When you need to replace a headlamp in your 2004 "6" the owners manual sends you to the dealer. Oh.. Man Do I have to?
It can't be that big a deal.
Thanks for all your help.
Pony

 

When your 2004 Mazda 6 needs a headlight, go to your local AutoZone and they will sell you a couple and they will also help you put them in your car

 

It is a little tricky to change the low beam bulbs. I would not recommend having anyone at an auto parts store try to do it. There is a small wire clip that holds the bulb in. If that is lost, Mazda does not sell it. Quite a few of us 6 owners just remove the front bumper (10-15 mins) & install the bulb oursleves.

 

Remove the bumper? I will have to think about that. Tell me what is involved in bumper removal ?
And if I go to all that trouble I will have to put on some kicking cool lights. What do you think?
Pony

 

...thats the one thing that SUCKS about the 6. most other cars u can do it w/out replacing the bumper but not w/the 6! i had to replace my light 2wice in 2 years!!! WTH?!?!?!? anyway, its not that hard but it can be time comsuming your first time. there approx 13 bolts you have to remove, so its kind of a hassle. but it beats payin $100 to have the dealer do it(my dealer anyway)! there is a website that has step by step instructions on how to do it. in fact they have their ads on this site. sorry i dont know it but its here somewhere! good luck...

 

hey bro i am a body man and painter..i have not had to remove the bumper but from what i remember on the 3's and other cars...there are about 4 on the wheel wells...then 2 safety clips...on the lower end..then at least 6 of them holding the garment plastics onto the bumper underneath...get urself a old blanket and have fun...its not that big of a deal...at least you dont drive a vw or Porsche....the vw has standard and metric bolts...back and forth...its a pain

 

Hmmm. You can try this (from Mazda6club.com):

"since mazda6tech has been down over the last week, i thought i'd take a few pics while installing my new low beams (H1 bulbs).

let me start by saying disconnect the negative terminal on the battery.

the low beams are on the side of the headlight assembly closest to the side of the car. they are located behind a black plastic cover that is labeled with arrows and says top and open and close. twist it and set the cover to the side. make sure that the gasket is in place.

the third pic is what you'll see with the cover removed - the back of the bulb with a wire still attached. before unhooking the clip, i found it easier to disconnect the wire. just pull on it and it will come loose. it does not take much pressure at all.

the hardest part for me was figuring out the clip. couldn't see how it worked since the space was so tight. finally got a mirror and was able to see how to get the clip out (see the first picture). you'll notice at the bottom of the pic is a wire that has been bent like a square. push in on it (it takes a fair amount of pressure) and move it to the left. you'll feel a click and the clip should be released. the clip is on a hinge, so lift up from the bottom of the clip and rotate it up.

the second pic is the coolant container thing that needs to be unbolted if you want more room to access the passenger headlight. really easy; just 3 bolts (10 mm) and lift it out of the way. the hoses are very flexible so it's easy to put it aside. you will find some wires that impede moving things easily (the round cover for example can easily get caught up on these wires) but with some patience and effort to move the wires the little that they allow will get you the space you'll need. on the driver side, i found taking the cover off of the fuse box and taking off the cover of the air filter helped give me a bit more space.

once the clip is undone and you've lifted the clip up, the bulb will pull straight out (horizontally) toward the back of the car. you'll notice in the first picture that the bulb has a plate on it that is circular in shape except for one side that has flat edge to it. remember where that flat edge is; your replacement bulb will need to go in the same way.

really, changing these bulbs is pretty easy. it's just that you don't have a lot of space to get your hands into, but once you see what you have to do, it's not hard."



My passenger side low beam just went out and I got pulled over for it. I gets no love from Fairfax County.

 

Update: I changed my passenger side H-1 over the weekend and here's what worked for me. As it turned out, the easiest way to get to the bulb was from the behind the fender. Here's what I did:

* Turn the steering wheel all the way to either side depending on which bulb your're replacing (in this case, it was to the left).

* Disconnect the negative battery terminal.

* Uncrew the clips that hold the plastic material in place beneath the front fender/wheel well.

* Reach in from behind and remove the head light cover (I first attempted to get to the bulb from the top per the instructions I obtained from the Mazda6club site and was able to remove cover that way).

* Remove the wire attached to the rear of the bulb.

* Unlatch the clip holding the bulb in place.

* Remove the old bulb and install the new one; reassemble in reverse order.