2001 VW Beetle, Changing The Low Beam Headlight Bulb

This 2001 VW Beetle came in with the complaint that the driver’s side low beam bulb was not working. This is supposed to be a fairly simple job, but most that I have done have been a pain in the rear end. Literally wound up on my posterior once the assembly finally came loose. Hate it when that happens.

When you open the hood and look towards the back of the headlight assembly, there will be a slide bar. Look for the cross hatched plastic push button and depress it with a screw driver.

Then slide the handle up until it reaches the end of the slot. You may need to work it back and forth to clear the dirt out of the mechanism.

With the slide bar all of the way up, the headlight assembly should be pushed slightly out of the fender. Grasp the assembly around the edges with you fingers and pull and wiggle til it comes loose. Sometimes it takes several attempts. You may have to push it back in and pull it back out several times before enough debris is worked out so that the headlight will fully release. Once it is all of the way out, depress the thumb latch and remove the harness connector.

The blown bulb.

The new bulb lined up and resting in position. The spring wire latch hinges down to hold the bulb in place.

The spring wire latch in place. Well almost, If you click on the picture to enlarge it you will see that the wire is not fully installed into the hook.  I did finish hooking it. just did not take another picture.

On this type of wiring connector, I prefer to tighten it slightly to ensure a good connection. I did the same thing to the ground wire terminal as well.

The long bar on the headlight assembly is one of three alignment ribs. Make sure they are clean and apply a slight bit of water resist grease to the edges.

Take an air gun and blow out any debris from the inner housing. Also remember to work the locking mechanism back and forth to clear any dirt that may be in between the pieces.

A little more grease in the locking slides.

Push the light in and pull the slide bar back down, to lock the assembly into position. Imagine that the light even works. It looks a little orange due to the angle and the amount of daylight when I took the picture.