cutouts in the plastic base of the bulb to secure it. For some reason the new bulb didn't fit all the way in, leaving a tiny (like 1/16th inch) gap, but it was enough that the plastic ring couldn't fit all the way on (the ring has 3 cutouts that fit over the end of the lamp housing when tightened). So, step 5) is: discard the plastic ring and duct-tape the new bulb to the housing! Works fine....