Headlight Lens replacement

I have a 94 Grand Caravan, how do I replace the headlight lens. I notice there is a tap holding the lens. Do I need a special tool or am I missing something here ?

Well IMHO the easiest way - assuming the screws/bolts/gear thingy aren't seized you can remove just the headlight assembly by using the adjusting screws. However if these are seized it ain't pretty.

There are two that you get with a torx driver from the front, and one that is a complex adjusting post from the top. It interacts with a gear mechanism to adjust the light. If your luck none of them are seized, broken, or have stripped heads.

The lens is actually part of an assembly with a plastic back. I'd recommend taking a trip to the boneyard to see one with the grill off so you can get an idea of what your getting into.

The real way to do it is pull the grill, and whatever else, including this magic hidden bolt located at the bottom of the front quarter panel. Don't ask me how the heck you get there as I've only done it in the boneyard with a panel ripped off the van) and then you have access to this whole unit that includes the headlight, directionals, markers, etc.

I went with the adjusting screw method but I had to get creative due to broken and stripped parts. So far only have one changed, and that one is still jury rigged until I can get more time with the vehicle parked.

You have two choices to headlight removal. You can take the whole assembly out and change the lens on your table or work bench, which allows you the comfort of seeing everything you're doing; or, you can just change it right off the vehicle. I would try leaving the assembly on the van and just changing the lens first, but you'll have to strip everything off the mounting bracket assembly.

First remove the front grill. Then remove the blinker unit. There is a screw on the outside if the blinker where it wraps around, torx I think. Then, with the hood open, looking down on the headlight assembly, look between the headlight lens and the blinker where it wraps around the side of the fender and you'll see a rod with a torx inset on it. Remove this rod. Then remove the screw in where the grill was. You can now remove the blinker unit. There's not much slack on the wire harness, so I hope you have long fingers or small hands. Twist the side light out first, then the two signal lights in the front and remove the unit.

Now you can see all around the headlight lens. Where the adjusters are you'll see that there is a plastic "head" that fits throught the lens unit holding it in place. Using a pair of pliers, turn this head 90 degrees. This will let the adjuster head to slide out of the lens unit. You should remove the headlight bulb wires before you release these adjuster heads. You should be able to remove the lens now.

If for some reason you need to remove the whole light assembly, remove the 10 mm mounting screws that hold it to the rad support. There are two 10 mm nuts that are in the fender. You need to partially remove the plastic wheel well to access these. Dont worry if the whole stud comes out of the light. Once you have all the mounting bolts and nuts out, you'll have to watch how you pull the light out as it may catch on the bumper. Hopefully this works for you. Good luck!

if you also wanted to change the whole headlight assembly 1001headlights.com have some pretty good prices....look for weekly specials.

Just to add a bit from my experience (1994 GC LE):

Once you have the blinker off, you can get more working room by twisting out its two main light bulb holders, 1/4 counterclockwise. Then the blinker assembly can go off to the side out of the way, hanging by the marker light wire.

When taking the headlight out, you can just turn those plastic lock heads 1/4 turn clockwise so their flanges can fit out of the notches in the headlight holders. You may hear one or more of the tabs in back snap off. (Probably this is more likely if they are cold; warm weather or a blow dryer might help.)

But the loss of those tabs didn't seem to matter much. Putting on the new headlight, turn the plastic lock heads 1/4 turn clockwise (again) to lock them in. The little ramps on the headlight don't allow them to turn counterclockwise at all.

...Where the adjusters are you'll see that there is a plastic "head" that fits throught the lens unit holding it in place. Using a pair of pliers, turn this head 90 degrees. This will let the adjuster head to slide out of the lens unit. You should remove the headlight bulb wires before you release these adjuster heads. You should be able to remove the lens now...