Pontiac Repair: 2003 Grand Am Headlight Assembly, pontiac grand am, head lamp

Question
I need to replace the headlight assembly on the drivers side of my Pontiac Grand Am. A shopping cart smashed into it and I would like to do the repair/replacement myself instead of paying someone else to do it. Could you help me?

Answer
Hi Tammy:

This is a relatively easy job. open the hood and is a black piece of plastic that is a closeout to cover all the wires and the a/c condenser. it has about 10-12 plastic push rivets in it you need a small screwdriver to pull up on the center of the rivet and then pull the rivet out once the cover is off there are 2 metal spring clips that hold the head light under that cover. They have a little tab to hold them in place you need that same small screwdriver to push the retainer back towards the retainer while at the same time pulling up on the retainer it's self with a pair of pliers just enough to remove the head lamp from the car. unplug the connector and then re insert the head lamp. this is where it's a bit trickie. there are 2 plastic square pieces that those retainer attach to the have to be facing straight up and down so they slide into the receiver in the headder panel if they are not in the right position the head lamp will not slide in right look at the position of those pieces on the old one you took out and make sure the new one they are in the same orientation. Once that is done slide it back into the header panel and push down on the retainers it will hold the head lamp in place then. once you have them in give the lamp a tug and make sure both retainers are attached if so just reverse the procedure for the cover and the rivets. if you get a new "GM" lamp assembly you shouldn't even need to adjust the lamp it should be good to go.  Good luck :)