Just Changed Out My Nbs Headlight Bulds...pita!

[Heysdad]

I've just got to say that I don't know what bottle of booze the guy or gal that designed our headlight placement had, but he/she must have drank the whole thing.

 

What a PITA.....It's a joke!!!! Anyone that changes out their headlight bulbs on a 2007/2008 NBS is a true hero....

 

Would it have been too hard to use that shoot pin type like they have been using the last few years????

 

NO...You need to remove the air cleaner lib and box for the passenger side or the spare battery tray and the wiper/washer fluid bottle for the driver side. Even then some jerk thought that would be a great place to weld in a strap across the spot you need to insert your hand.....LOL.....?

 

OMG....Come on GM, think about the guy that would like to change his own light bulbs....

 

The owners manual says....For any lights not listed in the replacement section....take it to the dealer.....?

 

The only one they somewhat explain is the R/H headlight...That's it!

 

What about the interior lights.....I could not find anything about them in the manual. Not even a part number....maybe I missed it....But that's pathetic.

[GeoHawk]

Yeah, I've had to deal with that stuff twice now : Once to replace the highbeams with Silverstars and then again when I put the HIDs in. Total PITA. I hear that having to replace bulbs in the headlamp assembly of my Acadia is even worse. Nothing like taking a nice easy DIY task like replacing a burnt out headlamp bulb and having it cost $75+ because GM wants you to take it to the dealer.

[hoorders]

I've just got to say that I don't know what bottle of booze the guy or gal that designed our headlight placement had, but he/she must have drank the whole thing.

 

What a PITA.....It's a joke!!!! Anyone that changes out their headlight bulbs on a 2007/2008 NBS is a true hero....

 

Would it have been too hard to use that shoot pin type like they have been using the last few years????

 

NO...You need to remove the air cleaner lib and box for the passenger side or the spare battery tray and the wiper/washer fluid bottle for the driver side. Even then some jerk thought that would be a great place to weld in a strap across the spot you need to insert your hand.....LOL.....?

 

OMG....Come on GM, think about the guy that would like to change his own light bulbs....

 

The owners manual says....For any lights not listed in the replacement section....take it to the dealer.....?

 

The only one they somewhat explain is the R/H headlight...That's it!

 

What about the interior lights.....I could not find anything about them in the manual. Not even a part number....maybe I missed it....But that's pathetic.

 

Holy crap that does sound like a PITA!!!............the more im learning about the new trucks the more reasons im finding to keep my 2000.......

[Draenor]

There not like the previous versions, to where you pull the two pins and the assembly pops out?

[Darkanion]

Yeah, I kept looking for an "easy way" or some "trick" to it... No luck. I was glad I did the CAI and HID conversion at the same time. I'll probably wait a while to do anything with the highbeams, if I ever do. I'm thinking about just putting something really bright in the foglights and using them as occasional driving lights, for road trips.

 

Doing anything with those headlights again is not real high on my list of things I want to do again... The conversion itself was pretty easy and fairly smoothly. Getting TO the stinkin' bulbs, though, especially on the driver's side... crazy...!

 

The more I think about it, there has to be an easier way. No way could they quickly put that together at the factory. There's got to be a way to get that headlight assembly to come out the front, for easier access.

[keoni1978]

After I got done installing my HID last night (the driver side is rediculous, you need a midget hand), I noticed a bolt that holding the headlight unit right at the top of the crossmember. Maybe that the easy way...?

[Hidebinder]

There are just somethings that a manufacturer should build into a vehicle..... that is, convenience and ease of maintenance for those simple tasks such as replacing light bulbs, (including panel lighting) replacing fuses, relays, replacing tires and changing fluids and filters. These are the things most owners I think would consider rather elementary tasks that should not require a great deal of effort and skill. I have seen buried oil filters where just being able to see it would require a contorsionist. We all know of differential housings and tranny's without drain plugs. I think that would be a good selling point if these things would be engineered into a vehicle.

[Bostonsfavson]

The driver's side is definitely a joke. What I did was remove the entire headlight assembly. Two bolts on top, and two on the bottom (accessible underneath the vehicle) and the entire light assembly comes right out. It's not really much work, and definitely easier than trying to get your hand in from the top (at least for me). There's also some tabs that you have to line up, just in case anyone does this.

[Darkanion]

The driver's side is definitely a joke. What I did was remove the entire headlight assembly. Two bolts on top, and two on the bottom (accessible underneath the vehicle) and the entire light assembly comes right out. It's not really much work, and definitely easier than trying to get your hand in from the top (at least for me). There's also some tabs that you have to line up, just in case anyone does this.

 

That sounds easier than what I did......!

[GeoHawk]

After I got done installing my HID last night (the driver side is rediculous, you need a midget hand), I noticed a bolt that holding the headlight unit right at the top of the crossmember. Maybe that the easy way...?

Yeah I took that bolt out, but no dice. Like Bostonsfavson wrote, there are bolts on the bottom too. I didn't bother with the bottom ones and just replaced the bulbs with the headlamp housing in-place.

[topdj]

first time I tried, I broke the tab on the bottom and the lower bolt tab,

I just too the 2 bolt on top out and thought it just snapped in, lol

took a bit of epoxy to fix the tabs

[Bostonsfavson]

Yea there's another bolt underneath the plastic shroud that covers the radiator. You would think if you took these two out then the headlight assembly would pop out, but no dice. You have to crawl underneath and remove the other two as well. All told it's a pretty bad design. And if you have a second battery installed as I do, then the drivers said is even more of a pain! However, the K&N cold air kit I installed actually made the passenger side easier. All you have to do is remove the air box cover and you have some room. Spark plugs and things of that nature being a PITA to change are bad eough, but headlight bulbs? There's no excuse for that. I'm glad to hear that other people are having problems though; I thought that perhaps it was just me!

 

By the way, how do you like that Acadia Bill? I think that vehicle (and the Buick Enclave and, to a lesser extent, the Saturn Outlook) are pretty d**n sharp. I had some time to kill at the dealership a few days ago and was checking out the Acadia. Seemed pretty nice!

[topdj]

I only found 3 bolts 2 on top " one hidden" and one on lower inner fender

and a keyed plastic part

[Rocco715]

Well since there is no easy way to do it, I found the easier way is to remove the plastic cover above the grille, then remove the grille, then pull some tabs out of wheel well so you can get at that lower bolt, So no removing battery trays and intakes and what not

[GeoHawk]

By the way, how do you like that Acadia Bill? I think that vehicle (and the Buick Enclave and, to a lesser extent, the Saturn Outlook) are pretty d**n sharp. I had some time to kill at the dealership a few days ago and was checking out the Acadia. Seemed pretty nice!

We absolutely love our Acadia. There have been some compliants with the 6-speed trans in the 07s and early 08s upshifting too early and being reluctant to downshift probably due to attempts to maximize fuel economy (they do have a ECM/TCM software "fix" that supposedly helps), but our late August built 08 with the new ECM/TCM calibrations seems extremely responsive for a 4600 lb vehicle. We cross-shopped the Acura MDX, Mazda CX-9, Honda Pilot and Odyssey, Toyota Highlander etc. (we need 3 rows of seats), and came away thinking the Lambdas were pretty much no-brainers. My mother-in-law decided she wants one now after driving ours, and she currently has a Lexus RX-350.