Nissan: Installing Headlight

Swapping the headlight bulbs on a 95 Nissan 240SX is best done by just removing the entire
headlight assembly from the car. The 3 inch clearance does NOT help at all one bit while trying
to remove the headlight bulbs as you did.

In order to get the headlight assembly off to swap out the headlight bulbs, you have to gain
access the four 12 mm bolts which hold the headlight assembly in place - two on each side of the
headlight assembly. Two of the four bolts are easily accessible thru the gap between the front
grille & hood latch assembly. The other two require the removal of the side marker light.

Steps to removing the headlight assembly are as follows:

1). Remove the side marker light -
With hood open looking down at side marker light, unscrew the phillips head screw holding the
top portion of the side marker light in. Then taking a NARROW long bladed screwdriver wrapped in
a tee-shirt or towel & place it between the rear portion of the side marker light & fender. You
want to push the side marker light forward, (using the screwdriver as leverage), towards the
front of the car. You should hear a POP as the plastic ball clip holding the side marker light
in place disengages from the car. Be careful though, too much pressure could crack the plastic
side marker light housing - easily repaired though with a can of Christie's RED HOT Blue PVC
cement available at your nearest hardware store. Once you remove the side marker light you
should see the two metric bolts holding the headlight assembly in. Unscrew those two bolts.

2). Remove the center grille - OPTIONAL
Unscrew or pop the two plastic retaining clips that hold the center grille in place. Then take
the narrow long bladed screwdriver with the tee-shirt or towel wrapped around it and wedge it
between the bumper & the bottom portion of the center grille. The center grille should pop up
easily. Once the center grill is removed you should see the remaining two metric bolts holding
the headlight assembly in place. Unscrew those two bolts.

Once the four retaining bolts are loosen & removed, then the entire headlight assembly should
just fall into your hands. Unscrew the outer ring, remove the rubber gasket & unclip the wiring
harness connected to the bulb. The most difficult part I found is trying to get the damn wiring
harness loose from the headlight bulb. @#$%^! ...damn Nissan engineers!! They must be sadists!!

Anyhow, once you remove all the clips & harnesses from the headlight bulb, now would be the best
time to take a can of Mother's aluminum polish & clean the clear plastic headlight assembly. The
cleaners in the paste of Mother's aluminum polish does a fantastic job of removing the yellow
haze which usually coats the outside portion of the plastic headlight lens. Also, another 240SX
list member suggests pouring water with ice cubes inside the headlight assembly and swishing it
around a bit to clean out the INTERIOR portion of the headlight assembly. The inside of the
plastic headlight assembly also tend to get dirty and foggy too.

Anyhow, if you want to learn more about your Nissan 240SX & join a FREE Nissan 240SX mailing
list in which you can post all your Nissan 240SX related questions, click on the attached link &
follow the instructions to subscribe. I've been a member for several years and have learned a
ton of information from fellow subscribers. Don't let the cheesy webpage fool you - the mailing
list is choked full of people who know almost everything there is to know about your 240!!
http://www.amarok.org/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=1

Anyhow, hope this helps!!

ID
'95 Nissan 240SX
member...www.SoCal240SX.org

Attend the 2004 Nissan 240SX National Convention in Las Vegas Nevada - August 27-29th!!!
http://www.240sxnationalconvention.org/






ENJ483 wrote: 

On Tue, 3 Feb 2004 21:21:38 -0700, "ENJ483" <com> wrote:
 

download a workshop manual for the Silvia S14?

"techinfo silvia"

--
Peter Hill
Spamtrap reply domain as per NNTP-Posting-Host in header
Can of worms - what every fisherman wants.
Can of worms - what every PC owner gets!

I agree, it's a painful procedure to change them, I remember changing it
for the first time. but here's an option, leaving out that metal clip
doesn't hurt the headlight beam position, as long as the bulb is snugged in
and the rubber seal and the big plastic screw/cover is in place.
one of my headlight doesn't have the clip since i broke the clip seat a
while ago, and no problem with where the beam is pointing (test it though,
it's fine with mine).

Althought I am getting around it so well now, that i can change the bulb in
less than 5 minutes with the clip, using my middle finger and my index
finger. but I have a small hand. good luck

Addendum:
Just my luck...3 days after I post this, my damn headlight bulb goes out!! Talk about
coincidence eh? hahaha..
Anyhow, the bolts holding the headlamp assembly in are 10 mm NOT 12...Oopss!
Also, if you're swapping out the headlight bulb for the driver side, (right side of the car as
you face the engine), you will HAVE TO REMOVE the center grille AND the plastic hood latch
cover above and to the right of the center grille before you can access the two headlight
assembly retaining bolts. Everything else is pretty much the same.
ID


net wrote: