changing under hood bulb on a C5
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6th Gear
Joined: May 2016
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changing under hood bulb on a C5
I recently replaced the burned out bulb under the hood of my 2004 C5. There have been other posts about this, but wanted to add mine so it may help other avoid pitfalls that I had. First, carefully remove the plastic cap from the unit. There are no screws, it just pops off. Careful not to break the 4 plastic hooks. See if the bulb is burnt out. If so, then replacement. If not, you have another problem.
Burnt out replacement: First, you need to remove power from the unit. This will prevent you from blowing the 10 amp fuse like I did. Some folks opted to disconnect the wiring unit, described in other posts. Since I already blew the fuse, I went that way, i.e., pulled the 10 amp fuse in the fuse box on the passenger side floor. So where is the passenger side fuse box? Well, pull back the floor mat. Then pull off the panel at the front of where your feet go. It just pulls off easily, no screws. You will then see the fuse on the right of the opening. Open the fuse box. The fuse is a 10 amp to the top left of the fuse box. It is shown as #2. Remove this fuse. Next, go to the lighting unit. To remove the bulb you may need to use a flat head screwdriver like I did. Use it to gently ease the tension of the clips holding the bulb in place. The bulb is removed by gently pulling or pushing to the driver's side (left). I released the upper wire of the bulb first, using the flat head screwdriver to release tension. The lower wire came off easily after that. I decided to use an LED fixture to replace the bulb. Got that from Corvette Mods. I wish they had a twisted loop wire LED unit, but I used the unit they sent. If it were a twisted loop unit, the LED would have given me more direct light onto the engine bay. As it is, the LED gives more light to the driver's side of the engine bay. So, putting in the LED is the reverse of taking out the bulb. I used the flat head screwdriver to ease tension of the clips to install the wire units. Once installed, then replace the 10 amp fuse. The light should go on. If so, then put everything back. I did get a filament bulb from Eckler's, but after seeing how flimsly the filament was, I opted for the LED unit. The shock of closing the hood will eventually break those filaments. Well folks, hope this helps.
Burnt out replacement: First, you need to remove power from the unit. This will prevent you from blowing the 10 amp fuse like I did. Some folks opted to disconnect the wiring unit, described in other posts. Since I already blew the fuse, I went that way, i.e., pulled the 10 amp fuse in the fuse box on the passenger side floor. So where is the passenger side fuse box? Well, pull back the floor mat. Then pull off the panel at the front of where your feet go. It just pulls off easily, no screws. You will then see the fuse on the right of the opening. Open the fuse box. The fuse is a 10 amp to the top left of the fuse box. It is shown as #2. Remove this fuse. Next, go to the lighting unit. To remove the bulb you may need to use a flat head screwdriver like I did. Use it to gently ease the tension of the clips holding the bulb in place. The bulb is removed by gently pulling or pushing to the driver's side (left). I released the upper wire of the bulb first, using the flat head screwdriver to release tension. The lower wire came off easily after that. I decided to use an LED fixture to replace the bulb. Got that from Corvette Mods. I wish they had a twisted loop wire LED unit, but I used the unit they sent. If it were a twisted loop unit, the LED would have given me more direct light onto the engine bay. As it is, the LED gives more light to the driver's side of the engine bay. So, putting in the LED is the reverse of taking out the bulb. I used the flat head screwdriver to ease tension of the clips to install the wire units. Once installed, then replace the 10 amp fuse. The light should go on. If so, then put everything back. I did get a filament bulb from Eckler's, but after seeing how flimsly the filament was, I opted for the LED unit. The shock of closing the hood will eventually break those filaments. Well folks, hope this helps.
