1998 Jetta How do you remove the plastic fasetners without breaking

I'm not positive about that model, but if they are the round ones, with another round thing in the center, pull the center thing out, and that should release it. let me know. curious.

Hello,
In order to replace the light bulbs you will have to remove the entire rear light housing unit. In order to do this you must do the following:

1.Open the trunk.

2.Loosen the trunk lining in order to reach the 4 nuts that are located on the right or left side and hold the light housing in place.


3.You loosen the trunk lining fabric by removing two small, black plastic fasteners that anchor the trunk lining fabric. These either screw loose or you will need to pop off using a blunt- nosed pliers ( a flat head screwdriver works in a pinch) by first pulling the square bit out (towards the direction of the back seat,) followed by the circular components.


4.Pull the fabric loose on either the left or right side to expose the 4 nuts holding the light assembly in place.


5.Now, look for the four gold colored washer and nut assemblies surrounding the tail-light assembly. Find yourself a 7/16 socket and remove those washers and nuts. The tail-light itself should be able to pop- out, otherwise you've missed a washer- nut.


6.Ease the tail- light assembly off of it's perch on the car and hold it red- side down. This will expose the wiring and "turn- locks" for the blinker and tail- light.


7.Remove the bulbs from the assembly by turning the turn- locks in the direction (counter- clockwise) indicated by the plastic molding, and pulling upwards, off of the tail- light assembly.


8.Pull the bulb from the turn- lock with a moderate tug of the hand.


Problem solved.

Thank you for using fixya..

On the inside of the trunk right behind the tail lights you will need to pull back the carpet to expose the tail lights and wiring. There you will see the light sockets just give them a turn top toward the passenger side and they will pop loose. Actually holding the tail light in place will be 4 big plastic wing nuts. Turn them off and then just give the light a tap to break it loose as they usually stick. Put the new one back in and replace the carpet. PS some cars have the plastic wing nuts holding the carpet in, Yours should have clips that you just pry on to remove

Most likely it's like other vehicles and has a carpet lined cardboard cover you must pull down to access the light housing. It doesn't look like there's any type of access into the corners, but you just need to pull the cardboard down to get in. Don't be rough with it, you're going to want to put the carpet covered cardboard back so it still looks good.

The fasteners may be behind the interior panel of the hatch. Take the one screw out, and if that doesn't release the light, then look for the interior fasteners.

To remove the tail light assembly to be replaced, you need to access the fasteners from inside the trunk.

Remove the black plastic retainers holding the trunk liner in place on the side you wish to replace. Once you have removed the retainers, peel back the trunk liner in the area you will be working on. Disconnect the light bulb sockets (be careful not to break any bulbs). The tail light assembly itself is held in place by 4 - 8mm nuts on the bolts that protrude about 1/2". An 8 mm deep well socket works well, but an open-end wrench will do the same job, just slower. Some of these also hold the wiring in place, so take note of where everthing goes. To put it all back together, just reverse the process.

There should be access from the trunk, plastic nuts usually hold the carpeting in place, removing them should get you access to the light sockets.

open trunk lid inside there will be 5 or 6 large plastic thumb screws remove them and either 1/2 or the whole assy will come out,you'll have to remove wires on assy to replace lamps

More than likely the spring inside the latch has come undone. To save some money you can remove the latch from the trunk, open the latch and reset the spring. To Remove the latch you will need to remove the carpeted cover on the trunk lid (there are about 10-15 phillips screws holding it on.) Once the cover is off disconnect the rod going to the latch by opening up the clip thats connected to the actuator. Disconnect the wire harness, Remove the 2 10mm Nuts holding the latch to the lid. Remove the black plastic cover on the latch and remove the electrical piece (the plastic cover wraps over the latch and is secured buy 2 plastic pressure snaps). Look down into the latch and you should see a small spring...on my Jetta the spring wasn't connected. take a small pointed object ( I used a light tester) and reattch the spring to the black hook. Mine had some broken plastic in it and After I removed that it worked fine. Once the spring is back into place reassemble the trunk and you should be good to go. No money spent, and it only takes about a half hour or 45 mins to do.

you should have an access point in the trunk. if the plate is mounted on the trunk wall yopu have to pull back the fabric to gain access. if it is mounted on the trunk lid there should be an access panel you can remove to gain entry to the little cubby. just use a pliers to hold the plastic isert and remove fasteners. this should do the trick...please rate thanks