'97 Honda civic EX. Driver's side headlight is out. Already bought the light. I've seen the youtube instructions for changing it but it's never that easy. That power steering reservoir is right in the way. The video said you could unclamp a hose to move it out of the way. The hose on my Honda is all 1 hose, there's no clamp. It pops out of its holder but you can't move that reservoir tank enough to be able to work and see what you're doing.
I don't want to bust that hose to get to the light but it's right there. And the whole headlamp bolts are rusted so I really can't go in that way. Plus that seems like more work.
Any ideas? How much would someone charge just to put the thing in for me? Maybe a mechanic with small hands can do it just by feel:)?
2013-09-25T17:01:34Z
Yeah, I did slide the reservoir off the bracket. But it still doesn't leave much room to work. The hoses are in the way. You can't see too well and my hands are too big. You gotta be able to pinch that socket to get it out and then remove the rubber base of the leadlight. There's just little room...
wakawu2013-09-25T23:53:12Z
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Had the same car.. and no, pep boys does not do bulb changes for free. It's a 5-10$ charge or somewhere around there. This is all you have to do for the driver side - LIFT the power steering container out of the holder. Those Honda Civic power steering containers just lift right out and you can push it to the back a little to give you some room to push your hand through there. Pop off the rubber cover behind the headlight, disconnect the connector to the bulb, remove the bulb brace by pushing down and moving it aside then pull the bulb out. Do not touch the new bulb with your bare hands use a glove or just be careful not to touch the bulb itself. Install the new bulb and make note of the 3 notches in the h4 bulb to line it up properly then reinstall that brace by pushing down and locking it in, put the rubber cover over it and plug in the connector. Test the bulb and see if it works. Should be good to go. It is a TIGHT space and your hands will hurt after this is done but it's the fastest way without dropping the bumper out of the way. Good luck.
You need to identify the leak. If it is dripping between the engine and the transmission the rear main seal is probably bad, and it is a devil to change... the transmission has to be removed. However, if the leak is from the bottom of the timing belt cover, at the driver's end of the engine, the cam seal or the front main seal is leaking. That brings me to a more important point. If the seller did not show you a receipt for when the timing belt was last changed, and it was within under 100K miles and 7 years, you have to get the timing belt changed. With a $1000 car I am sure it needs to be changed (it is not cheap) and if the belt fails the engine will not be worth repair. The front main seal and the cam seal are very easy to change when the timing belt is replaced. The water pump should be changed at the same time, while it is in the open. Also, if the oil is coming from the timing belt cover the leak must be repaired soon and the timing belt changed so the oil does not destroy the belt. I don't recommend using engine flush unless you have to. My experience has been that one engine did not leak after the flush, three did. Those are lousy odds. Synthetic has an undeserved reputation for opening up leaks - I have changed seven old cars over to synthetic and none of them leaked as a result. One more thought - the oil level in the sump is normally below the level of the main seals. That is because the seals are not as big around as the crankshaft, and the crankshaft must stay completely above the oil to prevent foaming. I once had a Volvo that had a plugged up crankcase ventilation system and it pushed the rear main seal completely out of the block, but the oil barely dribbled out. A major culprit in leaks from crankcase seals is poor crankcase ventilation... there should be a small vacuum in the cankcase, not pressure. Make sure the breather and PCV systems are clear.
RE: Trouble changing my '97 Honda Civic headlight? '97 Honda civic EX. Driver's side headlight is out. Already bought the light. I've seen the youtube instructions for changing it but it's never that easy. That power steering reservoir is right in the way. The video said you could unclamp a hose to move it out of the way. The...
Driver's side, correct? If yes, I did the same swap for a friend a few months ago. I did not have to do a damn thing with the power steering pump. However, I did partially have to drop the front bumper. It's not that big of a deal at all. Took all of 45 minutes for the whole process.
Here, I think this youtube will make it clear enough. Again, I did not have to touch the power steering pump whatsoever.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TZfVoGUYCM
When I did this repair I did not remove the bumper all the way, only partially on the driver's side.