headlight removal

[Chuck14]

The driver's side headlight on my 2009 Pathfinder has quite a bit of moisture collected inside it. I want to remove it from the truck so I can dry it out and try to re-seal it. According to the service manual you have to remove the whole front bumper in order to get the headlight housing out. That seems like a lot more than I want to tackle right now. Has anybody else managed to get the headlight housing out without removing the bumper? There sure isn't much room to try to work on the headlight without pulling it out, unless maybe I remove the air filter box instead...


Thanks,
Chuck

[4xq]

The service manual for your truck is here: http://www.nicoclub.com/FSM/Pathfinder/2009_Pathfinder/

Check page 143 of section EXL.

It appears that you are correct. Some nitwit actually designed a car where you must remove the bumper to pull the headlight. There are two bolts behind the bumper near the bottom of the headlight that must come out.

You could try googling for ways to remove headlight condensation and see if anyone has any ideas. I would probably drill a 1/2" hole in the top of the housing, dry it out, put a 1/2" rubber plug in the hole, and call it good.

Good luck!