Need Help Changing Front Turn Signal Assembly

[nebhusker]

The bad news: I'm over at my best friend's house last night for dinner. Shortly after I arrive, he needs to leave to run his son over to a friends house. Well, they jump in their Tahoe and completely forget that my car (99 ES300) is in the driveway and proceed to back into it. :( And we weren't even drinking!

The good news: it was a corner hit and besides a few small scuffs, only broke the front drivers side turn signal assembly. The headlight escaped injury. I am going to order a new assembly but after searching this site I see a lot of posts on how to change a bulb, but none on how to change the entire assembly.

Anybody have a quick "how-to" lesson on replacing the front drivers side turn signal assembly? Thanks in advance.

[gbhrps]

I'll assume that since the body style of the 99 was the same as my wife's old 97, that the lens assembly comes out of the car the same way (I'm pretty sure it does.) Basically to change the bulb you have to remove the entire lens assembly to get at it. There is a small screw under the thin plastic cover that goes over the top of the radiator support from one side of the car to the other. At the extreme end of this cover is a plastic plug that you can pry up and out. Then fold back the end of the plastic cover and you'll see the screw to be removed at the front corner of the turn signal assembly. Once its out, tape the blade of an inch wide putty knife (to prevent scratching the paint) and slide the end of the blade between the turn signal assembly and the fender at the turn signal lens' back edge (nearest the door mirror). Grasp the blade as close to the car body as possible and pull/pop the entire lens assembly towards the front of the car. It will pop out, but only as far as the bulb wiring will permit. Turn the entire bulb socket to unlock it and you'll have the lens assembly in your hand. Total time ... 2 minutes at most. Good luck!