How do I replace a tail light



There are alot of new 84 owners here.
so here goes: from my shop (workshop for my tractor).
1 raise up the rear for easier access, yes your on a floor I hope not the ground.
2 remove the screws from inside the rear wheel well (Torgue driver to remove them.)
3 twist out the bulb, it's going to be dificult because you can't see & tite quarters
the light housing may not rotate easly, this is work.
4 if your bulb had the factory grease use a battery wire brush (post type), to clean out
the light reciever.
5 then insert & twist the the light gently so as not to breake the bulb. You should feel
it lock.
6 place the light back in the socket (easy part) and lock in (clock wise turn). You should
hear(a click sound) & feel it lock into place.
I did think about walmart guys to replace the bulb, it took me 1.25 hours to replace 1 bulb. I'm not a mechanic, a computer geek.
Last edited by Botei; Oct 2, 2010 at 03:29 PM.
However, After reading the replies and trying to reach the light bulb assembly from different angles, I could not get to it. The Haynes manual even said to reach between the muffler and the rear fascia...no dice. I did not want to take apart more than I had to.
I removed the support rod behind the rear wheel well, that is connected to the wheel well at the rear. The wheel well bolt head is on the tire side of the wheel well. This support rod is connected to a metal beam sort of over the outboard side of the muffler. Both bolts are 10mm. With this out of the way, I could reach up fairly easily to find the assembly and turn it counter clockwise to remove it.
After this it drops down to where I can see it and change the bulb. It did take a couple of minutes to orients the unit properly to turn it clockwise to re-insert it, but this still was not very hard. I should have just paid closer attention to its orientation before I removed it.
This entire process took about 10-15 minutes only, without having to dissassemble the car, thank goodness. And, the light works now.
Hope this helps someone else.
Last edited by wheelgunner; Apr 22, 2012 at 10:54 AM.
Last edited by Steve Goetsch; Feb 28, 2013 at 03:12 AM.
Does this also work on an 85 corvette?
Last edited by nhlighthouse; Aug 7, 2016 at 09:24 PM.
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Remove the couple of screws on the bottom of the bumper cover. My big, old arm can reach up behind the bumper cover to the inner bulbs with no issue.
To get to the outer bulbs I need to remove the inner assembly and access the outer bulb via the inner hole.
These are the square tailights and only require you to remove two torx screws to get the lens off and the light bulbs twist out.
This I discovered after trying to get to them through the license plate which I couldn't reach the outer ones from.
Last edited by davide0721; Dec 6, 2016 at 05:47 PM.













