Dodge Dakota headlight replacement

[opus1]

I feel a little foolish having to ask, but here goes....

2002 Dodge Dakota, I was scoping things out to see what would be involved to change the headlight bulb. Owners manual and service manual show one large screw that appears to hold things in place; you remove that and the assembly comes out.

I can't find the darn thing....I see the adjusting screws but I don't see this mythical other screw. Can someone with a similar body style Dakota help?

 

[Jimmy9190]

Absolutely. I own a 2001, same body style and headlights. Look in between the amber colored turn signal/parking light lens and the bottom of the headlight lens, right below the space between the outside edge of the headlight lens and the smaller marke light lens. You will find a T10 torx screw there, remove it and the park light/turn signal lens housing will pull out from the truck. Let it hang or disconnect it, then remove the rubber flap from the inside edge of the light assembly. You will find 2 10mm bolts on the inside edge of the headlamp housing, one near the top and one at the bottom of the housiing bracket, and one 10mm bolt that you will need a long extension to reach behind the parking light lens area, below and to the outside corner of the assembly. Remove the 3 bolts and it takes a good solid pull to release the upper outside corner from the snap-in fastener holding it to the truck body. Then the lamp housing will pull away from the truck.

 

[mechtech2]

Great post, Jimmy, but what a dirty trick on the consumer by the car company.

 

[opus1]

Thanks Jimmy. It's so obvious now with your instructions, and I found the screw with no problem last night. I was expecting a larger one, and for it to be located more towards the center of the fixture based on the drawing. And your instructions are a lot more detailed than the owners manual.....

 

[Jimmy9190]

No problem. Glad to help out. I remember it was hard to figure out the first time I replaced my headlight bulbs too. I have the Dodge Service Manual for my truck, so if you get stumped on anything else, post here or shoot me a PM and I'll help if I can. If you want, I can mail you a copy on CD if you PM me your name and address.

 

[mechtech2]

opus - TAKE THE CD!
What a great offer ! And a great guy to even mention it!