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Headlight bulb change 2006 7 minutes

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Accessories & Modifications' started by Syclone, Sep 16, 2011.

  1. Syclone

    Syclone Member

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    In December of last year (2010) I replaced both of my headlight bulbs with high intensity Sylvania units (I forget the specific name). It wasn't until after It did the replacement that I found out about the short life of these units. I took about 40 minutes to do the replacement on the passenger side, and 90 minutes do do the driver's side. Pure torture!

    Well - The driver side bulb failed yesterday. There wasn't any way I was going to go through that scene again. I called Toyota and asked how much it would cost to replace one headlamp bulb. It was going to be $143.00 plus tax. At that point I decided to become creative. I called my local independent repair shop and asked if they could do it. The answer was yes, so I drove over. They were just finishing up for the day so I had visions of having to leave the car overnight. My mechanic raised the hood, took a look at the drivers side, popped off the fuse cover and stuck his hand down into the car. Meanwhile, we were having a conversation about how difficult a job it was. In under 2 minutes, the bulb appeared in his hand. He walked over to a shelf, got a latex glove on - I handed him the replacement bulb - 3.5 minutes later, it was done. All during this time we were talking and he never had both hands in the car.

    I asked him how he was able to do it so fast with a car he had never worked with before (he's changed the oil and done state inspections only). He said that Honda and Hyundai use exactly the same system and he's done thousands of those.

    For you Long Island Prius owners - it's Barrett Automotive 15th St and New York Ave Huntington Station.
     
    #1 Syclone, Sep 16, 2011
    1 person likes this.
  2. Teakwood

    Teakwood Member

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    When it comes to working on cars, some guys are real mechanics, like the fellow you cite. Others are just auto technicians.
    The real mechanics are to be prized and praised.
     
    #2 Teakwood, Sep 17, 2011
  3. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    Puts me in mind of this (Luscious Garage, Prius headlight bulb change):

     
    #3 Mendel Leisk, Sep 17, 2011
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  4. Syclone

    Syclone Member

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    Wow! that was fast, but it may have partially staged. Notice that she doesn't unclip the rear of the fuse box cover - not that it wouldn't take that long, but was the cover fastened or just sitting there. If that's true, what else was staged?
     
    #4 Syclone, Sep 17, 2011
  5. Daves09prius

    Daves09prius Active Member

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    I have to remove the entire headlight assembly because I can't fit my hands in that small space. It takes me about 10 minutes per headlight to remove, change out the bulb and reinstall it. Trust me it's that fast.

    Look at this youtube video.
     
    #5 Daves09prius, Sep 21, 2011
  6. Daves09prius

    Daves09prius Active Member

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    I forgot to add that you do NOT need to take the plastic bumper cover all the way off. I was able to change both my OEM halogen bulbs for Phillips Crystal Vision-Ultra Headlight bulbs in less that 30 minutes.

    I'm not sure how much "extra" stuff the HID setup has, but the headlight assemblies come out the same way. Just do one side at a time, That way you don't have to worry about the bumper cover falling off the front of the car. Also there are three bolts that hold the headlight assemblies to the car, two on top and one from the side. When I reinstalled the headlight assemblies I didn't install the bolt from the side on purpose, It makes it much easier for future headlight bulb changes.
     
    #6 Daves09prius, Sep 21, 2011
  7. Daves09prius

    Daves09prius Active Member

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    Get Phillips Crystal Vision-Ultra Headlight bulbs, they last longer than Osram Sylvania Silverstars.

    CrystalVision Ultra
     
    #7 Daves09prius, Sep 21, 2011
  8. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    As long as you have two of the 3 screws installed, the top one is a must, then you will be fine. I recently installed 2006-2009 headlight assemblies in my 2005 and each one was missing at least 1 screw mounting tab. The one missing the top tab had too much movement while driving. I may not have noticed it with the weak oem HIDs but with my projectors I could see a constant chaotic flicker of color on other car bumpers (flickers white, blue and purple) and the light on the road would appear to vibrate. I used JB Weld to fix the top mount and it fixed the problem.
     
    #8 F8L, Sep 21, 2011
  9. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    ...thats funny because my 06 driver side lamp died about the same time as yours. I replaced with Sylvania also, but the basic (dimmer) ones for long life. Your mechanic might have had an advantage that it was looser after the first replacement. I had my hand on the dang thing but I could not pry it out of there. $200 later Toyota did both.
     
    #9 wjtracy, Sep 21, 2011
  10. Daves09prius

    Daves09prius Active Member

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    Save yourself the money. Just remove the headlight assembly take the entire assembly out, set it on a lint free cloth to avoid scratching the lens. Then twist off the rubber seal. I tried to get the rubber seal off wirhout removing the entire assembly but there was no way for me to twist it off in that small of space. Take the front plastic cover off the radiator support, then remove the Two small screws at the corner of the bumper cover, (one is hidden behind the wheel well liner) , pull the corner of the bumper cover loose, remove the three bolts from the headlight assembly and then the assembly lifts right out of the car. It's that simple.
     
    #10 Daves09prius, Sep 22, 2011
    ydpplqbd and wjtracy like this.
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