How to remove the headlight assembly on a 94 Geo Metro?

Answer 1

There is a trick to removing the sealed beam headlight on a 94 Geo Metro.

The black plastic decorative housing is in the way of being able to swap out your dead sealed beam headlight with a new one. (NOTE - Some 94 Geo Metros came with the newer style headlights where just the bulb is replaced. If you have a plastic lens that is curved, then you just need to replace the bulb. This article pertains to the rectangular sealed beam headlight - the older-style headlights that have a flat glass lens.)

To begin, remove the two screws at the top of the black plastic decorative housing. Next, you will need to remove the bottom screw that is on the underside. This screw is accessed from underneath the car - the screw is located toward the lower outside front edge of the black plastic housing. Once you get this bottom screw out, you're almost ready for the trick. The trick involves the one remaining screw. You don't remove it. That's a good thing, because it's close to impossible to remove, because the head of the screw has about an inch of clearance from the steel of the bumper!

Instead of removing this last screw, the black plastic housing is designed to PIVOT on this point. Yup. That's the trick. Don't try to remove this last screw. Instead, carefully twist the housing to pivot off this point. The headlight will probably be in the way (especially the aiming tips, which are the glass tips that stick out on the front surface of the headlight). But you can carefully work the edge of black plastic housing past these tips.

You're almost home free. You've got the headlight bezel to remove - four screws, one at each corner. A 8 or 10 inch long philips head screwdriver will make it pretty easy to get at the bottom two screws. This bezel is a kind of "ring" that surrounds the headlight. It attaches to the "headlight bucket" with these 4 screws. Remove the bezel.

Once you've got the bezel out, the headlight can be unplugged from the back. A gentle back-and-forth and side-to-side motion will help break the connector loose from the dead headlight. The old headlight will slip out at an angle past the black plastic housing. Slip the new headlight in the same way the old one came out, and connect the plug, seating it firmly. Back-n-forth and side-to-side pressure will help fully seat the connector. Slide the bezel back around the edge of the headlight and secure with the 4 screws. Pivot the black plastic housing back in place, and reinstall the 3 screws - and voila! You're done.