replacing light bulb on 2010 Prius

It is hard! I had to remove the coolant tank to do it.

 

Section 4-3 of the owner's manual explains how to do it. For the passenger side, it says to remove the bolt and unclip the engine coolant reservoir hose, then lift up the air cleaner inlet duct to gain access to the bulb assembly. No coolant tank removal necessary.

 

Yeah, I was wondering why people are removing the coolant tank. Do people not read the manual?

 

Apparently not...

 

You don't have to remove it you just have to move it out of the way. Don't disconnect any lines and just move it up and out of the way.

 

Not meant to be condescending at all, but since your initial post never indicated that you looked at the manual and instead followed spiderman's advice, I commented with the manual's information. If you had to (re)move the coolant tank in order to change the bulb, and you were successful, then congratulations. The manual doesn't require it, that's all.

 

Can't we all just get along? R. King

 

If you merely unclipped the hose and moved the inlet duct out of the way as shown in the manual, you didn't "remove the coolant tank."

 

It was all my fault... I mentioned remove the tank when I should have said move the tank. I never actually "removed" the tank from the car, just loosen and moved off to the side.

 

it is important to realize that the bulb installs from the outside to the inside. while facing the headlamp the bulb needs to swing OUT 45degrees and swing IN . as far as removing anything loosen and remove the bracket located in front near the windshield wiper fluid. this will allow you to reach in and under. I found this to be the most frustrating lightbulb change ever.

 

Most annoying headlamp change is the HID lamps on the GenII. By the way, Toyota was replacing the HID lamps under warranty. I had two go out at 40k. I complained to Toyota and they gave me credit for the bulbs, not any labor to replace them.

 

I had both low beams out and a parking light on my 2010. I went to Auto Zone and bought the three bulbs for $40 total. The clerk said he would "pop the bulbs in" for me. He was able to fit his hand into the passenger side without moving or removing anything. He used gloves on his hands and bulb grease on the bulbs. Ten minutes later I was on my way.