How to replace a tail light in a 2003 Honda Civic coupe

Knowing how to replace a tail light in your car can save you a trip to the mechanic or dealership, save you money, and possibly save you a ticket or citation.  Replacing tail light bulbs (brake lights, turn signal lights, or reverse lights) in a 2003 Honda Civic coupe is a simple task if you follow these steps.

No matter which one of your tail lights is out, you'll get to them the same way, since they're all grouped together.  Open the trunk, and notice the soft plastic cover that goes around the inside of the trunk, hiding the car's frame from view.  You'll need to peel this cover back.  Depending on which side of the car the bulb you need to replace is located (driver's side or passenger's side) locate the plastic screw next to the trunk opening on that side.  The screw is probably black, but may be another color.  (The head of this screw faces the front of your car.)

Remove this screw with a standard flathead screwdriver.  Be careful not to lose the screw once it comes loose.  With the screw out, pull the plastic cover away from the trunk frame.  You'll see all of the tail light assemblies in the corner of the trunk - a bunch of plastic pieces with wires leading away from them.  Each of these pieces is a different light.

The procedure for replacing all of these bulbs is the same; only the sizes, colors, and locations vary.  To remove any of the bulbs, grasp the bulb housing (the plastic piece attached to the wire) and twist it counter-clockwise, then slide it out of its hole.  Once it's free, you can remove the wire by pushing in on the tab located where the wire connector joins with the bulb housing, and pull the two pieces away from each other.  Now you should just have a bulb and its plastic housing, and you can bring it out of the trunk to see it better.

Remove the bulb from its housing by grasping it firmly and pulling it straight up.  Install the new bulb in exactly the opposite way -- push it down into the vacated slot until it fits in snugly.  Reattach the connector to the bulb by pushing it in until it snaps into place.  Then slide the whole assembly back into its hole in the trunk frame and twist it clockwise until it locks firmly and doesn't budge.

Once you have the bulb assembly back in, push the plastic cover back against the trunk frame, making sure that the screw mount (the black piece that looks sharp on one end) slides into the corresponding hole in the frame.  Then put the screw back into its hole and tighten it with your screwdriver.  It won't tighten all the way, so just turn it until the frame cover sits snugly over the frame.

You can replace all of your Civic's tail lights using this same procedure.  Each bulb uses a different connector, so you can easily tell them apart by the colors, rather than having to figure out which bulb lines up with which light cover on the outside.  Here are the bulbs and their corresponding connector colors:

Brake light - brown bulb housing with a blue connector
Rear turn signal light - gray housing with a black connector
Side turn signal light - gray housing with a white connector
Reverse light - brown housing with a green connector

(Originally published on Helium.com, January 2012)