Replacing brake light bulb

[ron10]

It appears I have to take out the rear light assembly to replace the brake light bulb on my 04 Murano. How do I do it or is this a job for the dealer?

[nafddur]

Originally Posted by ron10

It appears I have to take out the rear light assembly to replace the brake light bulb on my 04 Murano. How do I do it or is this a job for the dealer?

If you are the least bit handy around tools and cars, this is definitely not a job for the dealer. I have yet to do any of my rear combination lamp bulbs but, according to the FSM (pg. LT-165 in my 04 FSM), it looks really simple. I did a brake bulb recently on my daughter's Quest, and the Mo rear lights look almost identical to the Quest.

First, you have to pry off the rear combination lamp finisher piece - the black plastic strip covering the 2 bolts that hold the assembly to the car. I think I remember hearing a while ago that someone used a butter knife (or something similar) to pry this black plastic strip off.

Once the 2 bolts are out, the entire assembly needs to be pulled away from the car. It looks like there are 3 plastic posts that are in plastic or rubber type holders attached to the car. Pulling the light assembly straight back (or possibly slightly to the side) will release these 3 posts from the holes they are snapped into.

With the rear combination lamp assembly off the car, any of the 3 bulbs in it can be changed.

Let us know how this works out for you. I'm pretty sure my dealer would change the brake bulb for nothing (or close to nothing) since it's so simple, but I'd have to buy the bulb from them at 2-3 times the cost of a bulb at Auto Zone. Plus, the time to drive the 5 miles to my dealer, wait for the work to be done, and then return home would be WAY more than if I drove to AZ, picked up a bulb, and just did it myself.

[zebelkhan]

nafddur, great instructions for someone who has not done it. Good job!

[nafddur]

Originally Posted by zebelkhan

nafddur, great instructions for someone who has not done it. Good job!

Thanks, Zeb. Though I haven't replaced one of those bulbs (yet) on my Mo, it looked from the picture in the FSM to be very similar to the bulb replacement I did recently on the Quest. I hope ron10 does it and reports back, and that it's as easy as I implied it should be!

The one watch out with removing the rear light assembly is those plastic pins that anchor the assembly to the car. It looks as though if one twists the entire assembly enough while removing it from the car, that those pins could easily snap off. Maybe someone who has done this already (as many of us are sure to have to do if we keep our cars long enough) can confirm this.

[njjoe]

What happened to.... open the trunk, give a quarter-turn to the lamp housing, replace the lamp, install the housing, close trunk???? Or removing the taillight lens by removing the two Phillip screws, replace bulb, replace lens???

Thank about it. It has come to the point where some people must resort to having the dealer replace a tail light.

nafddur, thanx for taking the time to post the easy-to-follow but ridiculously-complex procedure.



-njjoe

[nafddur]

Originally Posted by njjoe

What happened to.... open the trunk, give a quarter-turn to the lamp housing, replace the lamp, install the housing, close trunk???? Or removing the taillight lens by removing the two Phillip screws, replace bulb, replace lens???

Thank about it. It has come to the point where some people must resort to having the dealer replace a tail light.

I too long for those good old days when all the bulbs on a car were readily accessible just by opening the trunk (or hood). I remember a while ago this forum - and of course the FSM - being helpful to me when I had to replace the license plate bulbs on my Mo. It was a true PITA and I couldn't believe that the entire rear hatch panel (the back door inner finisher) had to be removed to get at those bulbs. But, as with many car maintenance jobs these days, once you've done it once, you realize it's really only a couple minute job.

As for the rear light bulbs, just for fun I pried that black finisher piece that covers the 2 bolts off when my wife got home with our Mo tonight. I used a butter knife and, as I expected, the trim piece just popped right off exposing the bolts. I stopped there, however, not really wanting to remove the entire light assembly until one of the bulbs actually needs replacement.

Not that I'm a conspiracy theorist, but I too believe there is something to the thinking that todays cars are designed at least partially to encourage people to take them to dealers for many once-simple repairs.

[WATrevor]

Guys - I did the replacement based on your post suggestion and I posted pictures here: 06 rear tail light, lens removal??

It worked great and was quite simple once I learned to remove the black stripping.

Thanks!

[Joh03342]

That helps Thanks!

[blackdog]

did my rear light, one of the tabs snapped off and i was being careful, working now, but the tabs are flimsy so take care. took ten minutes butter knife and nut driver.