Replacing Headlight Bulbs

[icelogger1]

I thought I would share my experience with changing the headlight bulb because its not as simple as it appears. Hopefully I can save you money by this explanation. The light assembly in our uplander's are not made to just pop out and you replace the bulb in the back of the assembly. I wish it was that easy. 1. Unlock and remove the locking pin with your hands2. Remove the one small bolt on top of the light assembly with a socket or wrench3. Remove the black pop rivets across the front of the grille. These rivets hold the top of our plastic bumbers in place. The bumber will not fall off so don't worry about that. We have to remove these rivets to get more room to pull out the light assembly. A wide srewdriver or a small flat pry bar works great to pop the rivets. 4. Next is the tricky part. On the back of the light assembly behind the blinker light(towards where the light assembly goes deep under the quarter panel) there is another metal rivet that is attached to the back of light assembly that needs to be popped out. Once the light assembly is loose you will notice that it feels hung up from coming out. Get a flashlight and get a long screw driver and pry the last rivet. Your entire assembly will finally come out to simply change a light bulb. They don't make vehicles like they use to. 5. Put every back together. Pop the light assembly back in place, put all black rivets back in place, put locking pin back in place, and lastly put screw back in place. Note from a mechanic: When handling the new light bulbs do not touch the bulb with you hands. Your fingers have oil on them. When these very hot light bulbs heat up and have oil on it, the oil will cause the bulb to burst. Hope this helps somebody out there. Happy Holidays.

[spike88]

Thanks for the headlight replacement instructions. What year is your Uplander?

If wondering, I had to replace a low beam bulb in my 2009 Montana (same light assembly as 2006-2008 Uplander) this morning. For its procedure, I used the instructions found on U-Tube. re: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvhH3Wa8Kt4

Little undocumented "low cost" brighter light upgrade trick…..
- The 2006-2009 GM mini-van comes with H11 55W bulbs. Very "low light" Low Beam bulbs. To upgrade to brighter lighting (at low cost), simply replace the factory H11 55W with much brighter H9 65W bulbs. To do this, simply purchase an H9 bulb, take a small grinder and trim 3mm off its steel base. Thus, allowing it to fit into an H11 socket. And, take a sharp knife and create a split electrical plug as well. Very easy DIY 3 minute task.

For pictures of modified H9 bulb base, surf:
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o.../H9toH11_3.jpg
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o.../H9toH11_1.jpg

After installing brighter H9 65W bulbs and re-installing both headlight assemblies, re-adjust headlight aim as well. If wondering, I use my flat surface garage door and a properly allen key to adjust their up/down aim. Since the light assembly position was changed (even slightly), its headlight aim must be re-adjusted as well.

If wondering, my 2009 GM mini-van has factor H11 bulbs for its High Beams and upgraded H9 bulbs for its "low beam". In comparing before and after, IMO all Uplander/Montana vans should come with much better / 10W brighter H9 bulbs (within their low beam sockets).

Hope this helps as well…

[rhandwor]

Originally Posted by xtralight

Thanks for information....Nice Post of headlight replacement instructions.........

Remember don't touch the bulb. If you do clean with Windex and a white cloth.
The oil on your fingers will cause a new bulb to fail in a week.

[ricebike]

weird that your owner's manual doesn't have those instructions to replace your headlights...

i've driven various makes & models over the years since 1989 & all of the owners' manuals have this info, including that warning to not touch the glass part with your bare hands

[icelogger1]

Originally Posted by ricebike

weird that your owner's manual doesn't have those instructions to replace your headlights...

i've driven various makes & models over the years since 1989 & all of the owners' manuals have this info, including that warning to not touch the glass part with your bare hands

Yes, It would be nice if this info was in the 2005 owners manual but unfortunately it is not. And there is no Haynes manual for the 2005 uplander either.

[ricebike]

Originally Posted by icelogger1

Yes, It would be nice if this info was in the 2005 owners manual but unfortunately it is not. And there is no Haynes manual for the 2005 uplander either.

really? most GM manuals i've came across with have more detailed directions to replacing bulbs...

for example, i found a 2007 owners manual online:

pdf file page 472

http://www.chevrolet.com/assets/pdf/...der_owners.pdf

it's plain as day

now i know you should have a similar page like that in YOUR 2005 manual since these models didn't change much at all

PS: that youtube link was a great alternative as well; guess you didn't have to pop off those plastic rivets from the bumper cover

[icelogger1]

Sorry I should of been more anal and stated that I tried what the owners manual said. I assumed if someone read the manual and saw my first two steps they would realize I got that from the manual. I assumed wrong I guess. That's why I wrote that its not as easy as it appears. ALL the info is not in there to do the job. My light assembly didn't simply pop out as the manual states. The rest of the steps are from a very helpful body shop guy that gave me instructions what needed to be done. I posted this because its not as simple as it appears (from the manual's instructions) so, I thought I would help uplander/montana owners out who run into the same situation as I did.