Ease of bulb replacement in modern cars!
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From: Jethro on 26 Feb 2010 05:56 On 25 Feb, 23:39, Mike Barnes <mikebar...(a)bluebottle.com> wrote: > FrengaX <hnkjqr...(a)sneakemail.com>: > > >There was a newspaper (I think) article ages ago, showing all the > >things you needed if you want to drive right across Europe. As each > >country is different, the complete list was huge. Anyway, in one > >country, I think it may be Hungary, you have to carry a spare fan > >belt. OK for a 1950's vintage standard Eastern European car, for > >example, but I should think the proportion of people who would be able > >to fit a new fan belt to their car nowadays would be very minimal > >indeed. > > Unless I'm mistaken the number of cars that *have* fan belts today is > very minimal indeed. Fans are generally electric, aren't they? The alternator and/or water pump drive belt then.
From: Jethro on 26 Feb 2010 05:57 On 26 Feb, 08:20, Adrian <toomany2...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Ian Jackson <ianREMOVETHISjack...(a)g3ohx.demon.co.uk> gurgled happily, > sounding much like they were saying: > > >>> I think it may be Hungary, you have to carry a spare fan belt. > >>>OK for a 1950's vintage standard Eastern European car, for example, but > >>>I should think the proportion of people who would be able to fit a new > >>>fan belt to their car nowadays would be very minimal indeed. > >>Unless I'm mistaken the number of cars that *have* fan belts today is > >>very minimal indeed. Fans are generally electric, aren't they? > > Possibly they really mean a 'cam belt'. > > More likely they mean the serpentine/auxiliary drive belt. > > There's four on my Saab - a matched pair for water pump & alternator, one > for power steering, one for aircon. If any one of those belts fails, > there's no problem with continuing the journey. but it's not uncommon for a broken belt to get caught up in the running path of the other belts. I've seen a broken fanbelt get caught in the timing belt, and cause that to break ... ouch !
From: Adrian on 26 Feb 2010 06:01 Jethro <krazykara0(a)googlemail.com> gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying: >> There's four on my Saab - a matched pair for water pump & alternator, >> one for power steering, one for aircon. If any one of those belts >> fails, there's no problem with continuing the journey. > but it's not uncommon for a broken belt to get caught up in the running > path of the other belts. I've seen a broken fanbelt get caught in the > timing belt, and cause that to break ... ouch ! Nah, they just get spat straight out. Nothing much to get in the way.
From: NM on 26 Feb 2010 10:32 On 26 Feb, 12:01, Adrian <toomany2...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Jethro <krazyka...(a)googlemail.com> gurgled happily, sounding much like > they were saying: > > >> There's four on my Saab - a matched pair for water pump & alternator, > >> one for power steering, one for aircon. If any one of those belts > >> fails, there's no problem with continuing the journey. > > but it's not uncommon for a broken belt to get caught up in the running > > path of the other belts. I've seen a broken fanbelt get caught in the > > timing belt, and cause that to break ... ouch ! > > Nah, they just get spat straight out. Nothing much to get in the way. They didn't on my engine.
From: Derek C on 11 Mar 2010 13:57
On 21 Feb, 10:11, Derek C <del.copel...(a)tiscali.co.uk> wrote: > I recently had a dipped headlight bulb fail on my Citroen C5. > Unfortunately within 24 hours, and before I could replace it, the > second dipped headlight failed. As it was at night and my car has no > foglights, I had no choice but to call out the AA. > > The AA man said that with modern wiring systems, it is quite common > for a second headlight bulb to fail shortly after the first due to an > electrical surge. > > As the headlight units are hard up against the battery on one side and > the hydraulic reservoir and the pump for the power steering on the > other side, the AA man ended up taking most of the front of the car > apart just to replace two headlamp bulbs. This took about 2 hours on a > freezing cold and very dark night! He said that many modern cars, > including VW and Fords are equally bad in this respect. > > Bearing in mind that my car is of French origin, where it is a legal > requirement to carry a spare bulb set, the difficulty of changing > headlamp bulbs is a dangerous nonsense. Even if I had the bulbs, I > would have no chance of fitting them myself. It might just be possible > if you have a very thin double jointed wrists and fingers like ET! > > In older cars, changing a bulb was about a two minute job. As cars > with blown headlamps are a safety issue, surely cars should be > designed so that it is easy to fit replacement bulbs! > I had a look at the latest version of the Citroen C5 diesel today, as I am thinking of buying one. It looks quite easy to get at and change the headlamp bulbs, and there is more room under the bonnet generally, compared with the previous model. Maybe manufacturers do listen to complaints about maintenance issues and stupid design after all! Derek C |