So, a piece of ice flew off a car and cracked the lens on my r. tail light. I ordered a new one and when it arrived via UPS at night, I figured it would be a quick swap to put the new one in. Nope! It appears the light is screwed into the bumper and the frame. It's pretty dark out and I'll try again in the morning but in the meantime.....

Is anyone familiar with installing a tail light on a 2004 Acura TL? If so, do I have to remove the bumper? Your help is greatly appreciated.

If it is indeed attached to the bumper, that was an extremely poor decision by Acura. I cracked a taillight on a 06 Tahoe and it was a piece of cake to swap.

 

Yes, you would have to remove the bumper to install your tail lights.

 

Here's some threads from the 3G Garage.

E-094: How do I remove the rear bumper, side sill panels, and tail lights
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=109191
https://acurazine.com/forums/ramblings-12/ahahah-got-ur-ass-beat-128733/

 

The threads Ron put up are great to show you where the bolts & clips are, but bear in mind you do not need to completely remove the bumper to replace 1 tail light.

I have done this many times lately (swapped mine & a couple others tail lights for the 07 TL-S tail lights)

Simply remove all of the clips at the bottom edge, the clips and bolts on one side, both of the bolts that are hidden by the trunk (& two little plastic covers) then you can simply pull out the one side of the bumper.

You also do NOT need to remove any of the carpet in the trunk. Simply remove the net connectors for the approrpiate side of the trunk (including the one on the ceiling right next to the hinge) and then pull back the liner away from the tail ligh are to expose the 4 nots back there that you need to remove. (be VERY careful when you remove the nuts this way, as my method makes it impossible to retrieve a nut if you drop one when removing them.)

Good luck. (it REALLY is much easier than it seems before you try it)

 

remove bumper one side at a time. So you do not have to take off the whole bumper...

Search is your friend

 

Thanks so much to all who replied. I'll give it a try today.

 

I did it. Thanks again!

 

Thanks all- this thread was very helpful for a similar repair. Needed a new tail light after I whacked my garbage container backing out of the driveway a few weeks ago!