Removing 09 Headlights?

[Infinity-x]

Does anyone have a how-to or details on how to remove the headlight assembly on the 09 Vibes? Or if anyone can simply tell me if the bumper has to be removed in order to get the headlight out. Thanks

[lowincash]

Yeah you need to remove the bumper to take the headlights out. Once you remove it you should be able to see the bolts that holds the headlight in place and pretty straight forward after that. My friends did it for me and by watching it looks pretty easy lol

[Infinity-x]

Hmm that helps. I had a feeling the bumper would need to be taken off, but I have no idea how to do it. Anyone care to help or can show me where to begin?I have a set of TL projectors that are just sitting around collecting dust, thinking of doing a retrofit

[Infinity-x]

Great news! It was pouring down rain so I decided I would try to take my first ever bumper off a car! Extremely easy, took a whole 10 minutes.. I was so surprised as to how light weight the bumpers on our Vibes are. I almost had the headlight out except one sneaky little bolt which I didn't have the right tool to remove!Are our headlights easily taken apart with heat? Or are they sealed permanently. I want to retrofit mine but at $150 a headlight I don't want to ruin the set I have .

[vibenvy]

Quote, originally posted by Infinity-x »Are our headlights easily taken apart with heat? Or are they sealed permanently. I want to retrofit mine but at $150 a headlight I don't want to ruin the set I have .Here's lowincash's thread about the retro fit he did on his 09 GT.Quote, originally posted by lowincash »my buddy does retrofits for a living and he says my headlights was the hardest one to open up out of all the cars that he had worked on. the 09 headlights are made by valeos which are known to be almost impossible to open.

[MojoDaddio57]

Hey guys,Ha! I just had to replace the headlight on my '04 Vibe due to an errant stone (or boulder, as it appeared) that was kicked up from a semi truck and then launched at my headlight Thankfully, the process wasn't too bad though. Here's the procedure that I followed:1. Open the hood.2. Remove the rubber cover and socket from the headlamp.3. Release the retainer clip (1) holding the bulb (2) by pressing down and moving the metal retainer away from the composite headlamp (3) 4. Remove the bulb (2) from the composite headlamp (3), if necessary.5. Remove the front fascia.Remove the front fascia extensions, if equipped.Remove the front fender liners.Remove the fog lamps.Remove the bolts (4) from the front bumper fascia (3) at the fender. Remove the push-in retainers (2) from the bumper fascia using J38778.Remove the fascia bolts (1) from the fascia.Remove the fascia from the vehicle.6. Remove the 3 bolts which secure the composite headlamp. (refer to http://bit.ly/n5AeHj 7. Remove the sidemarker bulb electrical connector.8. Remove the sidemarker bulb, if necessary.9. Remove the composite headlamp assembly from vehicle.--Installation--1. Install the sidemarker bulb to the composite headlamp, if removed.2. Connect the sidemarker bulb electrical connector.3. Secure the composite headlamp to the vehicle with the 3 bolts. 4. Tighten the headlamp mounting bolts to 89 inch lbs. (10 Nm).5. Install the front fascia.6. Install the headlamp bulb to the composite headlamp, if removed.7. Fasten the headlamp bulb retainer clip.8. Install the socket to the headlamp bulb.9. Install the rubber cover to the composite headlamp.10. Aim the headlamps.11. Close the hood.

[keithvibe]

MoJoDaddio57 thats a great help for those with 03-04 vibe's but the OP wanted to know about 09's. They have a completely different front end and fastners.EDIT:and that image isn't even correct. They are forgetting the two 10mm bolts under each fog light that mounts the splash shield to the front bumper.

[Infinity-x]

Thanks for all the help guys!!So its true that the 09 lights are unbakable? I was planning on doing them 250 degrees for 15 minutes.. then separating. Does it require cutting the lens off with a dremel?

[lowincash]

Quote, originally posted by Infinity-x »Thanks for all the help guys!!So its true that the 09 lights are unbakable? I was planning on doing them 250 degrees for 15 minutes.. then separating. Does it require cutting the lens off with a dremel?The 09 headlights are very very hard to take apart. The guy that did my headlights said it took him almost 45 minutes to take each one apart. He had already heated it up in the oven but still had to use a heat gun and slowly pull the headlights apart. I think they used a different kind of sealant or something but it's a lot harder to take apart than the previous gens or other cars that he had done.

[tpollauf]

Keep pouring out information on this topic. I'll be opening up a set of 09's headlights over the winter for some serious LED mod's and this will help me out immensely. Just another great feature of this site

[Infinity-x]

Quote, originally posted by tpollauf »Keep pouring out information on this topic. I'll be opening up a set of 09's headlights over the winter for some serious LED mod's and this will help me out immensely. Just another great feature of this site Not that this is related to opening the headlights.. BUTI did do a modification that most of you probably have done/considered doing. I took the 9005 bulb from the high beam and modified it to fit into the 9006 socket for the low beams. Thats an increase in about 700 lumens (1000 stock to 1700 modified)The results? From what I can tell the light is most definitely brighter.. is it a drastic change? NO.. but the simple modification for around 700 lumens is a no brainer. There is a tiny bit of increase scatter/glare since the 9005 bulb does not have a glare cap on the end. But you guys know our headlights have a very defined and sharp cutoff, so a little glare won't do any harm. The bulbs are around 10 more watts I believe, but nothing that can harm the headlight reflectors or the wiring harness. Overall this seems a great way to get a little bit more light from the stock headlights.

[vibenvy]

Quote, originally posted by Infinity-x »I did do a modification that most of you probably have done/considered doing. I took the 9005 bulb from the high beam and modified it to fit into the 9006 socket for the low beams. Thats an increase in about 700 lumens (1000 stock to 1700 modified)The results? From what I can tell the light is most definitely brighter.. is it a drastic change? NO.. but the simple modification for around 700 lumens is a no brainer. There is a tiny bit of increase scatter/glare since the 9005 bulb does not have a glare cap on the end. But you guys know our headlights have a very defined and sharp cutoff, so a little glare won't do any harm. The bulbs are around 10 more watts I believe, but nothing that can harm the headlight reflectors or the wiring harness. Overall this seems a great way to get a little bit more light from the stock headlights.I am curious to see how the wiring harnesses hold up over the long run. I considered doing this with SilverStars a while back, but was worried about damaging the wiring harnesses.