sidelight bulb replacement

[mrgf]

Had to change my sidelight bulb today as it was blown. As you may know, they are a little tricky to pull out as there is only a limited amour of room.

 

As I was rotating my wheels at the same time, I used the approach in the manual, I.E. Removal of inner wheel arch liner. 

 

This is not a difficult procedure, albeit fairly slow with quite a few screws to remove and a bit of fiddling with the plastic to move to one side and again, to replace afterwards. That said, I would not bother to use that method agin unless I was planning to remove the wheel, as there is still quite a limited space for your fingers to get to the bulb holder.

 

After trying to grip the bulb (considering I did not want to dislocate the wires) For a while, I remembered I had a small set of pick and hook tools, I got from ebay. they look like small screwdrivers but with sort of hooks and pointy ends and cost about £2 delivered.

 

The one that was bent backwards slightly, worked absolutely perfectly in "Stabbing" the bulb holder with enough grip as to make pulling it out a "Glen Hoddle"! (Doddle).

 

So easy, I refitted the bulb and FULLY pushed the holder back in, with little worry about being able to remove it again in the future. I know there was a discussion here about removing these bulbs but I could't find it and one of the suggestions was to only gently replace the holder after changing the bulb, due to the difficulty of removal.

 

So, there you have it… Don't bother to remove the wheel liner, unless you like work. Get yourself a set of pick tools and use them just once, costing less then the man at Halfords who will hate you for asking him to do it for you!  Keep the tool in the boot with the spare wheel tools.

[fabiamk2SE]

On a fabia? What engine have you got in yours?

I changed mine easily. Just like all the other bulbs

[awfabia]

No, otaylor, it's REALLY difficult on Fabia2. Would like to see photo of mrgf's picks.

I was changing front discs so also removed wheelarch liner but it was still so awkward for such a 'simple' job!

[fabiamk2SE]

No, otaylor, it's REALLY difficult on Fabia2. Would like to see photo of mrgf's picks.

I was changing front discs so also removed wheelarch liner but it was still so awkward for such a 'simple' job!

You say that, but why? Mine was easy? Lol.

Mines a 2013 SE.

[Simoneale1973]

even with my mahoosive meathooks I can change all the front bulbs in both my Wife's (poverty Spec) Fabia and my Fabia Greenline. No wheel arch removal or anything like that!, just pop off the rubber covers and stick my hand in till I find what I'm looking for and gently pull!

[fabiamk2SE]

even with my mahoosive meathooks I can change all the front bulbs in both my Wife's (poverty Spec) Fabia and my Fabia Greenline. No wheel arch removal or anything like that!, just pop off the rubber covers and stick my hand in till I find what I'm looking for and gently pull!

Same!

Wonder if its cos we've got different engines to the above?

[Simoneale1973]

Possibly... maybe the teeny 3cyl 1.2 Desesal in mine and 3cyl 1.2 Petrol in my wifes mean for loads more room in the bay!...

 

However the Battery in mine looks like it's been nicked from a 44tonne Truck!! It's Hoooooooge!!! and right behind the passenger light cluster!

[mrgf]

Be aware, this is the sidelight bulbs, not the headlight ones, which are fairly simple. They are in a recess that is quite small. Long fingers might find it simpler then stubby sausage fingers (Mine) or bunches of bananas with a pulse! Its quite tricky to pull the holder as its hard to grip. Pulling the loom may just damage it. There is not really enough room to slip in a pair of pliers either. Mine is a 1.4 Greenline diesel. The fuel filter sits near the offside and the batty near the nearside but the access is small and well recessed.

 

 191331275412     That number in ebay, will put you on to a seller who has them for £2 posted. I used the one that was bent back a little. Take a little care as they are quite sharp.

Edited 21 November, 2014 by mrgf

[fabiamk2SE]

Be aware, this is the sidelight bulbs, not the headlight ones, which are fairly simple. They are in a recess that is quite small. Long fingers might find it simpler then stubby sausage fingers (Mine) or bunches of bananas with a pulse! Its quite tricky to pull the holder as its hard to grip. Pulling the loom may just damage it. There is not really enough room to slip in a pair of pliers either. Mine is a 1.4 Greenline diesel. The fuel filter sits near the offside and the batty near the nearside but the access is small and well recessed.

Yeah i know what sidelights are lol.

I've got LED sidelights, HID dipped and osram nightbreaker unlimited in high.

So I've changed em all (:

[mrgf]

Funny, mines got just single filament high and low headlights. (H7) With a moving shield that raises/lowers for high and dipped beam. Perhaps thats the difference, differing light configuration.?

[fabiamk2SE]

Funny, mines got just single filament high and low headlights. (H7) With a moving shield that raises/lowers for high and dipped beam. Perhaps thats the difference, differing light configuration.?

Oh. You're refering to the 'black pack' lights.

That must be it then?

Mine are silver (:

[mrgf]

I think its the projector jobbies, rather then the lower spec ones. Sorry for any confusion!  They are the ones with a fiddly sidelight bulb. In theory, simple but in practice!

[Simoneale1973]

The silver lights on the Greenline are still Projector, but just for Low Beam, the High Bean is another H7 bulb on a reflector...

 

 

All accessible in the same rubber cover thing.

Edited 23 November, 2014 by Simoneale1973

[fabiamk2SE]

I think its the projector jobbies, rather then the lower spec ones. Sorry for any confusion! They are the ones with a fiddly sidelight bulb. In theory, simple but in practice!

They arent lower spec, theyre just fitted to non black pack cars (montes and some vrs). The silver ones actually perform better. The black ones are more of an aesthetics thing from the outside.

Both projectors, just different.

The only model without projectors are the base S model which has a reflector unit.

[jonro2009]

Black pack are unfortunately 'fashion over function' I would happily have the silver units and then try to spi vision them and see what that looked like and what the output was like, still better than black pack I would wager!

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[mrgf]

The silver lights on the Greenline are still Projector, but just for Low Beam, the High Bean is another H7 bulb on a reflector...

 

 

All accessible in the same rubber cover thing.

These are later versions… Greenie 2. mine is a greenie 1. Single h7, with a small sidelight bulb on the OUTSIDE of the main bulb, just a bit under the indicator bulb. 

[fabiamk2SE]

These are later versions… Greenie 2. mine is a greenie 1. Single h7, with a small sidelight bulb on the OUTSIDE of the main bulb, just a bit under the indicator bulb.

Ah the pre-facelift unit.

No experience with these myself.

Looks like theyve improved it with the facelift ones

[ang9444]

Yeah i know what sidelights are lol.

I've got LED sidelights, HID dipped and osram nightbreaker unlimited in high.

So I've changed em all (:

Can you message me the LED sidelights you got mate? Do you get errors or are they canbus? Cheers

[fabiamk2SE]

Can you message me the LED sidelights you got mate? Do you get errors or are they canbus? Cheers

I've got these..

http://www.hids-direct.co.uk/501-error-free-5-smd-led-sidelights-bulbs-1/

Never had an error no. Mines a 2013 fabia so all fully canbussed up haha.

[ang9444]

I've got these..

http://www.hids-direct.co.uk/501-error-free-5-smd-led-sidelights-bulbs-1/

Never had an error no. Mines a 2013 fabia so all fully canbussed up haha.

What do they look like in the car (on and off)? Cos i wanna see them in the dark and also up close because i have the black pack lights and the current sidelights are well blended in but these might show up a lot as the background is black, do you see what i mean? I'm not talking about the actual light output, i mean the actual bulb itself and how they look vs the led ones..

[fabiamk2SE]

What do they look like in the car (on and off)? Cos i wanna see them in the dark and also up close because i have the black pack lights and the current sidelights are well blended in but these might show up a lot as the background is black, do you see what i mean? I'm not talking about the actual light output, i mean the actual bulb itself and how they look vs the led ones..

I do know what you mean. It might stand out abit more because you're putting them against a black background.

Have a look through hids direct and see if theres any other designs you prefer the look of?

The sidelights on the silver lights are near the top of the high beam reflector, so you cant really see them too well anyway in the day.

When theyre on, they match my 5000k hids perfectly

[jonro2009]

I've got black pack lights and the Led's I have are in a black housing, the chips are still pretty yellow when off so don't blend all that well. If you find any decent ones that blend in then let me know.

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[ang9444]

I've got black pack lights and the Led's I have are in a black housing, the chips are still pretty yellow when off so don't blend all that well. If you find any decent ones that blend in then let me know.

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Yeah that's what i mean, they might not blend in very well cos my current ones are normal bulb and it's a dark blue colour and it blends in nicely, think an led will stand out too much...

[Simoneale1973]

You could always (carefully) attack the white bit of the SMD Chip around the LED emitter with a Black Sharpie marker

[fabiamk2SE]

You could always (carefully) attack the white bit of the SMD Chip around the LED emitter with a Black Sharpie marker

Thats true!

I wonder if you did all of it with a sharpie (LEDs included) that itd be bright enough to just shine through it when its on?