I learned something today. It seems I\’m the first person who\’s needed to change a bulb in the rear tail light of my particular vehicle\’s model year.
It\’s actually quite remarkably easy to do with few tools available, assuming you have a spare bulb. Your local Ford dealership can help you with that; I bought a spare bulb at Courtesy Ford for $2.66. Here\’s how to change it:
- Pop the trunk
- Remove the two Phillips-head screws holding the cover on
- Using a slotted screwdriver, pry the cover away from the side of the vehicle (carefully!)
- Twist the bulb seat away from the cover, a 1/3 turn counterclockwise.
- Pull the old bulb out; discard according to any local laws
- Push new bulb in
- Test both your turn signal functions and brake light functions!!!!!
- Return bulb assembly to cover; twist 1/3 turn clockwise to reattach it
- Push tail light assembly clips into the seats on the side of the vehicle
- Replace the two Phillips-head screws holding the cover on
- Close the trunk; clean up
As you can see, it is quite easy; performing this operation takes less than 15 minutes if executed properly and you have an idea of what you need to do. In my case, it took slightly longer, because there is no material available on the internet. Therefore, I hope this page can become a useful guide to anyone who needs to change the turn signal/brake bulb on their 1998 Ford Escort SE.
Like this post? See here for all posts about my 1998 Ford Escort SE.
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hey for real. thank you
thanks, i need to change the light. got the 2 screws out, but the front edge didn’t want to come loose. was afraid to force it and then have to buy a new lens.
thanks
No problem. That’s exactly the reason I wrote this guide, because there was absolutely no material on how to do this. I’m sure there’s an easier way, but this is the way I found that works.
Thanks for this! I found the user manual instructions to be very vague in how to remove the light assembly — something about hitting it with the side of your hand. This wasn’t working for me, so I checked the net and found your info.
I found that a flat-head screwdriver used to pry at the bottom of the light assembly, directly below the hidden connectors (which you can see from the inside of the trunk) worked best. I was scared at first of breaking the assembly, but after removing it found it to be a strong piece, not just red plastic.
Gotta love Escorts!
Thanks!!!
I had been driving around with the bulbs for weeks but three of us could’nt get the casing off and we had the manual.
jc
Thank you! It took me a while to pry it open because I was trying to pry it open the same area I took the screws off. But when I pryed it on the top it came off very easily.
Thanks for the info, we just had the same problem with our 1998 Escort. We were also afraid to break the lens.
Amos & Judy
The manual is utterly useless for any sort of maintainence on the Escort – they don’t want you to know how to do things, they want you to take the vehicle to the dealership. It’s a conspiracy between Ford and their dealers.
Thanks a bunch, we found another site that had directions but it wasn’t nearly as easy!
Is this the same for a ’98 Escort ZX2? I got the two screws off, but the light wraps around the end of the bumper and on the inside of the trunk, under the carpet is a plastic wing nut sort of thing. I can’t seem to hold the wings tight enough to pull the light out. Can I just pull the edge where the lights are??
I agree.. no info on this.
Barb: a ZX2 will probably be a bit different. Unfortunately, I don’t have a ZX2 available for verification, but I’m going to guess (I’m not a mechanic, however) that those plastic wing nuts are what’s giving you trouble.
I figured this all out by simply trying it. But really, what’s the worst that can happen if you do happen to break it? You’ll end up at your local Ford dealer, who will sell you another cover and will probably give you information about how to safely remove it. If you don’t want to just go at it and hope you don’t break it, I would suggest asking someone in the service department of a Ford dealership – if anyone’s going to know that kind of information, it’ll be them.
Hi. My son had to replace one of my tail lights about six months ago. You’re right, it’s a rather tricky process, but he was very determined, and I was very proud of him when he succeeded.
I wasn’t so lucky. I have a 1996 Escort and am still trying to figure out how to change the tail light. As soon as I figure it out. I’ll leave some instructions for others to use. Nice webpage.
Answer
I changed the bulb on my 96 Escort in following manner: I hope this helps
Open trunk, Remove 2 screws that hold the taillight casing. From inside the trunk, remove(pull aside) the carpeting/lining. You may need to remove a plastic pin. The following procedure takes a lot of effort and time :
Use a plier or some device to squeeze the platic holders that are still holding the tailight casing into the vehicle body. Squeeze/push them from inside the trunk towards outside of car. This will loosen the whole tail light/backup light/side light casing out of the vehicle.
Now you can see individual bulb holders. Turn the right type of holder so it is detached from the casing and remove carefully. Remove bulb carefully by pulling out of socket, push and insert new bulb.
Hi, the plastic recepticles from the inside should actually stay there and not be distorted by pliers. They have metal nipples pushed into them from the whole tail light casing, which is removed by swinging it back and to the side to unpop them. Hope this helps….Craig
Not so fast. I’m glad everyone else found this so easy but I haven’t had any success. The two white plastic whatever they are are holding the side of the tail light in place. Don’t you have to remove them? I don’t like the idea of prying the 100 dollar plastic assembly piece because things like this don’t go well for me. I can just picture pieces of red plastic on the ground. This is one of the worst designed part that I have ever seen.
Larry, and those who still cant seem to open the lamp casing,
Do what Jeff(dec2007) suggests. Instead of hitting the side as instructed in the manual, use a flat head screwdriver on the side(bottom of the casing) to pry it out. Its quick, clean and it works all the time without any damage.
Think it took me all of 4 minutes. For once all came to together, lense came off easily. Did not have any difficulties and even had a spare bulb in garage. Just followed the suggestions, thanks again.
Ed
Thanks so much for the help. My car didn’t come with a manual, being that we bought it used. Doesn’t sound like it would have helped anyways. Hey…what do we do about the headlights…they are really discolored. Is there anyway to clean them or just buy new ones.
Thanks again…
About the headlights, they’re only about 5 bucks, the escorts have the nice normal ones instead of the blinding blue/white ones. I’d say just throw a new pair in, no tools required to change the headlights, just pop the hood, and twist the plastic cup that it’s in off. Replace the bulb, twist it back on, and you’re done. If your light cover is dirty, i dunno what to tell you if the dirt is on the inside of the headlight cover, as i’ve never taken that off.
If you wanted to try to clean the bulbs you have, use rubbing alcohol so it won’t leave any residue, and make sure it is 110% dry before turning it on again or it will shatter.
Hi! Glad to have found this site because I’ve been struggling with removing the casing for the last half hour. The manual is SO vague. All right, I’m off to give it another go!
It WORKED!!! Hallelujah! What a pain in the @$$ that was at first though. Thanks so much!
I’m glad everyone is finding this helpful. I know it would have been more helpful for ME to have a guide like this when I was replacing mine!
Larry (Jul 05 2008): Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I didn’t remove anything or do anything differently than I noted in the original post. I am by no means a mechanic, my expertise lies in computer technology, not automobile. So I’m afraid I cannot offer any other suggestions on this procedure, other than if you are unsure you could take the vehicle to your local Ford dealership’s service department and ask for their advice, as mine was very willing to give advice and let me do it myself.
I never had any trouble with any rear lights..I found those quite easy..problem I am having is with the headlights! Hard as crap. Why so many housings? I am simply twisting the cup as you describe, and it is not coming off. Any suggestions please?
So glad I found this site! I was really frustrated with those tiny plastic connector things everyone was complaining about, it took me about a half hour of struggling before I saw your tips. After reading through, went back and took me less than 5 minutes to replace! =) Didn’t even need to do anything with those connectors! I have a 97 ford escort lx just to assure people with slightly different models that the procedure is the same!
you are my hero
I followed graig directives and I fixed. All you need is patientce otherwisethe lens may break.
Thanks to every one .
Thanks! Your instructions were awesome!
Yes, it worked for my 97 four door. A couple more items: I had replaced the bulb for the front and saved the extra spare. I decided to play it safe and stop at the auto parts store on the way home. The guy looked it up and gave me a number that was one digit off from the one I had in my hand. He said, “They look the same, but they’re not.” Sure enough, they had the same bulb number, same brand, same appearance, but I played it safe and bought the one he suggested. The fix described above worked and now I have extras for front and back.
BTW the thing about the headlamps? The bulb may be cheap, but the thing that gets dingy is the lens. I got one of those kits to recondition — you sand, you polish, you use this special plasticy sealant…and when it dries, it is as dingy as before. I like my cheap little Escort and I can still see where I’m going.
I always thought Escorts were POC’s. But then I read the used car reviews and they were terrific. Got a low mileage 5-speed for next to no money and now I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Maybe that’s why Ford is the one Detroit automaker that isn’t begging for help.
One more thing. I forgot the “twist 1/3 turn” instructon and snapped off the electrical connector first.
Literally. The plastic was so brittle, the little clips snapped off in my hand. After I unscrewed the bulb assembly and switched out the bulb according to instrux, I pushed the wire connector back on and it seemed to stay anyway.
Suggest using the twist technique without the additional snap algorithm, and holding the mouth just right….
No luck with an ’01 ZX2. It’s got two Torx screws and two black, plastic clips that will not give at all. Anybody figure this out?
Thank you sir. I thought I was going to break the shit out of the light assembly by prying on it. I put the screwdriver under the light assembly, explained to my dog that someone on the internet said it would work, and “pop”, assembly out. I felt a little foolish, but my lights are working great. I like to think my dog was slightly impressed.
Thanks for the post. My karma kick back: Last fall I found this great DIY for replacing front brake pads on Ford Escorts.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Brake-job/
I changed mine out and they work great. Pretty easy task too. I ran into a slight problem in that I needed to replace my calipers too since they were frozen and wouldn’t slide, but that was an easy change too. A little more advance than changing a light bulb, but if you have a little DIY skill, you can save a lot of money.
Haha, i got on the internet and maybe thought that maybe one person in the world still had a 97 ford escort, and that maybe that one person was having trouble or could explain it, cuz it is not fun trying to do it without help
thanks everyone
@grs: I appreciate the karma kickback from your post; however, it appears I will never be able to use that information, as my beloved Escort is no more. Details will be coming soon; however, there will be no more DIY guides forthcoming.
@All: This article was written after I was endlessly searching Google over 2 years ago for these instructions but ended up finding only parts dealers. Today, this blog post is still on top of the search results when searching for “1998 ford escort tail light”, among other terms as well. I find it hard to believe this model is nearly 12 years old and decent DIY guides for it are still hard to come by.
If you have access to other good DIY guides for the 1998 Ford Escort series, feel free to link ‘em up here, so hopefully they are found by those seeking help.
PRIME: Those plastic clips are the ones with the metal posts imbedded in them which “pop” into the socket retaining the lens. The clip you see on the inside of the fender stay where they are. Just leverage the lens out with a screwdriver with a heavy cloth to protect the paint and lens surfaces. Stick it in from below near the front (front of car)clip and pry toward you. Imagine a ball and socket assembly where the socket is spring loaded.
MATTFAST: What did the Ford dealership tell you about how to do this? Thanks for the help!!
Rex: The Ford dealership didn’t tell me anything about how to any of this, I figured it out on my own.
Plesse DO NOT DO WHAT I SAID ABOVE!!! YOU WILL BREAK THE RETAINER!! SORRY ABOUT THIS. PLEASE DISREGARD WHAT I SAID. I WILL TRY TO POST PIX AND INSTRUCTIONS ON THIS IN THE FUTURE. DO NOT PRY THE INBOARD PART OF THE LENS ON THE 2001 ZX2. Sorry for the yelling but I don’t want anyone to break a lens!
Again, I apologize for any inconvenience.
Thanks for the secret-handshake. I own a ’99 SE Sport sedan and my dad has a ’97 LX sedan. Replaced his burned-out taillight today, lense came right off without breaking by prying under the pins. I did use the side of my hand as instructed in the owner’s manual, but to pop the lense back on. Amazing that Ford hadn’t corrected the owner’s manual by 1999. Also amazing that lots of us are having to replace broken rear springs.
Wow, this was very helpful and should be written in the car manual. It told me to hit it with the side of my hand (when it should of said use flathead screwdriver to pry open). I hit it a few times before I was exhausted of looking like an ape. Earlier I was going to pry it open but I decided that would probably break it, since I am known for that.
thanks all i was desperate,
was stopped three times on highway
but the clip on the inside is black it is the holder
of a smaller white clip so gentely pry it from outside with a
flathead it will pop loose then the whole taillight comes off
yuppieeeee
merci
Thanks! Using the screwdriver to pry it off worked perfectly. I fiddled around based on the manual for like 20 minutes.
like neil said use a flathead screwdiver and pry at bottom part of lense and it will pop out with minimal effort, thank you all for your input it helped me get the job done right.