04-18-2015, 12:38 PM
And I thought this was going to be sooooo easy....
I manage to break the headlight bulb while installing the new switch. Here's what happened:
I pull off the forward headlamp assembly from the housing and start pulling on the plug to unplug the headlight.
I pull, and I pull, and I pull some more... Hmmmmmm. It's stuck, I tell myself.
I pull so hard I'm stressing the retainer clip that holds the bulb into the housing, so, I remove the bulb from the housing being careful not to touch the glass element.
I start pulling again and wouldn't you know it, the bulb slips out of my fingers and the glass portion of the bulb snaps off. Time for a few choice word, quite a few choice words. Grrrrrrrr...
I have the Honda OEM shop manual, and before I got to this stage I looked in section 19 for some insight as to why the plug will not release from the bulbs connector blades. Hmmmmm, nothing there.
By dumb luck, I finally figured out that you have to squeeze the sides of the plug to release the locking pins inside the plug that index into the holes on the bulbs blades.
REALLY! The Honda OEM shop manual fails to mention this step, REALLY!
I pencil a note into my Honda OEM shop manual about this and moved on...
Now, I'm not a newbie mechanic, and I've have recent experience unplugging a Honda headlamp bulb, but this is the first time I've encountered a Honda headlight plug with internal locking tabs.
So that was a $30 lesson. Off to the Honda dealer for a new headlight bulb I go. D'oh!
I manage to break the headlight bulb while installing the new switch. Here's what happened:
I pull off the forward headlamp assembly from the housing and start pulling on the plug to unplug the headlight.
I pull, and I pull, and I pull some more... Hmmmmmm. It's stuck, I tell myself.
I pull so hard I'm stressing the retainer clip that holds the bulb into the housing, so, I remove the bulb from the housing being careful not to touch the glass element.
I start pulling again and wouldn't you know it, the bulb slips out of my fingers and the glass portion of the bulb snaps off. Time for a few choice word, quite a few choice words. Grrrrrrrr...
I have the Honda OEM shop manual, and before I got to this stage I looked in section 19 for some insight as to why the plug will not release from the bulbs connector blades. Hmmmmm, nothing there.
By dumb luck, I finally figured out that you have to squeeze the sides of the plug to release the locking pins inside the plug that index into the holes on the bulbs blades.
REALLY! The Honda OEM shop manual fails to mention this step, REALLY!
I pencil a note into my Honda OEM shop manual about this and moved on...
Now, I'm not a newbie mechanic, and I've have recent experience unplugging a Honda headlamp bulb, but this is the first time I've encountered a Honda headlight plug with internal locking tabs.
So that was a $30 lesson. Off to the Honda dealer for a new headlight bulb I go. D'oh!