How do I change the headlight assembly on a 2001 Mazda B-2500 pickup truck?
2 Answers
YouTube. Go to YouTube. Step by step on video no less!
AlwaysDirty answered 8 years ago
There are currently zero Youtube videos showing how to remove & replace the headlight housing on a 1998-2001 Mazda B2500. Unlike most of the rest of the truck, it's not the same as the Ford Ranger of a similar year. That said, I just got it done. First, remove the negative cable from the battery, and then remove the headlight bulb. There's a plastic shroud that needs a slight turn counter-clockwise to remove, then a clip for the electrical connector, and then a quarter-turn clockwise to remove the bulb. You may be able to get your hand in there to do it, but I found it easier to remove the battery altogether for the driver-side and to remove the air filter cover from the passenger-side to have room to get to the bulbs. Now to the headlight assemblies. There are three bolts holding the headlight assembly in. If yours is like mine, two that are cater-cornered top & bottom had metal clips that I was able to remove easy enough with a pair of bent-nose needle-nose pliers. You might also be able to get at them with some bent-nose snap-ring pliers. There are holes on either side that need pried apart and you can then slide the clip off. One of mine was stubborn and I had to hold the holes apart with the bent needle-nose and use another pair of bent needle-nose to grab and pull on the clip. YMMV. On the last of the three bolts, the one below the top bolt with the clip, I had to get at it from underneath the truck. I'm told some models may have a metal clip there instead just like the other two, but mine didn't. Instead there were just some tabs on the sides of the plastic nut that needed squeezed by hand in while pushing it through the hole. Once that's done the headlight assembly can be slid right out. Installation is the reverse. Note that the two plastic nuts that had metal clips also serve as the headlight adjustment. Luckily for me, the replacement headlamp assemblies had them already positioned very close to where they needed to be. I was able to adjust them easily enough. You may want or need to have a final adjustment done by a shop, especially if you are in a state that requires vehicle inspections that include this.