Ease of bulb replacement in modern cars!
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From: Derek C on 21 Feb 2010 05:11 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! Derek C
From: TJ on 21 Feb 2010 05:34 "Derek C" <del.copeland(a)tiscali.co.uk> wrote in message news:8c3eb14d-243d-443a-a607-0d49734c7620(a)u20g2000yqu.googlegroups.com... >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. > He is mistaken. They use PWM and only as much as they need. > 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. > He was inexperienced, it takes 15mins and is detailed in the handbook. > 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! > The correct and easy way is given in the handbook. > 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! > They are. > Derek C
From: NM on 21 Feb 2010 05:37 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! > > Derek C In a truck, if plod pulls for a headlight out (or any other obligatory lamps) and you happen to have a bulb (probably) the expertise (maybe) and an extensive toolkit (unlikely) you can elect to do it yourself at the roadside rather than avail yourself of their recommended (registered with the police/VOSA) emergency call out garage. After you have finished the police/VOSA will give you a ticket to take the vehicle to a VOSA inspection site for your handiwork to be examined, on completion you will be handed a bill for about 150 pounds inspection fee. Gravy train in the name of 'elfunsafetea'.
From: NM on 21 Feb 2010 05:40 On 21 Feb, 10:34, "TJ" <nos...(a)virgin.com> wrote: > "Derek C" <del.copel...(a)tiscali.co.uk> wrote in message > > news:8c3eb14d-243d-443a-a607-0d49734c7620(a)u20g2000yqu.googlegroups.com... > > >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. > > He is mistaken. They use PWM and only as much as they need. > > > 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. > > He was inexperienced, it takes 15mins and is detailed in the handbook. > > > 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! > > The correct and easy way is given in the handbook. > > > 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! > > They are. > > > Derek C Try it on a Smart then come back and tell us how easy it is, the quickest way is to remove the entire front panels (recommended 2 man job) it is just possible if you have tiny hands and are extremely dexterous.
From: Derek C on 21 Feb 2010 06:26
On 21 Feb, 10:34, "TJ" <nos...(a)virgin.com> wrote: > "Derek C" <del.copel...(a)tiscali.co.uk> wrote in message > > news:8c3eb14d-243d-443a-a607-0d49734c7620(a)u20g2000yqu.googlegroups.com... > > >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. > > He is mistaken. They use PWM and only as much as they need. > > > 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. > > He was inexperienced, it takes 15mins and is detailed in the handbook. > > > 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! > > The correct and easy way is given in the handbook. > > > 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! > > They are. > > The C5 handbook just says remove the rubber cover from the back of the lamp unit, unclip and remove the old bulb and fit the new one. Unfortunately there is no room to get your hand behind the unit, you have to get your fingers into a very small hole, and the bulb is held held in place by an extremely fiddly and awkward clip. I did once manage to change a nearside bulb myself, but had to remove the battery to do it. You then have to reset the car's onboard computer. I believe that the Citroen dealers remove the front bumper unit to change headlamp bulbs. Not the sort of thing you would want to attempt yourself by the side of the road! Even if it can be done in 15 minutes (assuming you have the necessary expertise and tools), that is still 13 minutes too long IMHO. Derek C |