I already know whats wrong. I went to change the 'cornering bulb' in my drivers side.

im having a hard time getting the connector at the back of the headlight to make a good connection when i go to plug the headlight assembly back in. As a result, my dipped beams are not working.

i have had this problem in the past; and the dealership even fixed it for me for free (out of warranty too!).

if i take the plug from the car out of the clip, and plug it in to the light fixture that way, everything works. so i know its a connection problem.

it just doesn't want to make a good connection when everything is back in place.

at the expense of a) looking like a fool and b) driving back to dealership, i was wondering if you guys could give me any tips on getting a good connection back there.

 

The cornering bulb from what I remember is an H3 and there would be two connections. 1. being the base of the bulb and makes contact from the spring clip holding the base. and 2. being the wired connection which isnt that bad to connect. But for both, since its really tight to get in there, I like to use needle nose pliers. They work magic!!! Hope this helps.

 

That's not the problem. I fixed the cornering bulb already.


I'm having trouble putting the whole light fixture back in

 

If you are talking about the actual plug that the entire headlight assembly plugs into, I make sure that the headlight is on its tracks as I slide it in, then a use a rocking motion as I firmly push the headlight back in. Make sure that the retainer is being turned the proper direction, you should hear a loud pop when it fully engages. (Both retainer clips actually turn in opposite directions if you look at the little diagram next to the turning point)

 

So upon careful examination, one of the clips that holds the harness in place has broken. It appears the plug pops out of the holder everytime I slide the headlight assembly back in place, it moves and wont form a good connection.

Im goin to have to find a part number for that harness and buy a new one I think.

 

That sucks. Hope it all works out for ya. Seems I've heard of this happening to someone else too.

 

Called around and was able to get a part # for the harness. No one seems to have it in stock. Boo. So looks like I'm going to order it (I'm very impatient lol)

As a quick and dirty fix, I'm going to apply some silicone to try to old it in place. We ll see what happens.