92 Max

I was just out on the highway and noticed that my wifes 2005 maxima had a stoplight out. I stopped at a parts place and got some replacement lights and tried to put them in. Lo and behold there is NO way to get the new bulbs in. In Nissan's infinite wisdom they walled up the taillights in the trunk mousefur without any information on how to get at them. The owners manual says NOTHING about how to get the new bulb in there and the FSM says less. HOW DO YOU GET THE NEW BULB INTO THE TAILLIGHT? Every car I've had for the last 20 years has had a door in the trunk liner that you can open to easily change the bulb. This damned car has NO way of getting to the bulb housing to change it. Anyone have an idea on how to get at the bulb? If they wanted to wall up the bulb so noone could get at it, why did they use a cheap, crappy bulb that burned out in two years? Planned obselescence or just plain bad engineering?

DeusExMaxima

iTrader: (1)

Its not too hard. Pull back your trunk lining and you will see two threaded studs with 8mm nuts on them. Remove them and grab the taillight firmly and jerk it out of there. Replace ur bulbs. Install is reverse of removal.

4MySwee

iTrader: (2)

Well since you opened this crazy can of worms, ever try replacing our chinsy foglights? Now that a rush!

Deus, looking good as usual.

92 Max

That's the problem. How do you get the net hook connectors out of the mousefur without busting them off? The manual gives no guidance on removing these connectors. I've looked at the FSM and there's no info. Just a picture of the mousefur panels (I knew what they looked like already), but no indication of how to remove the fasteners in it, like the FSM does for all the other fasteners. I get real sick of trying to track down the cheap plastic fasteners after they break off every time you touch them.

po8pimp

have nissan do it. won't cost much and if they damage it they will have to replace it for free. trust me I got frustrated and broke those damned things and that wasn't fun....

92 Max

This is the worst taillamp design since my 1978 Olds Cutlass. There's no access from the trunk to the taillights at all. You must remove the whole taillight assembly to change one lousy bulb. Nissan should be ashamed of this design. No wonder they didn't describe how to do this in the FSM or Owners Manual.
To change the bulbs you must first remove the net tiedowns from the mouse fur trunk liner behind the tail lamp. To remove the two tiedowns by the trunk lid, pry straight up on the center cap of the tiedown. These are like many of the plastic fasteners in the car. A center rod spreads a diamond shaped area on the other side of the metal hole to lock it in. Pry up on the cap and it with its' center pin will pull out. Then you can wiggle the ring left behind to pull it out. Bend back the liner to get at the combination (tail lamp) lamp mount. It's held in by two 8mm nuts on two studs next to the trunk opening (this is shown in the manual). Pry off the two wire tie downs on these studs first (they're just press fit), then undo the nuts. The other side of the combination lamp (tail lamp) is held in with two plastic posts with ***** on the end that press fit into the body of the car. Be very careful with these as they're ridiculously easy to snap off. Grab the outside side edge of the combo lamp assembly, where the side marker light is, at about 1/4 from the top and 1/4 from the bottom. This edge is thin and sharp so be careful. Get you finger nails on this side edge and pull STRAIGHT BACK towards the rear bumper. If you turn or rotate this assembly you'll break these posts. With some effort the posts should snap out of the holes in the fender and the whole combo lamp assembly will come away from the car. Don't drop or scratch this assembly because it's the whole rear corner of the car, with plastic body colored corner and all ($$$$$). Chose the bulb carrier you need to change, rotate it counter-clockwise and the bulb socket should pull right out. To change these 3057 bulbs just wiggle them back and forth until they come out of the socket. Someone correct me here, but I think the bulb is symetrical, so it snaps back into the socket either way. Then, line up like sized tabs on the socket and the hole, and push the socket back in and twist clockwise till it stops and snugs. Seeing the difficulty in changing these bulbs I opted to change both and the 168 side marker light (like an old AG-1 flashbulb just pull straight out) while I had the rear quarter of the car apart.
To reassemble, just line up the threaded studs in the body holes and press the plastic posts straight into their holes towards the front of the car. Spin on the nuts inside the trunk and tighten, but not too much and shove back on the wire ties onto the studs. Replace the mouse fur in its place and under the trunk lid seal and trunk lip liner. Put the plastic net tie down center studs only 1/2 way into its' outer ring and press this OUTER ring back into the car body. Only then press the inner stud all the way down to lock in the net tie down (hooked one goes on top).