Does anyone have any advice on replacing a headlight assembly? My son bought a replacement and thought it would be a piece of cake to replace it. Ha - he always thinks that! Then he asks Dad! It looks like the way to turn the mounting screws is from the back where I think I can get a small nut driver attachment on the screw to rotate it; the screw shaft actually is hexagon-shaped at the back. Is that the way to go about it? Seems like the front screw heads are really not that easy to get at unless I remove the grill but that really seems like overkill. Any thoughts, hints or best yet, instructions, for replacing the headlight assembly would be appreciated. Thanks much!

Mike Thommes

ps. I've seen comments on this forum about paying upwards of $100 for a new assembly. My son got a brand new one with a bulb for ~$35 (including shipping!) from http://stores.ebay.com/Car-Parts-Wholesale

 

Duh on me! I should have commented that this is a 1998 Mountaineer. Thanks.

Mike Thommes

 

Remove the grill. I suspect what you're looking at is the headlight aim adjustment screw.

 

Yes, if you are looking at hex headed screws, it's probably the adjusters. No need to mess with them.

 

So my son was over today and I had another chance to take another look at that light assembly replacement issue. The removal of the grill has me stumped. I've taken the 4 screws out from the top of the grill and have even managed to pull the bottom of the grill out from two friction (?) fasteners on either side of center. There appear to be at least one more friction fastener (?) on towards each corner at the bottom of the grill. (Are there any others?) Since the grill is plastic, I am hesitant to reef on it too much since if it breaks, I'll never hear the end of it. I also looked a little closer at the headlight assembly and the previous comments about not going for the adjustment screws. It appears that the (driver's side) headlight assembly is attached to some (ABS?) plastic frame which is connected to a support structure by two screws. Maybe it's that whole frame that needs to come out once the grill is removed? I still can't see how this frame is attached on the right hand side (the one closest to the corner of the car). I really hate an inanimate object getting the better of me. Any instuctions/comments/thoughts/pictures to help remove the grill and/or the headlight assembly would be most appreciated! Thanks.


Mike Thommes

 

Check out this thread. It's for 91-94 Explorers, but might be useful.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...headlight.html

 

Hi Kevin,
Thanks for the pointer. It didn't help much but some more searching turned up this: http://www.grillcraft.com/installs/i...?install_id=92 . Once I had the grill out, I don't think I would have had to pull it to replace the headlight assembly. The headlight assembly is held on a three points: two adjustment screws located towards the top of the assembly and then a plastic post, friction-fit, at the lower right corner (of a driver's side headlight). The only things holding it in place were the metal shims (kind of like an inverted "U") on the adjustment screws. I had to spread the "wings" on the shim a tad (I suspect Ford has a special tool for this) so that it could be pulled straight up. Once the shims were removed, the light just pops right out. Of course, you have to disconnect the wiring connector to the headlamp.

For those that need to get the grill out (now that I know how it's attached), first remove the heavy black rubber cover sitting on top. Underneath you'll see there are 4 screws across the top of the grill. Remove those. The directional lights are held on with one screw. Remove that screw and the side light housing comes out. That will expose a screw that holds the grill at the side. The bottom of the grill is attached with four tabs that are pushed into a friction connector bracket. For re-assembly, reverse the order.

Hope this helps somebody! (now if I could just get that darn blend door fixed, the kid could have some heat this winter! )

Mike Thommes

 

Glad you got it done, Mike. Sorry my link wasn't helpful, but thanks for detailing the R&R procedure and providing the link to Grillcraft. I'm sure that someone else will indeed find it useful.

Kevin