How hard can changing a lightbulb be?
I've changed the Falcon headlight bulbs more than a few times and I always forget how to do it. But now it's documented, future JAW can thank me.
You can change the one on the air filter box side without removing anything, just take the box lid off. The battery side will need the battery removed. Don't try to remove the globe or the rubber boot, start with the plug. You won't feel them, but there are little clips on the side that you squeeze in and then pull the plug off.
The plug.
Now you can remove the rubber boot, there is a clip underneath. Push it in and down, the globe can now be removed.
Plug off.
Install the new bulb, be careful not to touch it, it will create a hotspot and fail early. The clip can now go back on, the rubber boot and the plug. Job done!
Clip with bulb
Clip without bulb
Update 2023 After replacing around 10 of these halogens - probably failing due to water leak into the headlight or some vibration that is no longer damped - I snapped and bought some LED headlights. I'm not sure if it was a good upgrade, but they are in, with any luck they will last. The problem with LEDs is that reflector headlights like these are expecting a filament light source in a very specific place which LEDs can never do. So while the LEDs have a good attempt at sending out light the same way, they don't do it exactly right.
LED versus Halogen - notice the heatsink and remote plug socket on the LED.
These LEDs I bought, which were only double the price of a normal halogen ($30AUD2023 each) have a heatsink on the back. I had to modify the clip that holds the bulb in otherwise you can't get it over the heatsink. It was simply a matter of popping one clip end out, bending it, so that the bulb goes in and then you can wrap the clip around around it and push the end back into the clip holding hole.
The rubber boot on the back was also a slight problem, the plug fits through it but now it doesn't fully seal. Perhaps the headlight will fill up with water over time, but I reckon I'll be right.
Even with the heatsink you can make the clip work
I found the light was not as bright but there was more of it. That doesn't make sense but I can't explain it. "More cohesive linear photons". Yeah, nah.
I needed to point the headlights down a bit more than normal because it could light up a reflective sign at head height 200m away. I walked up and down in front of the car to check if I was blinding anyone, and it wasn't a problem, but once they were facing a lot further down, they stopped lighting up signs from a great distance. The lighting however is still plenty enough.
They do have a very stark while colour to them - they make old school halogens look positively jaundice!
So not an upgrade I am fully recommending - not to mention they are no street legal in Australia - but if they last for the rest of the life of the car I'll give them the JAW stamp of approval.
Halogen left, LED right. You can see the spread is wrong, and the halogen appears brighter, but in practise the LED lights up the road a lot more.
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