British Standard Fingers

[tomparryharry]

Well, I've had a headlight bulb fail on my trusty runabout. No problem, off to the motor factors. 30 minutes later, bonnet up, remove headlamp bulb cover.

Then...

Now, this 'ere bulbs are standard headlamp bulbs, since granny was a boy. But, trying to get ones fingers around said bulb was an (expletive) nightmare. Much grumbling in the hood.... I can only conclude that the bulb enclosures are quite a bit smaller than before; virtually no space to manipulate said bulb & spring catch into the hole. 

 

One can only assume that the car (van) is assembled by well-meaning small people from France, where small fingers are pre-requisite  to enable assembly of what is a well assembled vehicle. After my interlude in the garage, Mrs Smith asked:- "What do you want for tea? I've just bought some French sticks...." 

Grrrr.....

[franciswilliamwebb]

Is it a modern vehicle? You probably need to remove the engine and gearbox to change the bulb😉

[tomparryharry]

2 minutes ago, franciswilliamwebb said:

Is it a modern vehicle? You probably need to remove the engine and gearbox to change the bulb😉

Almost mate, almost....

[30801]

38 minutes ago, franciswilliamwebb said:

Is it a modern vehicle? You probably need to remove the engine and gearbox to change the bulb😉

 

Need to be difficult to remove in order to discourage theft.

What happens when your lights are three grand a pair used.

[didcot]

I had the same problem with my 2014 Astra. Remove cover, out with inspection mirror. Two small torx screw to loosen off. So handstand into the engine bay using the mirror, everything is now backward. Manage to get it out, but had to remove bottle washer spout in order to get the new bulb back in. Having psoriasis on your finger tips makes it painful and awkward. 

Drivers side is worse as the air filter is in the ways. Again a handstand into the engine bay is required. What should be a 5 minute job took an hour. 

Don't get me started on replacing the fan or lambda sensors!

 

[Artless Bodger]

The last car we had that was easy to change a headlight bulb was the Y reg metro. Peugeot 205 diesel, had an electrical box over one lamp, which needed a spanner to remove it, then the wires were not long enough to lay it sensibly aside so you needed an extra hand to hold it out of the way. The 306 and 309 were no better in their own sweet ways. Our current Jazz is a bit of a nuisance as you can't actually see what you are doing and have to do it all by feel. 

 

To cap it all, the headlight ususally fails in the dark in winter, so, unpleasantly cold to do anything and have hold a torch in your mouth to see. I changed one in the 306 by driving to the local supermarket car park so I could get some light on the job.

 

[Wheatley]

21 minutes ago, Artless Bodger said:

Our current Jazz is a bit of a nuisance as you can't actually see what you are doing and have to do it all by feel. 

I took my last Jazz to the local Halfords (shop only) for a headlight bulb and, having already seen the ridiculously small access hole on the inner wing  paid them the extra to fit it. It was booked into one of their service centres for a service a week or so later but I dont like driving around with a  light out. After an hour of swearing the fitter said he could get the clip on or the rubber dust cap on, but not both. 

"Did you say it was in for a service ? Ask them to fit the dust cap" he said, and refunded the fitting charge. 

 

The service centre took the entire headlight out and did it in about 5 minutes flat. Easy when you've got the widget to realign them afterwards. 

Edited January 29 by Wheatley

[doilum]

13 hours ago, didcot said:

I had the same problem with my 2014 Astra. Remove cover, out with inspection mirror. Two small torx screw to loosen off. So handstand into the engine bay using the mirror, everything is now backward. Manage to get it out, but had to remove bottle washer spout in order to get the new bulb back in. Having psoriasis on your finger tips makes it painful and awkward. 

Drivers side is worse as the air filter is in the ways. Again a handstand into the engine bay is required. What should be a 5 minute job took an hour. 

Don't get me started on replacing the fan or lambda sensors!

 

Don’t Astras have an inspection cover in the wheel arch liner? You still need a wheel off and ideally the car on a two post hoist.

Difficulty? Try the NC MX5. Fortunately I have tiny hands but it is still an eyes closed job as removing the plastic wheel arch liner fully require the removal of the front suspension strut.

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

 

Converting from RH drive to LH drive headlamps.

 

Mike.

[jcm@gwr]

Back in the late '70s, a mate of mine wasn't as keen on cars as the rest of us, so he got HomeTune to

service his Vitesse regularly. He used the same guy and got to know him quite well, his favourite tale

was about servicing a Jenson Interceptor, it was actually quicker to drop the engine to change 4 of the

spark plugs than do them in-situ, because the V8 was installed on an angle!

[Reorte]

55 minutes ago, doilum said:

Don’t Astras have an inspection cover in the wheel arch liner? You still need a wheel off and ideally the car on a two post hoist.

Difficulty? Try the NC MX5. Fortunately I have tiny hands but it is still an eyes closed job as removing the plastic wheel arch liner fully require the removal of the front suspension strut.

My previous car was an Astra (09), that had a way in through the wheel arch. Having had more than enough hassle with changing bulbs in other modern-ish cars the one time I needed the bulb replacing I got Halfords to change it. They did it there and then, without having to take the wheel off, but it fell out after about a quarter of a mile...

[didcot]

1 hour ago, doilum said:

Don’t Astras have an inspection cover in the wheel arch liner

 Not that I'm aware of. The back of the light cluster is in the engine bay.

They also used to have a cover at the bottom of the bell housing so you could drop the clutch out without removing the gearbox. Some bright spark also decided the slave cylinder would be better in the bell housing on the latest versions. It's a gearbox and subframe out to replace it!

[Steven B]

15 hours ago, Artless Bodger said:

The 306 and 309 were no better in their own sweet ways. Our current Jazz is a bit of a nuisance as you can't actually see what you are doing and have to do it all by feel. 

 

My 306 was a doddle to change the bulbs on compared to my Jazz. Twist off the rear cab, fiddle about with the springs and out. Five minute job. It takes me five minutes just to remove the plastic clips on the wheel arch liner on the Jazz.

 

I've ever understood why the "Powers that be" don't insist on manufacturers making it easier to change bulbs - particularly given that in some countries you have to carry spare bulbs. 

 

Steven B

[Flying Pig]

16 hours ago, Artless Bodger said:

Peugeot 205 diesel, had an electrical box over one lamp, which needed a spanner to remove it, then the wires were not long enough to lay it sensibly aside so you needed an extra hand to hold it out of the way

 

I once had to change a glowplug on a 205 diesel.  Directly under the high pressure fuel lines so you couldn't get a socket on it; about 30° of travel on a spanner (I didn't have a ratchet) and cross-threaded by whoever installed it.

[kevinlms]

I fell for the classic mistake with my car the other day. Sat in the car and looking at the phone for a while. Went to start it and 'click, click, click'. Not quite enough to kick it over.

Looking at the car immediately revealed the problem, the key was in the run position and headlights on!

 

So had to wait and call the RACV for a jump start, they quoted 'up to 2 hours'! What a punishment! But they were there and had got me going in around 40 minutes. My jump leads (automatic car, so a push no good) were safely at home, in the other car of course.