Headlight bulb replacement.

Is there a write up on how to get the headlight lenses out? I need to replace the bulb on one side (passenger side) FSM says you need to remove the entire lense on each side. I've done the cornering lights, but not the headlights.

There is a write-up here, but unfortunately the links to the pics are bad. The user no longer has the images. If you use the write-up instructions, and can take some pics of the process, I can add them to the write-up thread. Thx.

https://rivperformance.editboard.com/t5202-write-up-tinting-headlights-turn-signals-tail-lenses

Will do Aaron.

According to the FSM, you need to remove the front bumper fascia, wheel house panel, and engine splash shield? Please tell me you don't have to remove the front of the car to replace a bulb. Are they kidding me?

Wait a min! You DO NOT need to remove the lens to change the bulb. In the FSM after headlamp removal procedure is the bulb replacement procedure and it read as follows. Passenger side:
1 low beam right side
- remove low beam socket from headlamp module by entering through the engine compartment, behind the upper tie bar. Turn socket counterclockwise to remove.
-connector from bulb.
Driver is almost the same but you have to remove the top of the air cleaner to make room. It can be a bit of a squeeze if you have large hands but it is doable. Pop the hood and look straight down behind the headlights and you should see the socket sticking out. Just be careful you change the right bulb, the high beam bulb is a lot easier to spot than the low beam bulb which is tucked more into the corner.

Good call, Derek. I totally missed that he is just replacing the bulb itself. Larry, the bulbs can rather easily be replaced as Derek says.

AA wrote:

Good call, Derek. I totally missed that he is just replacing the bulb itself. Larry, the bulbs can rather easily be replaced as Derek says.

Thank You Aaron and Derek. I was just reading through the "silverstar" thread, and I saw that it can be done through the engine compartment. I am pretty sure I read in the owner's manual that the headlamp assembly had to be removed to change the bulb.I am glad it isn't that involved.

OK, just replaced both head lamp bulbs. Took 10 minutes. Just had to remove the top of the air box on the driver's side, simple. My passenger side headlight had been out for a few weeks. If I tapped on the lense it would come on. This morning, it wouldn't come on with me smacking the lense. Got to work a bit early, so I opened the Owners manual, looked up Headlamp bulb replacement, and read the bottom of page 6-31. A little misleading. Had I turned the page, I would have seen that it could be done through the engine compartment. Thanks Again.

That's more than misleading, it's contradicting. If the headlamps in fact "must be removed to replace the headlamps", there should not be instructions to do it from inside the engine bay on the next page! Seems like some incorrect copy got cut and pasted from a previous owners manual?

AA wrote:

That's more than misleading, it's contradicting. If the headlamps in fact "must be removed to replace the headlamps", there should not be instructions to do it from inside the engine bay on the next page! Seems like some incorrect copy got cut and pasted from a previous owners manual?

On the next few pages, it does describe how to do it through the engine bay, but I stopped reading right there because I had to get to work. Then when I got home, I looked in the FSM, and missed the bulb replacement pages there too, because I thought I would have to pull the entire assembly. I'd hate to replace the lense because it got cracked. What a pain in the butt that looks like.

Agree. Oh, the days when headlamps were made of glass, and you could replace the entire assembly in 10 mins for $10. But it does make some sense to reuse assembly, rather than throw it away each time the bulb burns out. My assembly has remained in really good shape over the years. Another case of inconvenience vs. wastefulness.

for the (yellow) corner lights, what is the bulb replacement number? 194? and the manual doesn't show how to replace it right?

LaFlare wrote:

for the (yellow) corner lights, what is the bulb replacement number? 194? and the manual doesn't show how to replace it right?

It is not a 194. I believe it is 3057.
There is a 8mm (i think) screw holding the lens on at the bottom. You will need to push down on the bumper to see it.
One the screw is out, pull from the front and it should come loose.

The cornering lamp is a 3057, but it isn't yellow. Are you talking about the front/side yellow lamps in the bumper cover? If so, there are two bulbs in the lense. One is a 3057, and the other is a 194. To get to them, just remove the splash shield retainers at the front of the wheel well, pull the splash shield out a bit, and reach in there and twist the sockets to get to the individual bulbs. If it's the actual cornering lamp you want to replace, as Matt said, there is a small screw at the bae of the lense. Push down on the bumper cover, and remove it. Be careful the screw doesn't drop inside the bumper. After that, pull on the lense at the front edge. It will pivot out, and then you can pull the other side out from the clip that holds it. Twist the socket out and replace the bulb.

thanks for the replies and yes i meant the corner lights not the orange signal lights.

This is something I SHOULD have mentioned many moons ago.  On the other hand, I wonder if my car was the only one so 'blessed', as no one else ever mentioned it...  It almost belongs in the "Didn't know this about my Riviera" thread.

Now, the shop manual is just plain wrong about being able to replace bulbs without removing the entire friggin' lens assembly.  However, despite my brain disbelieving, I just confirmed that it says that ALL headlight bulbs should be removed counterclockwise...  

Normally, this would be true.  But in my '97, the  passenger side bulbs are indeed backwards - I have to rotate them CLOCKwise to REMOVE...  

  boys

Eldo wrote:

This is something I SHOULD have mentioned many moons ago.  On the other hand, I wonder if my car was the only one so 'blessed', as no one else ever mentioned it...  It almost belongs in the "Didn't know this about my Riviera" thread.

Now, the shop manual is just plain wrong about being able to replace bulbs without removing the entire friggin' lens assembly.  However, despite my brain disbelieving, I just confirmed that it says that ALL headlight bulbs should be removed counterclockwise...  

Normally, this would be true.  But in my '97, the  passenger side bulbs are indeed backwards - I have to rotate them CLOCKwise to REMOVE...  

  boys

when I replaced my highbeams, I removed the bolts inboard of the light housings so I could get my hands behind the housings from the obvious opening in the top of the assembly that includes the radiator support.

Yes, per FSM for both high beams:  
   Remove the 2 (forward-facing) headlamp-bracket mounting bolts at the inboard edge of the
headlamp in order to allow access to the high beam sockets.
   Remove the sockets by reaching through the opening and turning the sockets counterclockwise (maybe.)

As an aside, I've always bitched about how a headlight used to - and SHOULD - be replaceable on a dark & stormy night with just a phillips screwdriver...  Now I've learned how 'good' our Rivi's are.  Here is someone's procedure for a Gen-I Cadillac CTS coupe:

"First, remove the top cover of the radiator.  Next you remove the 2 outer black plastic clips on the top of the bumper cover along with the two 10mm bolts.  Next you have to remove 2 plastic clips on each of the wheel wells. Then there are about 6 plastic clips on the bottom of the car. Pull the side of the bumper cover away from the wheel wells & pull towards you. Next there will be three 10mm bolts holding in the headlight & the harness on the bottom of the headlight. Once you have the light removed from the car, you have to remove the three 7mm bolts on the bulb cover. The D1S bulb is held in with 2 Torx screws.
(I forgot to mention that there is one 10mm bolt behind each inner fender that holds the bumper cover to the fender.)"

FIRST KILL ALL THE LAWYERS... THEN KILL ALL THE ENGINEERS!!!