1. Locate and purchase the replacement bulbs. Pep-Boys Auto store, less then $5 for a 2 pack. The LL is supposed to indicate LongLife type bulbs, we will see about that.
2. Remove all the shit that is normal in the back of the car, you need to get to this side panel behind the tail light inside the car. Remove these two plastic caps and then take out the two screws... if the cover did not fall off when you removed the screws gently pull on the plastic cover and it should come right off.
3. You should now have access to the back panel cover. Use a small flat blade screwdriver or pen knife to lift up on the center pin of this fastener. You can also use a pair of sharp nose needle pliers like I did and it will pull the center pin out. NOTE: These are not screws they are push fasteners, see the next photo for what you are dealing with here.
4. Closeup of these fasteners. Note that they do have a small flat edge to help get under to pop it out. However, it is dark and I am damn near blind so you will not see this flat part until you actually remove the fastener from the panel.
5. Also, this back panel has several latches along the edge, take your time when pulling out this larger back panel so you don't snap off any of the ears. Still it should come off easily.
6. Unless you f'ed-up something to this point, this is what you should have now pulled out of the car. This now gives you access to the single 10mm nut you will need to remove the tail light assy'.... but not yet!
7. Before you remove the 10mm nut inside, you should remove these two screws.
8. Now go in and remove the 10mm nut from the inside. I have marked the 10mm nut and the white plastic alignment pin. (This alignment pin use to be the other 10mm nut noted in some service manuals. However, it was removed to speed up the mfg process and save money.
9. Now the fun part. Pulling the tail light assy' out. You may need to wiggle it a bit and if you have long enough arms reach around and push the white plastic alignment pin from the back as it is soft plastic and tends to catch on the edges of the hole. Again, take your time and it will come out easily with a bit of wiggle. The Items marked here are; Plastic alignment pin, 10mm stud and the brake(STOP) light socket... to open the socket a simple 1/4 turn twist will pop it free an allow access to the lamp.
10. A small push an twist removes the old light bulb and reverse the push and twist to insert the new light bulb. At this point continue to leave it out of the tail light assy' and go press down on the brake pedal and if the lamp lights you are done except for reversing the disassembly process. However, if the light did not come on, use the other bulb in the package and retest... if still no light you have other issues. REALLY! Make sure you are inserting the bulb completely. PUSH and TWIST
10A. Very Optional: When I removed the lamp I noticed some corrosion/oxidation on the contacts. SO, here is socket contact cleaning 101. When using these cleaners always spay it onto a q-tip first and then wipe the contacts. Do Not and I do mean DO NOT EVER spray these cleaners directly into the sockets or onto plastic parts without fully testing them for plastic/rubber breakdown, as some and pretty much all these chemical cleaners can damaged the plastic and or rubber parts in some way.
Yeah Yeah I know they say they are safe. But do you want to risk going from a simple light bulb replacement to a socket replacement? 15min of work or a couple hours replacing a socket because you sprayed a cleaner into it. Using q-tips has saved my ass more then once and again this is an optional item to begin with so for 94% of you reading this just move along to the next step.
11. Use a rag and clean out the tail light compartment and reverse all these instructions to reinstall the tail light assy' and then Recheck the tail light by pressing on the brake pedal. Marked here are the alignment hole for the plastic pin and the 10mm stud hole.
If all went well it should take you 15-20min and you will not even need to GoJo your hands. Then again you can take it to the dealer and pay about $75-100 bucks to have them replace the $2.50 lamp.
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