yesterday my right front turn signal bulb blew out on my 2001 C5. I've heard there is a way to change the bulb without taking half the front end apart. Can someone share this secret with me?

 

There are a few ways, remove the plastic underneath the front end in front of the wheel, or reaching in thru the front brake cooling duct (you need really small hands for that one) or the way I find the easiest:

Raise the hood, raise the headlight completely on the side your working on by turning the manual headlight ****. Remove the black plastic headlight bezel (3 phillips screws hold it to the headlight assembly). Remove the hood adjustment stop (threaded rod with black plastic top). You'll be able to stick your arm down to the corner light assembly. The bulb is mounted from the top of the assembly and the bulb socket has a spring loaded tab that locks it into the light assembly, see the spring tab in the picture below. Press the spring clip in and turn the bulb socket to release it. You may find that the socket is corroded due to water entering the light assembly from the top. The halogen bulbs give off enough heat that over time they crack the plastic directly above the lamp, then water leaks in and blows the bulb. If your assemblies have cracks on top you can replace the whole assembly at some point, epoxy the tops, or duct them. Keep in mind at some point the heat will impact the repaired areas. Most guys are going the LED replacement route to reduce the heat. If I can find a couple of the assembly blow up pics I'll attach them later.

One you get the bulb in remember to crank the headlamp back down to its closed position before testing the bulb.

Below are a couple of pictures of the lamp housing, and bulb socket. The link will take you to a page with more pictures of C5 corner lights and sockets than you'll ever want to see. There are a couple that show the burnt and cracked assembly and corroded sockets.

https://www.google.com/search?q=corv...pQt2dFpEjfJEM:

 

If I remember correctly, leave the lights on when you turn off the car and the headlights will stay up. (That's what I did on mine.) Then remove the shroud as MAC5 stated.

 

Remove the bezel as described above. Remove 4 torx screws around lid. Remove lid. Remove nuts from both pivot screws. They put something on those pivot screws at the factory that makes them hard to undo the first time. use some WD40. Remove the pivot screws while supporting the headlight assembly. Then lower it out of the way. Now you will have plenty of room to reach in there and change the parking light bulb. Like others said, check the housing to make sure it has not cracked from the heat.

 

Trump hands !!