General Failure

[g8rpi]

Well, it had to happen.
After 9 months and 6000 miles my Croma has had it's first failure

.
The front nearside headlamp dipped beam bulb has blown

.

It is a bit of a fiddle to change. The screenwash bottle neck, battery box and fuse/relay box are all in the way. Top tip is to take the fuse/relay box cover off. Unfortunatly unlike many cars, the light cluster is not easy to remove. You have to take the front bumper off to get to the two lower bolts

.

Robert G8RPI.

 

[notorious]

The screenwash bottle neck also simply pops up and away in case you didn't know that.

 

[g8rpi]

Hi,
Thanks for the tip, you learn something every day

I thought it might come out, but even the black clip locating the top of the neck was being stubborn. It was cold and I didnthat the Crome does not't want to risk breaking it.
Talking of screen washers, I was surprised that the Croma does not have a low level warning. There is a dipstick attahed to the bottom of the filter though.

Robert G8RPI

 

[s130]

Don't want to rain on your successful headlamp bulb replacement but if my Croma was anything to go by the other side will also fail shortly. This is when you wished you bought the cheaper "two pack"

 

[g8rpi]

Don't want to rain on your successful headlamp bulb replacement but if my Croma was anything to go by the other side will also fail shortly. This is when you wished you bought the cheaper "two pack"

Hi,
Beat you to it

. I always change headlap bulbs in pairs, at least the first time, so they are matched. I used GE Sportlight premiums (+30% brightness) from Halfords (yes I know, but the local factor is a 15 mile round trip and I was literally driving past Halfords). They were also on buy 1 get one free.
They seem OK so far, we will see how they last.

Robert G8RPI

 

[s130]

Same ones that I used.

Much cheaper with a Halfords Trade Card .......

 

[BrianMcL]

Driver's side much trickier in my opinion. I need to change my drivers side side light and can I get my hand in enough to wiggle it free??? No :'(

 

[s130]

Driver's side much trickier in my opinion. I need to change my drivers side side light and can I get my hand in enough to wiggle it free??? No :'(

This where a wife/girl friend/small person/other more delicately built being comes in handy (no pun intended....referring to hand size)

Talking of "bulbs" .......

Many European countries legally require that you have a spare bulb kit in your car.

However these more modern LED / HID lights are in many cases dealer only change items. So do you still carry a useless bulb kit to satisfy the "jobs worth" French/German/other cop or do you brave it and take your chances?

The real point here is that modern motor vehicle technology is advancing far faster than many motoring laws can keep up with!

 

[g8rpi]

Well I've now had a drive in the dark and wet. The GE Sportlight premiums seem to be pretty good.

Robert G8RPI.