ok, given that my hands are normal sized, how do i change a headlight bulb...

 

i'm guessing removing the headlight, so how do i do that?

its tight, but it is doable, remove the back of the bulb cover whilst its in the car, unplug all the connectors and keep them somewhere safe.

 

you have to pull on the metal clip that holds the bolb in place, (push it down a little bit and then push away from you if i remember correctly), the bulb should come out easily.

 

then you have to do the reverse to put it in.

 

its a pita job, it took me 30 minutes because someone put my alarm in the way and i had to remove it, but it is possible.

 

you can also go to halford and pay them 5quid to fit a purchased bulb ;)

There are different opinions about this, some say you can do it 'in-situ' and some prefer to take the headlamp out completeley.

 

But taking the headlamp out isnt straight forward, you can either take the bumper off (Removing front bumper ) (Or this one ) or some say you can gain access to it without taking it off.

 

Personally I'd take the bumper off, it doesent take all that long, and probably saves struggling in the long run.

 

Also while you've got the headlamp out why not mod them to UK spec and give them a clean at the same time, you'll certainly notice the difference when you put them back in. Thread about headlamps

 

HTH

 

Dave

you can do it in situ, i've done it to both bulbs :P

 

its just a bit toight, but defiently a lot easier to do in situ than removing everything from teh car.

Do it in situ it aint that hard, I'd do it in the day light the first time so as its easier to see what you are doing.

 

Blown both headlights in my everyday rover 827 this week and changed em by feel in the dark despite the air intake pipe being in the most stupid of places!!!

 

Who needs small hands!

 

Nick

:cool:

Why take the bumper off and headlight out just to change a bulb, done mine in 30 seconds.

LOL me too , thought it was a p.o.p !

Why take the bumper off and headlight out just to change a bulb, done mine in 30 seconds.

 

 

Because then you can clean and upgrade your headlamps at the same time. And anyway, if you have a TT, it'll take you more than 30 secs to do the main beam. Also 30 secs to change a bulb in such a small space is taking the piss somewhat :xxx:

 

Dave

I see the swear filter didnt work :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

 

And for the record, I'm not saying you cant do it 'in-situ', I was pointing out the fact that you can mod and clean it all in one go, a nice gental days work for the complete job. Also gives u the chance to check other things in the same area.

 

Dave

I changed a blown bulb today. Following advice on here it was ok to do in situ. A bit fiddly but not worth removing the units (unless you want to do another job anyway). Mine is a UK spec; it was the driver's side unit - the other side looks even more cramped! This was the dipped bulb, not the high beam. A couple of details which seem obvious in hindsight (as always!) but hope some newbie like me finds useful....

The H3 is a tiny little bulb. Pics I have seen make it seem larger (more akin to the bigger bulbs I have had on other cars. From the pics these may be the H1's on the zx high beam?). Anyway because I assumed they would be larger, I was pulling on the bulb mounting for a while instead of the bulb itself!!! The mounting has a metal ring about 2.5cm diameter, which looked just like the back end of a larger bulb. This is the ring with the notch that the spring clip hooks into. The H3 bulb sits inside this ring with two guiding cutouts - a semi-circular one at the bottom & a rectangular one at the top. Once you pull on the bulb itself it comes out easily! When putting the new one in, you will know you have got it seated right when the spring clip does up easily. If it is a struggle, re-seat the bulb. Putting it all back together was a bit fiddly. The rubber cover was hard to get on properly. There is a lip all round the mounting; once you get the rubber cover secured on the lip all the way round it is ok - you need to stretch it slightly to do this. If you keep knocking it off, it is not properly over the lip. Once you do that you can wiggle the plastic cap on, give it a twist & hey presto, it's all back together. A mere 20 minutes later!

I changed a blown bulb today. Following advice on here it was ok to do in situ. A bit fiddly but not worth removing the units (unless you want to do another job anyway). Mine is a UK spec; it was the driver's side unit - the other side looks even more cramped! This was the dipped bulb, not the high beam. A couple of details which seem obvious in hindsight (as always!) but hope some newbie like me finds useful....

The H3 is a tiny little bulb. Pics I have seen make it seem larger (more akin to the bigger bulbs I have had on other cars. From the pics these may be the H1's on the zx high beam?). Anyway because I assumed they would be larger, I was pulling on the bulb mounting for a while instead of the bulb itself!!! The mounting has a metal ring about 2.5cm diameter, which looked just like the back end of a larger bulb. This is the ring with the notch that the spring clip hooks into. The H3 bulb sits inside this ring with two guiding cutouts - a semi-circular one at the bottom & a rectangular one at the top. Once you pull on the bulb itself it comes out easily! When putting the new one in, you will know you have got it seated right when the spring clip does up easily. If it is a struggle, re-seat the bulb. Putting it all back together was a bit fiddly. The rubber cover was hard to get on properly. There is a lip all round the mounting; once you get the rubber cover secured on the lip all the way round it is ok - you need to stretch it slightly to do this. If you keep knocking it off, it is not properly over the lip. Once you do that you can wiggle the plastic cap on, give it a twist & hey presto, it's all back together. A mere 20 minutes later!

 

You got it mate !!!!

 

 

Alan..

You got it mate !!!!

 

 

Alan..

 

 

yeh the rubber bit i dident bother fitting back to much hassle TBH but i did the h3 upgrade via the wire trick makes it a bit brighter

 

http://www.aus300zxclub.com/tech/lowbeam/lowbeam.htm

Taking the headlights out & splitting/cleaning them is a good idea, but a

fooking nightmare of a job getting them out! Relatively easy to change

them insitu, unless you have bov's in the way, like me!

Greg.....how did the wire trick work for you, all it did for me was

lower the tickover to about 500rpm :confused: were a bit brighter, but

the car just didn't feel right!