Anyone ever replace their own headlight bulbs? According to the manual, dealer service is required; however, the assembly looks somewhat accessible. Driver's side would require removal of the 12V battery while passenger side, the radiator overflow tank. I just bought the FFH over the weekend (for my son) and nothing's burnt out yet, but I want to be prepared. Previous owner gave me her receipts and I didn't see anything for bulb replacements (it's possible she didn't give me everything), so I'm anticipating needing a replacement soon.

 

I replaced my passenger side by turning the wheels full left and popping a couple darts to peel back the wheel well liner. You can get your arm in there far enough to remove the connector and bail to R&R the lamp.

 

I think the bulbs last a long time. There's no need for a precautionary replacement. If and when it happens you'll probably have forgotten how to do it. YouTube will probably have the answer then.

 

Thanks, I took a look and it seems doable. There appear to be rubber covers over the rear of the assembly. Do they just slip off?

And did you do the driver's side?

 

The car's got 93k miles on it; even with LL bulbs and without DRLs, that's a long time for bulbs to last. I'd rather do them now than have my son bring it to a mechanic.

 

I only replaced the passenger side.
I don't specifically remember a rubber boot, but I'm sure it slides away / pulls off. If it were an issue, I'd remembered something difficult, and it wasn't.
You'll be working by feel once you shine your light in there and assess the landscape.

Mine blew after I had a remote start installed, and....pretty sure the installers nuked it somehow.

 

I just bought a 2010 Fusion..haven't even made the first payment, and have had to replace a taillight and licence light, and now a headlight...but having had a 2008 Fusion (not hybrid) that was totaled two years ago, I know about the oddball headlight business. It's a pleasure to see that I can still go through the wheelwell. I don't mind going to a dealer for work above my ability, but a headlight bulb? C'mon. I would strongly suggest getting a panel tool as someone else mentioned....you will save a lot of cursing and perhaps injuries.

 

Like Fred Allen, I am now having to talk to myself by responding to my own post. I tried to get through the wheelwell on the driver's side yesterday; The clips were a pain to get loose, and I finally gave up when I couldn't get any leverage to pull a couple deep inside the well...so...I'm going to try the engine bay way. Fortunately I have small hands (haha), so I may be able to snake my way under the air filter area after loosening some bolts. I hope. Completely mystified at Ford changing the design that was on my '07 (totaled) with a door you could open in each wheelwell to get to the bulbs. There can't be THAT much dealer profit in bulb changes, can it?

 

Hey Mike, is it possible that the difficulty lies in the fact that it's a hybrid and the layout of the engine bay is different from that of a standard ICE vehicle? As I'm sure you know, the 2008 and 2010 are the same body style; it seems unlikely that they would have changed something like that.

 

Hmm...no, there are differences in the body styles between the '08 and '10. Now, the basic platform might be about the same, but you are right about the engine bay, the air filter on the hybrid is more complex ( I probably won't be touching that too soon) and there are two coolant tanks. I was able to move part of the air filter hose today and snake my hand under to change the driver's light, but the passenger side will have to wait until I have more time to pull the wheel well liner off and reach up under. I tried moving the overflow tank, but decided against taking the hoses loose. It was just too tight even with taking it out part way to get to that light.