I just replaced my low beam bulbs the other day. On the driver side, it worked fine. But on the passenger side, the spring on the base of the bulb is really easy to slide out. So it either ends with the bulb askew or disconnected. Is there any tricks to tighten the spring or am I doing something wrong?

The spring didn't come out completely. It seems there are two clicks for the spring and the second click is easy to drop.

 

You just need to push it all the way in, if the bulb is still askew it is not in all the way.
I fought with mine the first time I had to change a bulb, the system sucks to say the least.

 

Do not remove the screws! When I did mine I removed the screws to get the clip out and dropped one of them into the light assembly.

 

Glad that I did not remove the skrew.
Now the spring is there and I'll see if it still drops out after some driving and bumping. If it does, I may need to think about something creative to make it tight.

 

Just to confirm, when you say "spring" are your referring to the retention clip?

Question two, did you remove the spacer/adapter from the back of the old lamp that you took out? I ask because there's no way to have the clip hooked and loose if the adapter base is on the lamp.

 

That was my first thought. That the spacer was missing. I might have done that myself before I knew better.
Why would they design such a stupid necessity as a bulb spacer into a headlamp anyway? I have never understood this.

 

Yes, I am referring to the retention clip. "Bulb spacer" is the plastic base to hold the bulb, right. In that case, I have it on there. It works fine if I push the retention clip all the way in. The problem is it seems that the clip is easy to slip out a little bit which either disconnect or have the bulb pointing to a wrong direction.

I pushed in all the way last weekend and it was working fine for the whole week. I'd hope I won't get the problem again. I guess the black rubber cover might be the one help holding the clip.

 

Make sure you have both arms of the retention clip on top of the spacer. Sometimes the short one gets sort of between two pieces and doesn't hold as well.

 

The spring clip is easily deformed if you press down to hard when trying to release the clip. Easy to do because the clip is in an awkward location that makes it difficult to move them laterally off the hook. The clips can also be deformed when trying to unplug the wiring harness if you don't hold the bulb receptacle in place while pulling on the plug.

To test to see if this is your problem, unplug the wiring harness and remove the dust boot, leave the bulb and spring clip in place. With the tip of your index finger lightly try to wiggle the bulb contacts from side-to side and up and down. If there is any movement at all, your clip is deformed.

To fix it you have to remove the clip and re-bend it so both sides of the clip evenly contact the back of the bulb receptacle when the end of the clip is still about 1/4" away from the hook. This is best done with two persons unless you are really good at working while looking in a mirror. A lady friend with small hands makes an excellent assistant. Make sure you have a good hold on the clip when you loosen the screw on the "hinge side" (you only have to loosen it, not take it all the way out, in order to slip the clip out). Otherwise it can fall into to pretty inaccessible places (personal experience).

This takes a little trial and error to get it right, but you’ll know when it’s right the instant you perform the wiggle test.

Whoever thought this retaining system was a good idea should have their head examined.
Whoever designs a bolt-on alternative will make some money.