How long to change a light bulb?

[mjr]

Imagine having to do that at the side or a motorway in the dark.

Find a nearby service station or lit side street and do it there. RVLR 23(3)(c) seems to allow you to complete your journey if a bulb fails during it, but I'd try to fix it sooner.

The Alfa Mito is a simple pull of a cap, twist and remove the bulb, then reverse to fit the new one, similar to our last few cars. Not exactly easy because you can't see past your hand while doing it, but fairly simple. I actually look at simple maintenance implications before buying - curse of being the child of a car mechanic

 

[Cubist]

Disco3.
Bonnet up,
Spring tabs holding radiator grill in place pushed and grill removed.
Tabbed sliders holding entire headlight housing slid upwards
Wiring DIN plug removed
Headlamp unit out
Rear access plug twisted and removed
Spring bulb retainer removed
Bulb holder withdrawn and blown bulb replaced.
Reverse steps to reassemble.

Simples. About half an hour first time round. Ten minutes now.

 

[Fnaar]

Was trying to work out how to change headlight bulb on my Skoda... couldn't work it out... youtube bods showed how to remove the front wing panel (!!!) and do it that way. Took it to local parts shop who'll fit things for nowt outside the shop. Took him 30 mins and a fair amount of swearing, but we got there.

 

[Levo-Lon]

Touch wood my Ducato van is on all original bulbs from it first reg in november 06..46k miles..

they will all blow now lol..mind you8u there all easy like they should be..

 

[Vapin' Joe]

The law should require that a reasonably competent person is able to change any bulb in less than a minute without the use of tools. How feckin' complicated can it be to design a headlight with easy access to the bulb?

 

[mjr]

The law should require that a reasonably competent person is able to change any bulb in less than a minute without the use of tools. How feckin' complicated can it be to design a headlight with easy access to the bulb?

There's almost no chance of legislation while the centre-right hold sway, so why bother? In the car market, you can do the equivalent of selling mouldy bread to anyone who doesn't check for mould before they buy, then repeatedly sell them short-date fresh bread, yet they keep coming back... after all, people keep buying those cars with dismantle-to-change-bulb headlights.

 

[Vapin' Joe]

There's almost no chance of legislation while the centre-right hold sway, so why bother?

Well, Labour held sway when I had my VW Lupo. Changing the nearside headlamp bulb involved removal of the battery and a relay behind the headlight unit before you could get access. To get to the rear bulbs the lens had to come off, and in their wisdom VW had decided to use both Phillips and Torx screws to secure it.

 

[SWSteve]

Changed the headlamp bulb on a mk6 fiesta on Saturday. When I had spent 10 minutes jiggling the light to no luck I wanted to sell girlfriends car

 

[mjr]

Well, Labour held sway when I had my VW Lupo

Firstly, at the risk of dragging us to SCP, I'm not seeing a contradiction between "Labour" and "centre-right" until recently. Secondly, our vehicle design rules aren't set at national level any more - or even EU level - it's been the UN's World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations and its precursors since the 1950s. So you just need a majority of pro-regulation governments among the 50+ forum members... the regulators have been captured... again.

 

[Levo-Lon]

I dont think this is a S,C,P thread lol..

it would be nice to have easy bulb replacement but modern cars are a take to garage thing now..

new volvos need plugging into the garage computer after a H light goes..ffs its all getting silly.
If you have these daytime running l,e,d lights its another story..very expensive repair..ohh i have them

 

[PaulSecteur]

Touch wood my Ducato van is on all original bulbs from it first reg in november 06..46k miles....

Saying things like that makes the "B" fairy appear.

 

[DaveReading]

Ford Focus, pre 2005 i think, they were a headlamp unit out i think, swine of a job.

I had a 2003 Focus for a while. Yes, the nearside bulbs were a bit fiddly to change because of the proximity of the battery, but not beyond the ability of any reasonably competent mechanic to do in situ, no need to remove the headlamp.

If you think cars are hard to work on, try aircraft.

 

[Levo-Lon]

I had a 2003 Focus for a while. Yes, the nearside bulbs were a bit fiddly to change because of the proximity of the battery, but not beyond the ability of any reasonably competent mechanic to do in situ, no need to remove the headlamp.

If you think cars are hard to work on, try aircraft.

Oh bloody hell changing a wing headlight at 500mph..kin scary or what

 

[Jody]

Ford Focus, pre 2005 i think, they were a headlamp unit out i think, swine of a job.
.

I can't remember them being that bad? However a MK2 Focus is the easiest thing going. 1 screw, tap the unit out with your hand, cover off and replace. Swap a bulb in about 2-3 minutes

 

[screenman]

Try being a dentman, I remove and refit more light units in a week than most of you put together will in a lifetime. Even the easy one's can give you grief.