Changing a light bulb without being killed

[tangomoon]

One of the bulbs in my vehicle's headlamp has failed. I was foiled at my attempts to remove it and resorted to reading the instruction book (RTFM). The Volkswagen handbook for the vehicle states that body parts will have to be removed to change the bulb. I was floored, gobsmacked and all that to read this was so. I read on - it also states that there is potential for a LETHAL injury if you attempt to change the light bulb yourself. They recommend you leave it to a specialist due to the likelihood of being killed if the operation is mishandled. The world is - has gone truly mad.
When I were a lad - you went to scrapyard for tyres or gearbox or the like and filled your pockets with second hand windscreen wipers and light bulbs and fuses innocently undeclared to the scrappie. I had them years they were never used but for one bulb and possibly two fuses. The changing of the bulbs was an innocent affair, sometimes undertaken in the rain and the dark - you could do it by feel alone. What happened and will it spread to boats? I have discovered that festoon bulbs for anchor lights with convex ends for the bulb cost £2.98p against 68p for convex ends. What's next?

 

[Hugh Foulis]

Same in my Citroen. ' Beware, danger of death'. This was to change a ten quid headlamp bulb. I can remember when sealed beam units were £1 new (and we went to the pictures ,got fish and chips and a tram home etc...)
Took it to my mate the mechanic who diagnosed that the nearside wing might need to come off, after about 40 minutes and the battery off and some anglo-saxon, headlamp bulb replaced. How do you do that on the side of the motorway in the dark when its raining? (er ... just realised this isnt the lounge) and you are towing a boat?

 

[Vara]

Celicas are the same,I dutifully carry around a spare set of bulbs as required by French and Spanish motoring law secure in the knowledge that if a head lamp fails I haven't got a chance of changing it.

 

[nyx2k]

same in my c-max. dealer fit only bulbs

 

[bobgoode]

Citoen Xsara circa 1999...can do it yourself, no worries.
Citroen C2 circa 2003... doddle but pull out the fuse first.

What's the problem?

 

[Stoaty]

Ford Transit 125 and 135hP models nearside headlight bulb change yourself in 2 minutes. Offside bulb take to dealer and have half the engine ancillaries removed. On the subject of festoon bulbs, my port side light takes a normal car type festoon and my starboard light takes the concave festoon though the lights look identical from the outside!

 

[roly_voya]

There is a simple test for servicing boat gear - if you can do it yourself trow it overboard - or at least dont rely on it!!

 

[cortez]

On my old omega with xenon bulbs the voltage to get the lamps to strike/light was in the region of 23000 volts

 

[Gordonmc]

How glad I am I read your post.
I had been warned off getting an X-type jag for the same reason. The owner doing the warning seemed to believe the X-type was unique in having non-user replaceable bulbs.
Seems daft though.

 

[fireball]

Same problem with the Saab 93 (New model) - I couldn't get to the nearside indicator to change the bulb - could only just touch it with my fingers ... fortunately the car went back for a recall so got the dealer to do it for us....

 

[jimg]

Probably why you see so many more cars driving around with only one headlight working?

 

[Anonymous]

It might not be as daft as it seems at first sight. It is possible to make the life of incandescent bulbs so long that for all practical purposes they should last the life of the car. They cost a lot more to make and are less efficient - though efficiency isn't an issue. So, if the bulbs should never need to be replaced, is there any reason why they should be user-serviceable any more than, say, the clutch or brake pads?

What I don't know is whether the bulbs in question are truly very long life or whether it is as daft as it seems at first sight.

 

[Sailfree]

Got caught out with an Audi A4. You need a very long torq drive to reach down below the headlamp to slide whole assemble out. Easy when you have the tool and know how but description in manual of "contact dealer" is not helpful.

I did phone dealer from France, was driving to Switzerland at time, and mechanic helpfully talked me through how to do it. Unfortunately I was too embarrassed to ask him how I go about replacing all the other bits I had wrongly taken off trying to get to the back of the headlamp rather than trying to remove the complete assembly!!

 

[Gezzer]

Dealer only change only applies to Xenon Lights, (you'll know if you have Xenon's, whit'ish / blue light, very directional and penetrating, and hard to drive a non Xenon car afterwards), they need 20,000 volts to ignite, once running they run at normal voltage, so the danger exists if you are poking around there and they are switched on, zap.............................dealers disconnect the battery and ensure any capacitors and ignitors are discharged.

Although i note that now a lot of manufacturers require a dealer change for a normal incandesant bulb due to the amount of "stuff" that you need to remove to get at bulbs these days.

Secondly it's fairly rare to have a xenon 'blow' they normally last the life of the car, if they do blow the bulb is around the £80 mark depending on the car.

 

[tangomoon]

It's a light bulb - switch on they should be cheap as chips and easily replaceable - cos everything breaks at some time or other

 

[Avocet]

Strange isn't it? It's a legal requirement to carry spare bulbs in some EC Member States but there is no requirement to be able to CHANGE them without tools and with minimal skill.

THERE'S a bit of joined-up government for you if ever there was(n't) one!