Headlight Removal on Euro model

[JeffSpicoli]

Hi all,
I have a 1993 Japanese import 500. The passenger side headlight needs resealed (getting moisture inside) so I thought today would be a good day to r and r. It's three bolts and a plastic tab on the top that I can see. I was able to break the plastic tab with no problem, so there's that . I managed to not break the two clips on the top and was able to remove the two outboard bolts. The inner bolt however is where I'm stuck. It's directly lined up with the aux cooling fan, and there's not enough room to even slip in a wrench.

Before I remove the fan assembly I wanted to reach out to the enormous knowledge pool on here and make sure that this is the route I need to travel.

 

[gerryvz]

The passenger side bolt for the headlight can indeed be challenging. Using a small (tiny/stubby) combo wrench -- box and open end) can be helpful. It gets more difficult as you loosen the bolt. The best thing you can do is to try to use a lever between the fan and the metal flange to get enough room to get the bolt loosened. Generally it's so tight once the bolt is loosened that you don't even need to remove it -- it won't come out !! Trust me though -- IT IS POSSIBLE to remove. You have to use a small wrench. No sockets, thick wrenches, crescent wrenches, etc.

I just did this very recently on my car and it is a slight to modest PITA.

Good luck !

 

[JeffSpicoli]

Ok, thought about leveraging it a bit, but I'm so gun-shy. Seems everytime I work on this car the first sound I hear is breaking plastics!!

 

[gsxr]

You can also un-clip the radiator and condenser, and push them back slightly, to make a bit more room. Not fun to access those screws.

 

[JeffSpicoli]

Just realized that I posted this in the How-To section. How can I move a thread?