Headlight Retaining Clip

[Carnage]

After one of my headlights decided it had a good run and died I went to Canadian Tire today and purchased these,

http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/browse/4/Auto/AutoHeadlights/HalogenLights/PRDOVR~0202890P/Sylvania+ZXE+Twin+Halogen+Headlight+Bulbs.jsp?loca le=en

I had no issues taking the low beam headlight out, but when I tried putting it back in how far exactly do I have to push the clip back?

I honestly don't think they're far enough in but it was literally impossible to get them to go any further. My fingers were bleeding by the time I was done trying so I settled clipping the clip on the side as far as it'd go.

The problem is the light kept moving a little bit. Is it supposed to be completely stable? After I put the rubber casing back over it though there seemed to be no issues. I had it on my driveway and when the sun went down I closed the garage and turned the lights on and they're perfectly aligned?

Am I good to go or should I head to the dealer and get them to put them in properly? Who designed this clip? :bang

Sorry in advance if this is a repost!

[SonicBoy]

I believe in the Gen 1 owner's manual, there is a pic of the clip and how it's supposed to be seated.

Without the clip, the bulb might move around causing premature failure of the filament.

Try removing the bulp and test clipping the retaining clip in to get a feel for how it hooks on. It takes some time but you will get it hooked in.

[zoomahh]

If your referring to that wierd shaped metal paperclip looking thingy :P , then ya it's a real beeatch to refasten. YOu didn't mention if you took the light housing off (wayyy easier to work with by the way), but if you were able to see how the clip is held in place, you would notice there is a small screw there. To make your life easier and blood free :) n painless :) , loosen that screw a bit. The clip will be much easier to manipulate then.

If you want a diagram of what it looks like, try searching for a how to on hid installation. That should help big time !!
Hope this helps bro ;)

[McGuyver_3]

That clip is hard to describe how to put back in. What i generally use is a long flat head screwdriver with a slot in it. I cut the slot myself. This gives me more power to put the clip back in place. Now some models the clip gets stuck on the plastic housing which you have to get the clip past manually. It is hard to explain but I wish you good luck

[yearoftherat]

This should help you out:

http://www.mazda3forums.com/index.php?topic=4139.0

[zoomahh]

Nice find YOTR :thumbsup ++++1111

[Carnage]

Thank you. That was the guide I originally used to help me.

"Now comes the tricky part. The infamous retention clip....Don't worry. Be sure to apply a good amount of pressure with your index and it will be fine."

Easymode, got it off no problem.

"From there you swivel the clip back over the adapter. You then push again toward you, and while maintaining the pressure, push down. The clip should now be retaining the new bulb."

This part is just confusing because I don't know how tight it is supposed to be. It's technically holding the bulb, but it still moves a little bit.

Is that how its supposed to be? Thank you for all the help :)

[rzapata]

Just keep pressure, push it forward to the direction of where the headlights are pointed. Then maybe fiddle it a bit to hook the tip to the proper location. It will require a good pressure for it to lock. You will notice when it's nice and snug, the bulb should not be moving at all.

[liquidzyklon]

Ahh, the infamous low beam bulb clip. My advice is one of two things: 1) get a small mirror to get a reflection of how the clip looks like, 2) use Dan's advice of a slotted flat head screw driver for added leverage.

My description for the clip is: 1) put bulb all the way into the socket and try to rotate it, which should not move since the tab from the bulb should be slotted between the headlight guards, 2) flip the clip into the housing which should hold the bulb in place (i.e. the clip is loose and against the bulb but not hinged yet), 3) the hard part --> you push the clip towards the front of the car while pulling the clip slightly up to go behind the fixed headlight housing. Once you have the clip in place, you'll notice that the bulb is much tighter. There's still very little give in the bulb which I think is normal. You should notice that this state is much tighter than the state I mentioned in Step 2.

Hope this helps

[ziegs2020]

With pictures;

http://www.mazda3forums.com/index.php?topic=105093.msg2136738#msg2136738

[knowell]

What i generally use is a long flat head screwdriver with a slot in it. Now some models the clip gets stuck on the plastic housing which you have to get the clip past manually.

This!

A long flat head screwdriver made it a lot easier than pushing it back in with your bare fingers. And in my 07 model, the clip indeed gets stuck in the plastic housing which always gave me the impression that I've done pushing it back in.

Took me an hour to replace the 2 headlight bulbs on my 3 just now. Numb index, thumb and middle fingers. Both the driver's side and the passenger's side doesn't give my chubby hands ample space to maneuver things around, stock air intake tube on the driver's side, windshield washer container on the passenger's side of my 1.6L MZ3. T__T

[DarkKilla]

+1 on slotted flat head screwdriver, I got it clipped in relatively quickly with this method

[jlc_1988]

This video shows a closeup of the clip and how it works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9BrysEE41c