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Headlight replacement a PITA

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Tony1911

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Am I merely even more mechanically incompetent than I believed to be, or is changing light bulbs - at least for the headlights - really such a PITA with the Patriot? The manual doesn't really help much, either - the drawings are incorrect (unless the Jeep the pictures were drawn from had the lights pointed sideways) as are the instructions. (The instructions talk about releasing a red locking lever or something like that. The closest thing to a red locking lever in the engine compartment is the positive wire I myself ran from the battery to my CB radio!)

Is there a trick to this, or am I merely stupid?
 
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#2 ·
it's easy to be done tony. Unplug the wire's for the headlamp and then take off the black cup. When you get that out you will see a safeguard. Take it off with some press at both ends and it will release the headlamp. Take it off and then with the same way make your change. So easy
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
Tylers thread on license plate light bulb replacement reminded me that I never wrote an update on this.

Turns out the system really is very simple. Considering how difficult these things tend to be in modern vehicles, I would call it flat out ingenious! :) (One time when my previous vehicle had a burned out headlight, I took it to the stealership and watched two mechanics work on it. They ended up dismantling part of the air conditioning to get to the light bulb... :icon_rolleyes: This one minute headlight replacement setup in the Jeep sure blows that out of the water! :D ) Only problem was, both connectors were so insanely tight that it was impossible to unplug them before removing the light bulb from the housing! Also, the instructions in the manual had absolutely no bearing on what was really under the hood, which complicated the matter somewhat. You'd think I would have learned by now never to trust what Chrysler says? :)

In case anyone else is having the same problem:

1) The connector should disconnect when you simply pull on it. There is no locking lever on the connector, despite what the manual says.

2) If the connector is as stuck as mine was, what worked for me was leaving it connected, pulling the rubber insulation back, essentially folding it inside out (there are tabs on the edge of the insulation that you can use - just pull it back from those) and after this you can see the wire clip that keeps the light bulb in place. Once you get the bulb away from the reflector housing, it is much easier to slowly work it loose.
 
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#5 ·
MCJ197731 said:
Just thought I would chime in and let you know that my 09' has this locking clip/tab that you speak of. Maybe they forgot to put this on the 07' models.
Click to expand...
I'm kind of confused because I don't know if he means the headlight assembly or the bulb. If it's the bulb then I can confirm my 07' does not have a clip or tab that locks. All I did was remove the connector from the back of the bulb and twist the bulb until I could pull it out.
 
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#6 ·
Here's a pic

Oktazcat said:
I'm kind of confused because I don't know if he means the headlight assembly or the bulb. If it's the bulb then I can confirm my 07' does not have a clip or tab that locks. All I did was remove the connector from the back of the bulb and twist the bulb until I could pull it out.
Click to expand...
Just went out and took a pic of mine to end all confusion.
Image

The red tab needs to be pulled back before it will come off the bulb housing.
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
Yup. That is a completely different connector than what my Jeep has.

Perhaps they used different connectors for the import models and simply didn't bother to put that information into the manual? Kind of the same way as my manual (the actual manual that came with the Jeep, translated into Finnish) states that I should use low range for off-roading...
 
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