Well, I haven’t been around much in recent months because I got promoted at work (a mixed blessing), but now I wanna play ask the Dopers if y’all don’t mind helping me out.
I have, since February, acquired 1) a driver’s license and 2) a 15-year-old red Mustang. My car now has a headlight out, and, since I hadn’t owned a car since 1989, I’m at a bit of a loss. Is this something a nonmechanical person can fix? If it is, how do I know what to buy?
Should I take it to a shop? About how much should it cost? Is it something you can wait at the shop for, or will I have to give them my car and take the bus again for a day (shudder)?
Other than that, it’s nice to be driving again, except that the good people at Ford Motor Credit Co., whom I have been pestering for months, may never get around to clearing their lien on the damn thing (the previous owner never bothered, so I said I’d take care of it. Hah!)
Get thee to your friendly Auto Parts store, give them the make, model and year, and they will provide the part you need. Should save you 40 bucks or so…
Should be pretty simple – if even I can do it. Couldn’t say my Civic is just like your Mustang, but I just popped the hood, undid the fastening (easy to reach) for the light, unscrewed the bulb, took it with me to Wal-Mart for absolutely positive ID when buying a matching bulb, screwed in new light, put fastening back into place, closed hood.
Don’t remember how much the bulb was. It was under $10.
Not trying to be condescending, BTW. I’m an utter moron when it comes to cars and have to be walked through everything. Therefore I do the same for others.
Catrandom - It is really easy to fix a headlight, if I can do it anyone can.
I was thinking about headlights the other day…I used to see one-eyed cars all the time, but it seems that I rarely see them anymore, anyone else notice the same thing? Are pepole getting better at replacing their headlights nowdays?
Thank you kindly, Ferggie, for the step-by-step, and Tedster and Boscibo – I am no longer afraid! I shall venture into Pep Boys with headlight bulb in hand
Maybe newer bulbs last longer, but, yes, my single-lighted state does seem to be anomalous these days.
Guessing from your info, You have an 86 mustang? I might be wrong, but I think those fox bodies had the old square sealed beam headlights. With most of the newer lights you can simply replace the bulb withing the glass enclosure. With the old sealed beam head lights you have to replace the whole enclosure with the bulb. The bigest difference is that your going to have to re aim the light after your done. They do have these little plastic devices that fit over the zorks(three little glass knobs that stick to the front of the light) and have a level to indicate when its aimed right. Or you can just adjust it by hand until the center of the beam goes slightly right, and about about 50 feet in front.
Replacing the headlight assembly should not require re-aiming at all, (Assuming it’s correct to begin with) unless the aiming screws are buggered with by mistake as part of the headlight replacement.
It’s a separate mechanism in every vehicle I’ve owned. For a professional job, it should be checked, tis true. I’ve never had the aim move one iota, however. A competent shop should be able to check/align headlight aim for a nominal (5 dollars, say) fee if you’re losing sleep over it.
Don’t try to adjust it yourself unless you know exactly what you’re doing.
It should be a seperate mechanism, But I’ve often run into slight differences in exact shape of the light(since its unlikely to be made by the OEM, especially after 15 years) that cause the replaced light to have a different center aiming points.
I kinda disagree with that. As a rule you should periodically check the aiming of the headlights, since it is a simple tension screw adjustment, and over time will wander a bit, especially as it gets pounded by rocks constantly. Adjusting it wrong is bad, but getting it right is pretty easy.
