Can anyone give me step by step instructions on how to replace the parking light bulb on a 2004 Xterra SE SC ? Thanks!

which bulb? The amber one built into the front bumper?

or the amber on in the headlamp?

The white one (Parking Lamp) - it's all together part of the Headlight assembly
on my 2004. Above the Yellow directional - also part of the Headlight Assembly. You can see it in Riceman's picture of his 2004 XE.

well, i replaced those with piaa's
i had to take the bumper and the grill off
it was a PIA, man, but hey, if theres an easier way(dont think there is)
then someone else will post it
it took me about 45min to change both bulbs

Does anyone have an exploded view or a step by step of how to take the bumper and grill off. DID I FORGET TO MENTION !!! I have a GRILL GUARD !!! to take off too.... @#$$%! !!!!
Any Help would be Grateful ... Thanks!!

when i go upstairs i will look.... there was a thread that had the pdf manual that has the diagram but i will post tonight......

Any luck finding the diagram of how to remove the bumper and grill to get to the headlight assembly ?

i look again tonight, i got on it and forgot what i was looking for.. lol sorry.....

it aint complicated man
just a few bolts on the bumper and a buncha clips on the grill, you should be able to see for yourself, the reason i say it was a pain is bc clips are not my friends, and with a crappy flashlight at nite is nto the best time

It just sounds crazy that a young Polish boy must take bumper off and entire front grill to replace $1.50 little parking light bulb. I think I now get it.

1. Buy big bottle Smernoff Vodka
2. open bottle
3. Take big American sip.
4. Look at all the bolts and plastic clips
5. Take bigger American sip.
6. Walk away
7. Finnish bottle

LOL sounds good but when you wake up the next day the bulb is still burned out......LOL

Took another look at the truck and behold the yellow marker on the side of the front bumper is also burnt out. I guess we all know that it would be wise
to replace all the bulbs - marker lights - directional lights - etc. The job would be soooo much easier if someone could send me a diagram of the removal of the front bumper and the grill ........HELP !!!!

THANKS !

The Polish Boy with half full (optimistic) bottle of vodka.

dude, i dont think anyone here has a diagram t give you, one of us would have to create one
its not that hard, just look at it man
start removing the bumper from one of the fender wells, you should see screws, just start unscrewing them, dont lose them
there are clips, i cant remember if there are clips only on the grill or if there are some on the bumper too.
either way, this is not a complicated task, its just time consuming
why dont you give it a try before asking one of us to spent a few hours drawing a diagram for you to change a bulb

You MIGHT be able to reach in through a hole in the front clip....

Maybe. To change the actual bulb, twist it out and yank the bulb. Try not to touch the bulb with your hand because it is bad for the filament.

Alright...So I know the easier way now.

First you have to go through your fender. That light bulb is accessed in between the inner and outer fender.

1-pull off that fender trim above the tire

2-yank the splash gaurd off of the wheel well

3-reach, and twist

4-replace, replace, replace

cool? Much easier and you do not have to pull off the bumper and the grille.

To all your suggestions THANKS !
The great thing about this forum is the different views of tackling
my problem. SOCCERBRACE gave me the best suggestion ...I Think ?
The fact that I only remove the inner fender wheel well splash trim instead of removing 1.) the Grill/Bumper Guard 2.) The Front Grill w/plastic clips (that can break) and 3.) the Bumper itself just to get to the those burnt out bulbs......I wil first attempt going from the fender well trim.
Sorry if I make this project sound worse than it truly is .....but HELL !
Nissan could have engineered this a bit better... wouldn't you say ?

I agree, too much for a bulb

Here ya go

First, you will need to remove the four screws holding up the fender trim, as shown below. Use a stubby screwdriver for this
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h27/soccerbrace/intakemodwithPaul033.jpg

Now that the fender trim is removed, start pulling down and pushing in one the outer fender lining to create space.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h27/soccerbrace/intakemodwithPaul034.jpg

If the clips become completely detached, reattach them in the following manner
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h27/soccerbrace/intakemodwithPaul039.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h27/soccerbrace/intakemodwithPaul040.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h27/soccerbrace/intakemodwithPaul041.jpg


Pull down the outer fender liner, as shown below.
http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h27/soccerbrace/intakemodwithPaul036.jpg

Soccerbrace -

You Da Man !

Thanks !

Bbad4all

No prob dude!-anytime!

hey soccer did you go out and take pics this morning or did you have them hiding around somewhere???? LOL

I had them hiding. That was for a resonator removal. I have a seperate HOW to on that which I am going to update.

LOL i was just wondering....

WOW all that for a light bulb, wouldn't this all be in the owners manual?

Nope, the owner's manual just shows how to slide the old bulb out of the housing...Thank god (and soccerbrace) that I now at least have a better idea of how to go about doing this. I mean, I was really stumped.:aufkopfhauen-big:

i, too, needed this. started pulling the clips off the front grill area but don't have the tools to remove the bolts (i'm out of town). and three of the clips i can't sufficiently get back in (the two center and the one below) so i had to freakin' zip tie the mounts (actually tighter now, though). completely moronic the amount of work necessary to change the bulbs. this is great for the side markers. thank you!

now....what about getting at the running lights in the 2-lense stack to the outside of the head lamps? do i need to go back to removing the grill since they are behind the plastic housing (and cant be popped right out as suggesed in Haynes)?

thanks. again.

ok, edits. i thought this was for the side marker, not the driving/running light in the head lamp housing. i'll try that one later this week...too much to do today.

to access the side marker easily, remove the screws holding the bumper to the front curve of the wheel well. you can then pull the bumper out enough to reach in and pull out the bulb harness and swap the bulb or to unbolt the lense itself. not necessary to go through the wheel wells as described above for the running/parking lights.

Hi. I know this post is from 2008 but I did the search and found this post useful. I used this method to change the PASSENGER side parking light and it was super easy. However, when I tried to change the DRIVER side parking light it was impossible. I was able to remove the liner and barely touch the bulb socket with a finger or two but the space on this side was so small I could not twist the socket to pull the bulb out. I even tried to loosen the headlight and stick a pliers in there but that wouldnt work either.

Now I have a nice yellow PIAA plasma parking light on the passenger side and a stock amber dull light on the driver side.

Any help to change the driver side driver side parking light would be greatly appreciated. I have a 2003 XTerra.

All I did was loosen the grey twist clips off the top of the grill after you open the hood. Take out the screws holding in the headlight assembly in and I just took that out and then replaced the parking lights and turn signals with LEDs to avoid doing it again anytime soon.

Then throw the clips away and replace with zip ties- less a PITA than messing with the clips...


Sent from The Dark Side

I can't believe what an ordeal to change a light. Thanks everyone.