Disappointed a by the high cost of parts and labor at the Ford showroom we decided to replace the headlamp of my Ford Fiesta (2006 model, manufacturing year 2009) at home. Used this video as a starting point, however I found it incomplete, missing some very important details. Hence this post.
All credit to my father for executing this project and teaching me a valuable life hacker lesson. Thanks Dad!
Below is a description of replacing the left hand side head lamp on my Ford Fiesta:
All credit to my father for executing this project and teaching me a valuable life hacker lesson. Thanks Dad!
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| My ride at Polo Ground, Mahabaleshwar |
- Start off by opening the bonnet
- Unscrew the 5 screws marked in the image below (yellow & blue circles)
Orientation Bonnet <== - You will also need to remove the front grill. Unscrew the one marked in blue below:
- The front grill is attached to the bonnet with 3 clamps that need to be pressed and disengaged
- The next screw is difficult to reach. I think in the original video the mechanic talks about removing the bumper to get to this screw. However we could reach it with a short, broad, flat screw driver:
- Once this final screw is removed, the headlamp assembly will be lose and move in-place, though still not fully detached from the body. There is a parking light wire and a main headlamp wire that need to be detached. The parking light wire was particularly troublesome - probably due to a defective holder. It came off the light assembly with a gentle twist. The image below shows how to reach the parking light holder:
- The entire assembly rests on a roller now and can be removed by sliding it outwards. Shown below is the roller and direction to slide it in (file fitting it back)
- Remove the rubber bush that covers the headlamp holder which reveals this. Unscrew the screw marked in yellow below and remove the metal clip holding the bulb in place. The metal clip is tricky to fit back and you may have to refer to this image below to see how it fits.
- Its a 12V, 75 Watt Lamp. Ford does not allow over the counter sale of parts in India. I got my lamp from local parts dealer for Rs.250 and had the same specifications/ratings as the original. Once you replace the lamp follow the steps in reverse order to fit the assembly back.
I am not sure if these are the steps as per the repair manual, but it is a fairly complicated process (esp. the screw under the grill & the head lamp holder metal clip) to do a simple replacement. I do wish they make it simpler.
Overall the company policy of restricting over the counter sale of parts and also not providing a repair manual (though pretty useless, since the former is not available) is completely in favor of vehicle dealers rather than car owners. Ford and other manufacturers should learn something from the industry leader Maruti and start over the counter sale of parts.
