# Changing a bulb...?



## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Never a difficult thing to do but as cars get more complex even such a simple function like changing a blown bulb requires the services of a highly paid 'technician'...?

Our old Citroen and not so old Golf when a rear light bulb blows you just open the boot, put hand into light cluster aperture, grab landholder and twist. Bulb revealed.
Just tried this on our later Tiguan and everything pointed to taking the vehicle in to a VW agent for this small job. The handbook says it's not a user function and the warning on the dash indicates a visit to the garage.

But determined not to be outdone and taking notes from Youtube, which were useless. I spent almost an hour trying to prise off a cover to access the large screws holding the lamp cluster in place.
Then another secret fixing to stop removal. Then two different sets of screws to dismantle the actual lamp assembly just to gain access to the 50p bulb. 

Such is progress and I wonder how much VW would have charged me for this unnecessarily complex simple job

Ray.


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Ray

A few years ago my pal took his Merc in for a service. “The light in the auto selector display has failed, can you replace it whilst it’s in?” Says he “ Yes of course sir” 

He picks the car up later to discover that the main agents charged him 45 minutes time to replace it (book time!) 

They charge £95 an hour for labour!!

If it fails again apparently it will temian failed!!

Andy

Andy


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Agreed Andy.
That must have been a while ago as I would assume the hourly rate has almost doubled now.
Ironically when we bought our Golf new in 2003 the annual oil, filter and checkup inc parts was €99.
Today 15 years later the same service inc parts is still €99. All from the local VW agent.

Ray.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

The screws didn't all need the same size or shape screwdriver by any chance Ray.
Our mechanic lives in the village, one of his men changed the brake light bulb on the Forester a few weeks ago, charged for the bulb only. :laugh:


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## TeamRienza (Sep 21, 2010)

We now have two vehicles, a Hyundai i10 and a B class Hymer that require the whole unit to be removed in order to replace bulbs. Haven’t had to ‘do’ the wee car yet, but recently removed the Hymer units to replace the DRLs. At least they were reasonably straightforward. I replaced them in order to reduce the possibility of heat shatter on the headlight units, a well known problem for which the ordinary DRL bulbs seem to attract the blame. Certainly the bulb holders were well discoloured with brown heat marks. Since we largely drive only during daylight I reckon the other bulbs shouldn’t be much of a problem. Changed the headlight bulbs on our X Trail to nightbreakers as the lighting on this vehicle is very poor. A well scratched and scraped pair of hands after wards although not too bad to access. It would seem obvious to me that any manufacturer worth their salt would have all LED bulbs for longevity fitted from build. 

Davy


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

JanHank said:


> The screws didn't all need the same size or shape screwdriver by any chance Ray.
> Our mechanic lives in the village, one of his men changed the brake light bulb on the Forester a few weeks ago, charged for the bulb only. :laugh:


Nope Jan.
A 'pry' bar, 10mm socket, large Torx, large and small Phillips.

Ray.


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## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

Reminds me of my Arapaho fog light drama Ray.

http://forums.motorhomefacts.com/53...r-fog-light-bulb-replacement.html#post1043001

Terry


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

TeamRienza said:


> We now have two vehicles, a Hyundai i10 and a B class Hymer that require the whole unit to be removed in order to replace bulbs. Haven't had to 'do' the wee car yet, but recently removed the Hymer units to replace the DRLs. At least they were reasonably straightforward. I replaced them in order to *reduce the possibility of heat shatter on the headlight units, a well known problem for which the ordinary DRL bulbs seem to attract the blame*. Certainly the bulb holders were well discoloured with brown heat marks. Since we largely drive only during daylight I reckon the other bulbs shouldn't be much of a problem. Changed the headlight bulbs on our X Trail to nightbreakers as the lighting on this vehicle is very poor. A well scratched and scraped pair of hands after wards although not too bad to access. It would seem obvious to me that any manufacturer worth their salt would have all LED bulbs for longevity fitted from build.
> 
> Davy


I hadn't heard of this Davy - I presume my Exsis-i will be similarly kitted out?

What replacements did you use?

Ooops, see I haven't updated my vehicle!


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

raynipper said:


> Nope Jan.
> A 'pry' bar, 10mm socket, large Torx, large and small Phillips.
> 
> Ray.


Every time Hans has to take anything apart it makes him mad the willy nilly way they use screws.


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## TeamRienza (Sep 21, 2010)

Jean,

There are numerous incidences of Hymers with a particular shape and style of headlamp unit shattering. At a cost of some £1000 (which I have not seen in print) for a replacement this is a matter of some concern to many Hymer owners as you can imagine. This is the shape in question,

https://www.google.co.uk/search?biw...le-gws-img..1.4.769...30i10k1.209.Xwf0RnhLa7Q

I believe the design has subsequently been changed, so you might be fortunate not to have this potential problem.

There are two schools of thought on the cause, one being heat generated by the DRLs, another being the fitting being stressed by uneven tightness of the mounting bolts, although there is also mention of simple design causing the stress.

I have replaced my bulbs with LEDs and also fitted headlamp protectors to avoid stone chips. You would need to check what bulbs are needed for your van. I get mine from autobulbsdirect. They are branded twenty20 and are canbus compliment. The protectors were part of a group deal on the Facebook group Hymer owners group, designed and produced by members in a limited run. I feel happier now that I have taken steps to reduce the risk, wether apocryphal or not. Both changes benefit the van regardless.

If you 'do' Facebook, you might find the group useful. Lots of irrelevant posts as is usual on FBook and difficult to search, but you do get some useful and interesting information, for instance, did you know that the three horizontal stripes on the side of your van at about window level, represent the letter E as in Erwin Hymer the founder! It is also an excellent spot to ask Hymer specific issues.

Davy


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

Thanks very much for the info Davy - took me ages to find a photo of the van but yes, I think mine are the same :-(

I'll check out the bulbs required, but I'm really interested in the protectors - that was one of the 1st things I looked for - had them on the Ford and thought they were great - but came up with nothing. Is it still possible to get them through your contact?


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## TeamRienza (Sep 21, 2010)

Jean,

A member on the hymer owners group designed them for himself and a couple of friends. Subsequently due to demand he offered (in a voluntary capacity) to order, collect, parcel and despatch more sets. I don’t think he has any plans to repeat the offer.

You would need to be a group member and hope that another batch was organised at some point. There was talk that they were available on eBay, possibly by the firm producing the order for the group, but I have no firm knowledge of this.

Davy


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## jiwawa (Jun 22, 2007)

Thanks , I've already applied to join the group


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

TeamRienza said:


> did you know that the three horizontal stripes on the side of your van at about window level, represent the letter E as in Erwin Hymer the founder! It is also an excellent spot to ask Hymer specific issues.
> 
> Davy


Oddly I was searching for something for a member on another forum and ended up in Wiki, and found that out, I just thought it was a stripe set til then.


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## dghr272 (Jun 14, 2012)

Poor design and planning is everywhere. :grin2:

Terry


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## Pudsey_Bear (Sep 25, 2008)

Send them to VS Terry


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## rayc (Jun 3, 2008)

I havn't tried it myself yet but I am told that to remove the fuse box cover on my X290 that the headlight unit has to be removed to allow access.


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## listerdiesel (Aug 3, 2012)

A little note that LED headlight 'conversions' are in line to be banned as soon as legislation can be arranged, HID 'conversions' are banned in the 2018 MOT updates which come into force in May.

A long list of other bits and pieces will be introduced at the same time.

Peter


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## TeamRienza (Sep 21, 2010)

I did a little bit of research into Led replacements for headlights, the general response was that 1. The bulbs were not 'E' marked so were illegal, although there seemed to be some indications that this was partly legislation failing to keep pace with technology. 2. More importantly led bulbs do not necessarily project an approved beam as the reflectors are not twinned with the led pattern, although they do seem to be permitted for use as fog lights. 3. Cars that have led headlights fitted as standard at manufacture are legal, but look at the cost of a 'proper' set of LEDs!

HIDs seem to require headlamp washers to make them comply, although I don't know how this helps.

In the end I settled for led for drls on my van and night breaker bulbs on the car, which are legal.

This seemed to be a reasonably comprehensive site although the article is from 2015.

http://greyhead.co.uk/are-aftermarket-hid-lights-legal-in-the-uk

Davy


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## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

To be fully compliant HID headlights require
1. A headlamp washing. 
2. They must be AUTOMATICALLY self levelling (to ensure that they adjust to differing load conditions and don’t dazzle other drivers) Manual adjustment is NOT acceptable.

The main issue with HID replacement kits is that people are fitting them to NON “projector” style headlight units (the small round bullseye type) Most of the non projector types don’t have a shield in front of the bulb so high intensity light is allowed to escape forwards, and THATS what causes 95% of the dazzle problems. (Especially if they are also poorly adjusted)

Andy


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Ironically after only two days the damn bulb is out again. I am now suspecting a connection problem so the whole lamp assembly will have to be dismantled to see.

Ray.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Yep, after dismantling the whole lamp assembly with two more different sized Phillips drivers and broken nails. It shows the actual contacts within the plug/connector totally corroded. This on a 4 year old modern vehicle.!
I have dripped some engine oil into the contacts and wriggled them about but feel it's going to cause more problems before long. 
I use bicarbonate of soda to clean battery corrosion but not sure whats available commonly for moisture contact corrosion.

Ray.


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## emjaiuk (Jun 3, 2005)

Abrasion is by far and away the best for cleaning corroded contacts Ray, then something like WD40 to keep moisture at bay.


Malcolm


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

Thanks Malcolm but I'm a bit anti WD40 and usually prefer a silicone base.

Ray.


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## raynipper (Aug 4, 2008)

After scraping, filing all contacts. Using Bicarbonate of soda and then an aerosol corrosion inhibitor the lights actually worked for two days. 
But it's gone again. The pin contacts are just too flimsy when corroded.

I looked online to change the whole back light and they are about £250 each. Then theres the blasted special plug I can't find anywhere. Rather than pay out that much I will prefer to solder wires directly to the lamp circuit board and use a triple connector for removal. But will have to do that when back home.

So in the end it will be a bodge but maybe a bodge that works?

Ray.


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