Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Replacing headlight bulb on 98 Contour SE

I bought some new bulbs for my low beams on the 98 Ford Contour SE Sport I have. When I went to put them in, I really found it impossible. Am I missing something here? On the side with the battery, it seems impossible to reach in behind the light assembly. I'm just wondering if I have to remove the whole outer lens to get to the rear of it and replace the bulbs, or if I just have to keep trying from behind and cut my hands to shreds.

i think factory manual said to remove the headlights.. i think it's just 2 screws or something holding the housing in.. should be easier that way.

Thank you, I guess I missed it in the manuals. I got a shop manual for it the other day but it didn't say anything. Seems like it would be easier that way, as long as there's slack on the electrical connectors to the bulbs so I can pull them out enough to get behind them. So far not too happy with some designs on this car. Had to replace the Catalytic Convertor the other day which cost a fortune for a break on the extension pipe. Seems a waste to me to throw out a good C.C. just because of a break in that huge assembly.

I'll just hold out for a warm day here and try the way you mentioned and see how it goes..

yup, it's 3 or 4 screws from the top

this cold weather scks

DONT DO WHAT I DID!

Put those screws on the ground - 2 or 3 fell and are in between the safety bumper and the bumper skin ( I think ) anywhoo I havent seen them since and cannot find replacements and so now my headlights jiggle when I hit a big bump....

Anyone know where to get some screws? Junkyards drop em in the dirt or they get stripped and stolen.

order em from the dealer.
you should be able to find a good hardware store that has them though..

that sounds simple enough. I'll look back in the manual again too. I was happy to find this community. I'm sure it will be a big help. Just bought this used 1998 Contour a week ago, and it's been ok so far. I found some things here in the archive that will help with other problems like the trunk that doesn't pop up. I'll try to order that little spring soon. : )

Just did the hibeam in lowbeam conversion (awesome, btw- if you are replacing a low beam, put hi beams in there. Plenty of references on how to on this site).

Anyway, my 98 SE has standard lights, two screws at the top, and one at the bottom, out on a bracket. You dont have to take this one out entirely, because the bracket on the light is a U shape, not an O shape.

3 screws- 2 on the top, and one down a bit (even w/ bottom of headlight) holding a extension rod thing in. Just make sure you use the bubble/water thingy at the top of the lights to get them even after reinstalling them.

After reading about this I guess I should of bought the high beam bulbs too, but I'm just tight on money after all these things I had to do to the car after I bought it last week. I got these bulbs called Cool Blue from Sylvania. They have to be better than what's in there since I can hardly see the current lights on the road. I couldn't find anything on the site though, I guess I was looking in the wrong places. The shop manual I have is pretty useless since the photos are so bad and doesn't seem to be my model, but I will follow what people have shared here tomorrow and see how it goes.

update: i just got back from doing it.. damn my hands are frozen. just had a hard time finding the lower bracket, but found it in time. went well.. thank you. nice white lights now instead of that blah yellowish old ones..