How do you replace the headlight bulb on a Honda Accord?

Answer 1

I just did this for the low headlights... (not the high beams), and thought i'd post how i managed:

the drivers side is a piece of cake... on the passenger side you need to remove the clean air intake. its a big piece of black plastic behind the headlamp. pulls right up. no big. but you'll have way less room to maneuver than on the drivers side. If you're doing both start with the drivers side bulb to get a sense of whats going on. it's impossible to get a sense of whats going on on the passenger side.

locate the bulb and remove the power clip from the bottom. there is a plastic lock that you have to hold down while you push to casing down. i had to use the tip of a screwdriver to put enough force on the clip-casing to manage this.

now the hard part:

there is a black ring that locks the bulb into place. this has to be twisted (when facing the toward the car) counter clockwise. molded into the plastic are the words lock and open. twist toward open. this is a massive pain in the a**. i had to use a screwdriver to get a little bit of leverage, make sure you're only twisting the black plastic ring and not the bulb. the bulb does not turn.

once the ring is removed the bulb twists and comes right out.

follow the directions in reverse making sure not to touch the new bulb's glass with your fingers. apparently the oil from your fingers can shorten the bulbs life... or so I've been told.

it takes a little while and that damn lock ring is tough to get off. but its not that bad.

good luck

2004 Accord- The driver side low beam is the tough one. The other three should be relatively easy to change.

I actually had to remove the battery and the entire air filter housing to get the dirver side low beam out. One tip that may help you is to put a rag in under the bulb area to block things falling to out of the way places.

I dropped the first bulb I bought to never-never land. I put a rag in the open spot to prevent this from happening with the second bulb I bought.

I just replaced the driver side low beam bulb. The bulb cost about $9 - I guess this is a standard halogen bulb, standard equipment, nothing special - GE replacement bulb 9006. I approached it from the wheel well, in front of the front driver's side wheel. I first turned the steering wheel to the far right to clear the path. Then I crudely yanked and twisted part of the plastic shield in the front part of wheel well out of the way - alas breaking off some of the snaps holding this shield to the metal body on outside edge of the well. I was able to clearly see the white bulb holder with a flashlight. With difficulty in the tight space, I unscrewed the 3 screws holding the bulb in place with a stubby (short) Phillips screwdriver. I was able to pull the brown plastic base of the bulb out of the white holder (while simultaneously squeezing the plastic tag on the bottom to release the catch).

Reassembly was quick, I guess I'll have to buy some of those black plastic snap buttons some time.

2004 Honda Accord

The above technique works well. After removing only 2 plastic snap buttons and one metal screw from the bottom left of the front fender, I was able to pull the flexiable plastic cover out to expose the bulb. Very small space to work with. However, it is easier to remove the light harness first, then unscrew the 2-3 screws to remove the bulb. I found that after removing the bulb with the wire harness still attach make it difficult to remove the bulb due to tight space. It took me 15 minutes to change this.

2004 Honda Accord:

2002 Honda Accord

Ok, the main thing is to remove the top screw and outside screw first. Then twist and pull out the bulb. Finally, press on the white clasp and pull out the bulb. Replace and twist back in. Finally, add the scews and your done.

I was able to remove the bulb in about 5 minutes. I turned the wheels hard right, and removed one pin from the wheel well shroud. Pull back some more of the plastic and the bulb is easily visible. I was able to get a full-size screwdriver into the hole and unscrewed the left screw until it was a little loose. You can easily avoid losing any by just unscrewing this one screw halfway. Then I simply twisted the bulb to the left (counterclockwise) and pulled it out, then simply pulled it out of the wiring harness, put the new one into it, and placed the bulb back into the headlamp. Twist it back to the right (clockwise) and tighten the screw to secure the bulb.

2004 Honda Accord

I found everything above helpful. However, my circumstances were a little different. I had two people who were experienced at doing minor repairs try to change the driver side low beam and they just couldn't figure it out. So my wife found this site on the inter-net and showed me your results. I pulled the plastic shield back as written above, but it was just to tight to get my hand up in there. So, I removed the battery & I took a pair of needle nose pliers & squeezed the catch for the harness off the old bulb. then I simply just turned & pulled the old bulb out. The I just put the new bulb in, connected the harness, & I connected the battery. Knowing what I now know, I could have did the job in about 10 minutes. Make sure you have your alarm control handy to shut the anti-theft alarm off when you're disconnecting & reconnecting the battery. I hope this is helpful, & thank you to everyone who has taken the time to share your experiences.

2000 Honda Accord 4-door

1. Gently insert a slotted screwdriver into the clip release (you will not have enough leverage to release it by hand).

2. Using your hand or another screwdriver (a necessity on the passenger side), gently work the white plastic clip downwards on each side until it fully disengages from the power socket of the bulb.

3. Grasp the bulb power socket (the black plastic butt of the bulb that just detached from the clip) and turn counter-clockwise, about an 1/8 of a revolution.

4. Pull the bulb out carefully

5. Optionally place 'bulb lube' into the power socket of your replacement bulb, but be sure to not touch the bulb glass with your fingers (due to oils in the skin which may or may not affect bulb life). Do not try to remove the glass bulb from its plastic base.

6. Insert replacement bulb and reverse the 1/8 turn performed in step 3.

7. Attach the clip until the clip release snaps into position.

Please note: On this model year at least, you do not need to remove any metal screws (there are 3 on the socket housing) and you shouldn't need to remove the air intake, air filter box or battery! Even if you're not replacing it, try the above steps on the driver's side bulb first. It will save you time when you're playing Dr. with a couple of screwdrivers on the passenger side! P.S. Not long ago, headlights were replaced as one piece: a big chunk of glass with a bulb built into it that you'd pull out from the front of the car. Newer headlights, including these Honda units, are made of a permanent housing that a replaceable bulb fits into from the rear. You should not remove the headlight as a whole to replace a bulb in this vehicle.