vette99coupe

Got in the vette today and when I went to make a left turn the front left signal didn't work. The turn arrow on dash blinked really fast but no turn signal on front (rear works fine although it is blinking faster than usual)

1. Is it the bulb that needs replaced? If so, I went to autozone and picked up a pair of replacement bulbs for $5.00. Got the part # from owner's manual (#3157).

If it is just the bulb can someone explain how you're supposed to get to it to replace it???? It doesn't look like an easy job. Probably have to take 1/2 the car apart to get at it.

BTW- My first stop was a Chevy dealer parts department in Shippensburg, PA. They looked it up on their parts computer and told me there was no single bulb and that I would have to buy the whole light assembly...$55. Can you believe that????

Any help replacing it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

corvettedoug

Your bulb is burned out. There are several ways to change it, but most have found that going through the front headlight is the quickest.
1) Turn headlights on and back off one knotch (Headlight stays up but no light)
2) Remove the 3 screws to the black cover around the headlight.
3) The cover has a lip on top, so be careful when removing the black cover
4) Stick your arm through the headlight hole and fill around for the turn signal bulb. It is a tight fit and you have to reach in fairly deep.

Shouldn't take to long.

SPIVET

Alternatively you can manually open your headlight doors by opening the hood and turning the plastic **** on the headlight motor assembly (counterclockwise IIRC). Some have even mentioned removing the hood alignment bumper inboard of the headlight trim piece to get a little more access space for your arm.

jrose7004

You can also remove the access panel below and get to it that way.

chevyvette1

my drivers side goes out all the time, I need a new light, I use to change them the way SPIVET does, but the fastest way for me to change the bulb is to push the brake air duct in a little and then push it down out the way, then just reach your hand in through there, now it takes me litterally 1 to 2 minutes, it's real easy Ozzie

here you go I just went out and took a few pics to show what I do, you can also see how many times the bulb actually exploded, stuck inside the light. The plus side to doing it this way is once you unscrew socket, there is enough wire to pull out the duct and change bulb with 2 hands.
Before.............



with brake duct down............



replacing bulb.................

Vetteman Jack

What the heck was that GM parts person thinking?

lt1george

Good job chevyvette1. Thanks for taking the time and pic's to show us the trick.>George

chevyvette1

your more than welcome, just trying to help contribute

docohm

I just did both of mine on my 2001 coupe. What isn't mentioned on this page is that there's a tab you must push to be able to rotate the bulb. I had to take most of one headlight out to be able to tell that and then the bulb came right out. The other side only took 2 minutes because I was able to go in through the brake duct hole.
Bulb was a 3057 orange.
STW, Dave

SPIVET

Didn't notice this when I changed mine...hmmm...maybe I grabbed it just right? I'll have to be more observant next time.

VET IT B

What about the lense cover replacement? Mine are both cracked.

Probably much harder to replace. Mark

JCGRCYA

It's not too bad actually. Check out this link, it has a write up on how to replace it.

http://www.corvetteflorida.com/forum...read.php?t=299

Buee

Sorry to necro post, but I'm having the same problem as this guy with the red vette. My front left bulb exploded somehow, and so I replaced it, only to find a week later that it once again burned out (or exploded). Is there any fix to this, or do I have to replace the entire signal box? I noticed that there was some corrosion on the bulb mount, I'm thinking that water may be the culprit.

Jistari

Dont have time to write it up properly but do a search on melted signal housings, there should be a lot of posts about it.

Basically whats happening is that we have very hot DRL's that over time can melt the top of the housing. Once they do, water can leak in. Water on the hot halogen bulbs will cause them to shatter.....replace bulb....happens again.

Looks like this:

[IMG][/IMG]

What many people do is replace (or take the old ones out and seal them so water doesn't get in) the housings with clear ones and install LED bulbs
like these

[IMG][/IMG]

When you're done it looks like this

[IMG][/IMG]

The LEDs run cooler so it shouldn't happen again. If you change to LED's one thing that can happen is that the turn signal flasher may blink your signals faster. The lower voltage of the LED's makes the flasher think that the regular halogen bulb is burned out, so it flashes faster. Some people leave it like that, others install a flasher bypass (do a search, the vendors on the forum here sell them). Takes about 10 minutes to plug in under the dash and will also mean that you will never have to replace the oem flasher which resides behind the hazard switch in the center of the dash and can be a pain to change if it goes, the bypass....well....bypasses that so you never have that problem.

Good luck

YearOneC5

Great thread! Thanks to everyone who contributed, especially with the photos.

Redeasysport

4157 is the bulb# not 3157 there is a difference and I suspect 3157 bulbs are the ones melting the fixtures.

Vettmann17

Here ya go, it's a video that shows you the quickest and easiest way to do it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaUEoD2CH4k

doje

If you have the melted housing as shown above, you can repair it easily with a product called Super Copper. Then use the LED's as mentioned to prevent future issues.

nstyzo6

whats the part # on the LED's. Can you find them at a local parts store?

MCVetteLs6

im a 21 year old male with skinny arms.. and it HURT to do it this way... but i got it done.. just find someone with skinny arms. they can reach down in there..