Last night after work I was waiting for the grid heaters to go off and my right head lite burned out. I got a new one but its about 0 outside and the wind is blowing like crazy. It's cold out. I got the old one out and the new one back in the socket but I just can't get it to seat in the back of the headlite. It looks square but I can't get the o-ring to slide in far enough to twist the ring on. I just can't get my hand down behind the battery and get any leverage on it. Loosing the battery won't do it because the box is still in the way.

What if I just take the oring off for now untill it gets a bit warmer. I got 850 miles to go after work tomorrow and I really don't have time to go to the auto shop.

 

How about a little Vaseline on the o-ring?

 

I just lick my finger and wipe it on the o-ring, sides in slick as snot.

 

It will only go in one way. Make sure that the tabs on the light bulb are lined up with the housing. Just turn it a little until it slips in. It will slip in with out much trouble when the tabs get lined up.

 

I'm going out and give it one more try. I'm going to take the old one by itself and see if I can find the line up point without the ring.

infedel....I spit on the side walk and it froze before it hit the ground...hahah . It's so cold that if I lick my finger, with my kind of luck it will get stuck on my toung and I'll have to go down to Emergency and get it thawed.

I tried some corn oil (lightly)

That o-ring is hard as a rock. I had a heck of a time getting the plastic prongs spread to get the bulb off in the first place. I had to push as hard as I could to get it back on. There isn't much room to get your hands down in behind the battery.

I'll follow up.

thanks

 

i'm not sure that works well at 0*F

 

Those little Bug***s are not fun. I did mine on a nice sunny day and had to be a magican to get it in. The previous owner broke a bulb off left it inside and it rattled around and ate all the crome off the inside of the headlight. Now that is worse to change. Hope it goes well for you and you have small hands!!!

 

If I remember correctly, the book calls to losen the headlight assembly. With my big hands thats what I ended up doing...

 

Don't touch clear glass or get any oil on it. That will cause it to heat up too much and burn out real quick.

If you think you touched it, pull it back out and clean it off with rubbing alcohol.

 

Not sure about a 99 but the 04 shop manual says to remove the headlamp unit (like Dsldan says). The manual says to:

1. Remove the push pins attaching the seal to the fender
2. Remove the bolts holding the headlamp unit to the fender

 

They sold me the wrong bulbs the first time and I had the same problem,can,t you unplug the rest of the housing and take it in were it is warm.Check and make sure you have right bulb first thier are some that are real close.They are calling for a foot of snow in Ohio today guess I will find out how this thing does in 4x4 have not put in any weight yet,good luck.

 

Make sure the housing isn't deformed. When the drivers side blub burned out, I had to pull the battery to see why I couldn't get the new bulb in. I found the bulb housing was defromed just enough (from heat) to keep the new bulb from going in.

I did a bit of careful grinding to reshape the plastic on the new bulb to make a custom fit.

Good luck, RJR

 

Well I tried it last night after work , at noon today and after work tonight. Still no go. I even took the old bulb by itself without the wire attached and it won't go either.
You may be right on moparguy. It was tough to get the original out. It's so d.....cold that I can only be out about 5 minutes at a time. Can't get to it with gloves on. I even tried my soft driving gloves. I managed to get it stuck in partway and turned the lights on for about 15 minutes hoping that would warm things up enough but still no go.

I don't think it's the o-ring. Somehow the tangs just won't let the retaining ring turn.

I got it stuck in and it stayed for a bit then tips down. I guess I'll just have to limit my night time drive some.

I've got stuff at home and a garage so I can fix it there. I'll probably have to take the whole light out. What a pain.

I don't drive fast and the dumb lights aren't worth a flip anyway. Good thing I'm not in a big hurry.

It was -5 with wind chill down to -30 last night. I about froze.

I'm going to be off line for a few days as the cable isn't the same back home.

Y'all have a merry Christmas, and thanks for the support.

bentwings

 

Dang, that sucks. I had a heck of a time getting mine to fit properly as well. Took a bit fiddling, and once the thing got lined up, so decent elbow grease. Fortunately, though, I was doing the replacement in 60-degree weather. It was a heck of time getting in that tight space, but I guess I'm lucky to be 6' 4" --- I had room to lean into the engine bay some and get some better leverage.

Good luck, and Merry Christmas!

 

Thanks again for the help. John Halter especially. I finally got to Tn after a 36 hour drive!!! I may post something about that!!!
Anyhow I took your advice and checked the number. Sure enough they gave me the wrong bulb.!!! dang I could have pole axed that AZ store. I finally got the right lamp and 50 degree weather and it went in with a minumum of swearing and cussing. It still was not fun. I doubt if I could have installed it in the cold anyway.

850 miles with a right side "corner lamp" was interesting. I saw a lot of road at night you don't normally see. haha. If nothing else it made keeping the DRW on the pavement. That which there was.

The lites on these trucks leave plenty to be desired and missing one really didn't seem to make much diference.

Anyway it's fixed for now.

Thaks all
and have a Happy New Year.

bentwings