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Installing a Car's Tail Light Bulb

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Hi, my name is Mark Boudreau from Spectrum Auto Painting and Collision Center and today, I am showing you how to replace a tail lamp bulb and a headlamp bulb in your car. Right now, we are going to remove the burnt out tail lamp out of its socket and housing, identify what type of bulb it is, replace it, reinstall it to complete the job. So, let us start with removing the bulb from the socket.

We have removed the back panel of this taillight and we know that this tail lamp bulb right here is the one that we need to replace. I have got protective gloves on to, one protect my hands, but two also, to make sure we do not contaminate any of the bulbs. We firmly grab the bulb, push down a little bit and twist counterclockwise to lock position and pull straight out. We have removed the bulb.

The next thing we need to do is identify what type of bulb this is. Now, if you look at this bulb, there is some very small writing on this bulb and it says 20 amongst other things including its manufacturer. We have 21 watts and the model number K-35. We need to obtain one of these bulbs to make sure that we have got the correct type of bulb and function for this burnt out taillight. I happen to already know it was K-35, so, here is our replacement. You can get them at any auto-part store or your vehicle's dealer. Now, we are going to reinstall the bulb into the socket and then replace the back of the housing into the tail lamp itself. We reverse the process. Grab the bulb, you will see two small nipples on either side of the bulb's socket, those need to fit into two receptacles here in the housing itself. We align those two nipples with the housing, push in, push in a little bit further, there is a spring like action here and then turn it slightly clockwise. The bulb is now inserted back into the socket. The next thing we need to do is replace the back of this into the tail lamp housing itself. To do the reverse of the procedure, in this case, there is a small dial here that can be done by hand, turn it left and right to remove the housing and replace it. So, let us put it back in and finish the job. We have our housing ready to reinstall, our knob that will tie down the back of this housing onto the tail lamp itself, we line up all of the individual bulbs with their holes and then tighten down the knob and that is how you install both a headlamp bulb and a tail lamp bulb in your car.

Expert: Mark Boudreau

Spectrum Auto Painting & Collision Center

P: (703) 671-2402

When you step into Spectrum Auto Painting & Collision Center, you walk into an award-winning body shop that will immediately surpass your expectations. A clean reception area; greeted with a hello; comfortable seating; original art.The philosophy of the staff at Spectrum is "We are here to provide service. We just happen to fix cars." Mark Boudreau, who started Spectrum in 1993, says that when people More »