How to Replace a Dodge Caliber Headlight
Having to replace a headlight in your Dodge Caliber is most likely going to leave you asking questions about what the designer of the car was thinking. Certainly the thought of having to bring the vehicle to the dealer to have a headlight replaced must have been on the table. You don't have to bring it to the dealer, but you are going to need some tools and some ingenuity in order to accomplish the task successfully at home.
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Things You'll Need
- Floor jack
- Jack stand
- Wheel chock
- Plastic plug puller tool (recommended)
Instructions
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1
Park the Dodge Caliber on a flat paved or concrete surface. Turn the steering wheel all the way to the side opposite the headlight you are replacing. In other words, if you are replacing the left headlight, turn the wheel all the way to the right. Apply the parking brake and release the hood latch.
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2
Place a wheel chock behind one of the rear tires.
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3
Open the hood. This is to allow some light to reach down into the engine compartment.
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4
Raise the front quarter panel of the side you need to replace the headlight on with the floor jack and place the jack stand under the front frame rail on that side.
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5
Remove the fender well plugs using the plastic plug puller tool. You do not have to remove the entire fender well cover, but the more plugs you remove, the more access it will give you to the headlight assembly.
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6
Unplug the headlight switch. Make sure you are unplugging the headlight which will be the inboard plug.
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7
Turn the headlight bezel a quarter turn counterclockwise and extract the bulb and bezel.
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8
Insert the new headlight into the bezel, being careful not to touch the glass bulb.
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9
Insert the bezel and headlight into the headlight assembly and turn a quarter turn clockwise to lock it into place.
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10
Plug the wire connector into the headlight. This would be a good time to get up and go test the light to make sure it's working.
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11
Replace the fender well skirt and plugs into place.
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12
Lower the Caliber and remove the wheel chock.
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Comments
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Lee Stewart
Jan 21, 2011
You'll need to evaluate if this solution will work for your situation. In my case I didn't even have to use a jack or remove the fender (I guess they were tired of the complaints). On a 2009 Dodge Caliber it was NOT this complicated for the drivers side. All I did was remove the air intake (from over the battery). Viola - access to the the headlight. Once you find the plug all you do is unscrew the bezel and plug a little from the light housing. Then to remove the bulb from the plug move the red tab on the plug housing down (with your thumb or a small screwdriver) and pull the plug. Be carefull removing the light - it may be stuck in the plug housing a little. My bulb was a standard H13. Reverse the order to replace (it's that's simple). The Passenger's side looks a little more complicated due to bottles in the way there is a lot less clearance.
