Replacing Headlight Bulbs on a 2002 VW Jetta

Changing the headlight bulbs in a 2002 Volkswagen Jetta—not a lot of fun, but it is doable. Below are some basic instructions from my car repair experience as a service to fellow Jetta owners.

The passenger side headlamp is pretty easy. You just pop up off the little cover, untwist the ring, pull out the bulb and pull out the chord. Sometimes the chord is a little tricky—thanks to a sneaky tab, but that’s it.

The driver side headlamp on the other side is a different story, thanks to Mr. Battery. The easy thing to do would be to remove the battery and get total access to your headlamp housing. But this is supposed to be a simple do-it-yourself job. Removing the battery is a bit more involved. No thanks. But doing it without removing the battery could use some instruction in order to do the job with a minimum of profanity.

First you have to remove the little cover with the universal symbol for hard to reach headlamp. Once that’s out of the way, it might be helpful to remove the battery cover. Not required, but it gives you a little extra wiggle room, and you’re going to need every millimeter.

Next you need to remove the cover over the headlamp housing. Just like on the other side there are two bars holding it in place that you need to pop off. Of course the battery is in the way, as is the plug for what looks like the turn signal. Unplugging the turn signal might help—just don’t use a screwdriver to pry it apart. Not a good idea.

Once you get the headlamp cover off you need to pull out the bulb. This is the tricky part. As soon as you stick your hand in there you’ll notice how little room you have thanks to the battery. I found that if you try it from the side coming up along the battery you have little more room. Small, girlish hands would be helpful.

Once you can get to the bulb, don’t just pull. It’s never that easy. There’s a little tab/clip thing on the plug that holds the bulb in place and most likely this won’t come free without a fight. I found it worked better to untwist the ring and pull out the entire bulb, plug and all still attached. Now you can work the bulb and plug up to where you actually have some room and you can work the little clip and get the bulb free.

To put in the new bulb I recommend putting the bulb in first, unplugged. Secure it in place with the ring, then snap the plug in. It should go much easier that way. When you have it all plugged in, just check the light to make sure it’s tight, and put the rest of the assorted covers and plugs back.

Piece of cake. My bulbs lasted about 55,000 and 65,000 miles (one went before the other), so hopefully this isn’t something you’ll need to do often.

What’s really fun, if you haven’t done it yet, is the rear lights.

90 thoughts on “Replacing Headlight Bulbs on a 2002 VW Jetta”

  1. Thanks for the write up! And thanks for all the comments too.

    Working from the driver fender side definitely gave me way more room to work with, and the tip about filing down the retainer ring definitely saved me a from using any more profanity on this project.

  2. OK so my left front headlight and left rear brake light on my 2002 Jetta wagon went out last week. If you think the front headlamp is hard – that’s nothing. The rear left tail lights must be done completely blind and in an even tighter space. I never knew the German’s had such an incredible sense of humor.

    Thanks for the instructions Kevin – I could not have done it without you. Love you website and fundraising challenges – you must have a fun family :)

  3. Just replaced a passenger-side headlight (low beam) on a 2005 Jetta 2.5. I’ve got to say, this helped, but on this car it’s a little different. We took off the cover and we were able to twist the entire bulb unit out. There are what we called “little hints” on there – so you know which side is the top and which way to turn.

    Once you have the bulb out, depress the tabs underneath the round part at the base of the bulb as much as you can and wiggle the bulb out of the socket.

    Replace the bulb and – this is the frustrating part – twist it back into place. We saw two places that had to be aligned, but read some where else there are three. Anyway, it took us 10 minutes or so but we got it to fit. Replace the cover and you’re good to go!

    By the way, I went to Advance Auto to get the bulb ($15) and asked how much they would charge to switch it out for me. They said that if the mechanic that works on Jettas had been there, they would have done it free. Just a tip!

    Also – it looks like they moved the battery back a little on the Jetta 2.5 – we took off the cover on that side no problem and had about the same amount of room to work on both sides.

  4. I want to thank you for this post.

    Just what the doctor ordered. Ended up needing to call my wife out to get the driver’s side bulb in and out.

    Manual was warning me that it was FAR too complicated for me not to pay somone else $50 plus to do it.

    Took 30 minutes to do it.

    Go internets!

  5. This post and the video were extremely helpful. No need to remove the battery. I just removed the “electrical part” that is mentioned in the video. BTW, does anybody know a good VW mechanic in Los Angeles? I dislike being charged an arm and a leg at the dealer.

  6. Thanks for the instructions. I usually replace headlights in pairs, so doing the passenger side first made the driver’s side a lot easier, and only a little blood was shed. Before I found your site I had spent a lot of time trying to get that big connector above the headlight off.

  7. Thanks for the instructions. Just changed the driver side. Like someone said in a previous post just take out the passenger side first, to see how it all works, takes 5 min. as far as the plastic ring on the drivers side which seems to be tighter than the passenger side, I just used about a 10″ flat headed screw driver to to get down in there at about 8 aclock, (there is a little ridge there that you can push on) to loosen it a 1/4″.

  8. I can not get the battery cover on the drivers side to come loose on the bottom i have tried every thing but I guess I have not tried what will work. All the instruction you gave work very well. If I can get the battery to move I got it made can you please help. Thank you in advance jerry 574-262-9111

  9. to stan the only way to eliminate the daytime running lights is to get a euro switch which run around 40 bucks or check ebay they are cheaper and it gives you the option for front and rear fog lights and parking lights.

  10. Why all the drama. Changed the passenger side in 5 minutes and the drivers in 10, without these instructions OR moving the battery.

  11. Thanks for the instructions! I have been a little intimidated by this, and have put it off for a couple of months. I was done in about 10 minutes. I appreciate you taking the time to blog this, Kevin!

  12. Follow-up:

    Kevin,

    In reading more about your interest in clean water, and watching the YouTube channel, I just donated $100 to the charity: water organization. I figured you had just saved me at least that much vs. if I had taken the car to the local repair shop.

    Thanks!

  13. When I noticed my 2002 VW Jetta passenger headlight out last night while driving home, I swung by AutoZone to pick up a bulb. I asked if they could replace it and they told me all VW’s were too labor intensive. I was ever more determined to figure it out myself. Thanks to your site , I had it replaced in no time….once I figured a few things out. Thanks so much!!

  14. Thanks to all the hints posted above, my 2002 Jetta experience with replacing the driver’s side headlight went smoothly. I used the strategy of simply moving the battery a couple of inches towards the passenger side and I had plenty of room.

  15. to turn off daytime running lights you can also pull out your swich by turning it to the off position pushing in firmly then turning to the right the whole switch will come out. then simply put electrical tape or pull out the pin on the back of the switch labled TLF then plug wiring back in and you no longer have daytime running lights

  16. Just replaced the headlamp on the drivers side of my 2001 Jetta with these instructions. (Picked up a bulb at firestone for $14.99) Took about 30 minutes but pretty sure I could do it in 10 now knowing what I’m doing. Didn’t need to move the battery. Only issue I had was the ring holding the bulb in place. Probably tried for 10 minutes to twist the actual bulb counter clockwise before I reached a little further in and felt the ring, twisted it no problem.

  17. Thanks so much for these instructions! I just replaced both of my headlamps, starting with the passenger side and this really helped to figure out what everything was and how to change it out. The driver’s side was a cinch after that, even though the space was so tight. I didn’t need to remove the battery or the turn signal plug even. And if I can do it, anyone

  18. Kevin, It’s Christmas eve and I thought it would take me hours after looking under the hood at the drivers side headlight. Great instructions. It took me about 20 minutes. I took off battery cover,and managed to get the bulb out first. Worked great. Thanks a bunch. Merry Christmas!!!!

  19. Thanks for posting this. I would likely have gone to the shop to have them do it for me without your advice. Thanks.

  20. It’s 5 years since you posted this, but let it be known that it’s still very, very useful. I just came back from the garage, scraped up and dirty, but successful. The thing that took the longest by far was screwing the bulb ring back on–that took for-EV-er. Anyway, thank you so much for writing this up initially, you saved me quite a few bucks.

  21. Thanks for the directions. Took me no time to change the bulbs but didn’t fix my issue. My low beams wont work but my hi beams and the DLRs do. Just bought this car used for my 17yo daughter.

  22. Great directions. Saved myself the labor charge and got the satisfaction of successfully doing something complicated and mechanical. Thanks for the directions. Thanks for the internet.

  23. Thanks so much for the directions. My first headlight change ever, and you made it sooooo easy. Thanks for the help.

  24. Hey thanks for the clear directions. I’ve never changed a headlight before, and I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have figured it out without your tips. Thanks so much!! :)

  25. This was a huge help, I figured most if out and shared your pain with the battery in the way issue. Since it is my daughters care I employed her to put the bulb back in and afix the ring. She had no problem, I would have struggled for some time! GREAT TIP!!!! Small girlish hands…..who knew. Thanks for publishing this!

  26. Thanks RG:)
    I turned off my day time running lights in my 2002 vw jetta. I removed the switch and put a piece of tape over the TLF pin. Now my lights will last twice as long

    RG says
    to turn off daytime running lights you can also pull out your switch by turning it to the off position pushing in firmly then turning to the right the whole switch will come out. then simply put electrical tape or pull out the pin on the back of the switch labeled TLF then plug wiring back in and you no longer have daytime running lights

  27. OH MY GOD !! TAKE THE REAR LIGHTS IS A PAIN ON THE …. !!! i dont know way is made it like that !!!!! I have to go inside the trunk to have better room to work on it …. was VERY FUN !! ..

    tHANKS for the post !! …. very helpfull ….

  28. Okay, got the old headlight out of my 2001 Jetta but the replacement I got (standard 9007 bulb) does not fit. Even the guy are O’Reilly’s could not get it to work. Do I have to go to the dealership now for replacements? Anyone else have this problem lately?

  29. Thank you, thank you! Didn’t expect much when I put “2002 Jetta headlight” in the search engine, but your posting was invaluable. Managed to get it all done without moving the battery, or cover. Hardest part was getting replacement bulb properly “seated”. Once I realized there were 3 notches on the bulb that lined up with the little raised parts on the housing it was easy :) After that the securing ring finally went on!
    As mentioned above, second time round will be much quicker, but thanks for giving me the confidence to try it the first time. Cheers.

  30. Thank you Kevin!! I am a woman and was able to easily get both light covers removed. The only tricky part that I struggled with (only 15min) was putting the light housing back in and twisting it. Then I had a guy do it and he did it in less than 1 min! He said it’s a “guy thing”. I’ll say!! lol Anyway thank you for your clear instructions. Still useful since your posting 6 years ago!! Thanks for keeping it up. =)

  31. I want to put brighter headlight bulbs in my 2010 Jetta 2.0T gas. Anyone have experience with this model year? It appears the battery in further back but the air filter section is tight to the driver side changing access point. Thanks

  32. Thanks Kevin – went to Advance Auto Parts, they sold and installed a bulb for my 2009 TDI Jetta – took all of five minutes. The guy knew what he was doing, pulling work gloves from under the counter – total cost $16 (he said the Sylvania bulb was OEM replacement).

  33. Seems as if it would make sense on a blog about changing headlight bulbs that the blogger would put what kind of bulb you need to buy. I’m no rocket scientist but, YA THINK????

  34. Thanks! This was perfect! It worked on a 2003 Jetta Sedan. The twist-on clip/cover that locks/holds the bulb in place was tricky because I couldn’t see it. When I disconnected the wires, I started pulling on the bulb and it didn’t want to come out. I didn’t want to break it so I searched and found this article. Once I was able to twist that black plastic cover off, than the bulb came out reasonably easy.

  35. this was helpful, except on my 2003 Jetta wagon there is a retaining ring that easily comes off with a little twist. once this is off, the bulb comes right out. I was pulling and twisting on the bulb, and it wasn’t budging. The newer style headlamps don’t have the retaining clips like the golf’s do. hope this helps…

  36. Hi Kevin

    i have a 2002 jetta. when i got the bulb i think it was for a 2003 jetta not 2002.can a 2003 light bulb work in a 2002 jetta?because it worked for a little. and it worked yesterday in the AM but when i got home it didi’nt.
    i did what you had posted and it only took me 5 mins thanks for the info helped me alot i’m 54 years old i still try to do the little thing myself.

    thank you and have a good day:) :)

  37. On a 2003 TDI, there is precious little room to move about and removing the battery is a huge help what with big hands like mine..(remember to disconnect the battery properly -neg first)
    Complete job even taking the battery out takes but 30 min or less…..dealer wants $150 for the whole job..both lights…!
    Take your time and all will be well.

Comments are closed.