On 02/01/2018 at 21:03, xman said:

Glass lens means it is a projector style headlight. Its very easy to remove/change the h7 bulb. Pop the big rubber cover off, reach in and grab the bulb connector, gentle push to the front of the vehicle and twist anticlockwise (looking from back to front of vehicle).  The bulb comes out on the connector. The rest will be obvious.

 

Wish I'd had this post the other day when, in the Sainsburys car park at 9pm my driver side bulb popped (for the 3rd time in a year!) as I had a long, winding A and B road drive home I decided to change the bulb there and then (had a spare)

 

45 minutes... 15 of which was swearing at the restricted space and my mahoosive hands, 10 minutes figuring out it's a twist not a spring holding the bulb, 10 trying to pull the plug off the back of the bulb with the shortest piece of wire imaginable and the restricted space (mahoosive meathooks not helping), 5 figuring out which way the plug went back on the new bulb, whilst holding a torch in my teeth, and the last 5 trying to get the bulb back in the housing and lining up the lugs to twist it back into place!!

 

Now ordered 3x 2-pack of Lucas H7's (£12 for 6 bulbs total) to store in my boot... As it's bound to happen again!!

2 hours ago, Simoneale1973 said:

 

Wish I'd had this post the other day when, in the Sainsburys car park at 9pm my driver side bulb popped (for the 3rd time in a year!) as I had a long, winding A and B road drive home I decided to change the bulb there and then (had a spare)

 

45 minutes... 15 of which was swearing at the restricted space and my mahoosive hands, 10 minutes figuring out it's a twist not a spring holding the bulb, 10 trying to pull the plug off the back of the bulb with the shortest piece of wire imaginable and the restricted space (mahoosive meathooks not helping), 5 figuring out which way the plug went back on the new bulb, whilst holding a torch in my teeth, and the last 5 trying to get the bulb back in the housing and lining up the lugs to twist it back into place!!

 

Now ordered 3x 2-pack of Lucas H7's (£12 for 6 bulbs total) to store in my boot... As it's bound to happen again!!

good man...and promotion to eagle scout...be prepared, prepared, prepared...:D

i fused my interior lighting and bought around 40 fuses mixed sizes...it can be a disaster if you dont have one of those little plug in ones..means a swap i suppose and sacrifice something else

your story about changing the bulbs H7..this is what worried me about a change...i have the single projector..

i have looked at that area around the fuel filter and can see the problem..i have smallish hands and can speak shipyard french so i should be ok....

i did hope one could just bolt off the whole unit...

beware the ides of parking lights...:( .....may just get a garage to do those

cheers

geof

 

The fans are ok when the engine is on. You will hear them more inside the car then outside too. Its a light kinda whirling buzz. I think LED's get nowhere near as hot as conventional bulbs but heat is their enemy, none the less! The fans is built in and comes on as the lights do so there is no problem of overheating if the rear of said fan is unhindered. The standard rubber covers would do that o I left them off and plan to use a cookie cutter to cut a nice sized hole or purchase universal ones already supplied with a hole. If I cut mine, I will get a spare set just to revert to stick, if need be. The life span on the LED's is supposedly higher then incandescent bulbs though so I guess its just down to passing the ol' MOT but that is not until next December anyway! I likes 'em, I do. I'm now about to try getting sidelights in the same colour spectrum as I tried some previously but they were too blue!

21 minutes ago, mrgf said:

The fans are ok when the engine is on. You will hear them more inside the car then outside too. Its a light kinda whirling buzz. I think LED's get nowhere near as hot as conventional bulbs but heat is their enemy, none the less! The fans is built in and comes on as the lights do so there is no problem of overheating if the rear of said fan is unhindered. The standard rubber covers would do that o I left them off and plan to use a cookie cutter to cut a nice sized hole or purchase universal ones already supplied with a hole. If I cut mine, I will get a spare set just to revert to stick, if need be. The life span on the LED's is supposedly higher then incandescent bulbs though so I guess its just down to passing the ol' MOT but that is not until next December anyway! I likes 'em, I do. I'm now about to try getting sidelights in the same colour spectrum as I tried some previously but they were too blue!

that reminds me of the 5W led downlighters i put in our bedroom and chose a 5000K...the ones in the living room are 4000K

so i had to put the bedroom ones in the living room....they were soooooooooooooooo bright

should have got 2700K in hind sight

when i did the led's in the car interior lighting i found them very bluey bright as well...but that is a real advantage

i did sort of hear the MOT does comment on led main beams etc...

i guess they are ok for rear number plates and indicators/parking lights?

did a cruise control journey back from truro to home...on the dual carriage way A30 section

set the speed at 60mph and nearly hit 70mpg at the final roundabout...its about 18 miles...

will use that when i hit the trail to bristol airport on an overnight journey and see if i can get a high reading

it will be A30/M5 almost there...then some low speed driving from burnham on sea to the airport

great economy these skips with sun roofs...

Edited 6 February, 20188 yr by mrcrow

One comment about buying a multi pack of Lucas branded headlight bulbs, that would have been a good idea many years ago when the proper Lucas company made or branded these bulbs, any Lucas branded bulbs you buy nowadays are just cheapest nastiest crap that will last a few weeks if you are lucky as the Lucas name was bought by one of the ECP partners I think, and gets rented out to nasty people that import junk and use what used to be a good/reliable name to make their crappy bulbs look like a good buy.

 

Buy Philips or Osram headlight bulbs if you want to avoid needing to dive into these headlights frequently - and if long life is really the most important feature you look for in a bulb, avoid the higher output options - though for what they are intended for they are very good but just a bit shorter service life as you should expect.

16 hours ago, mrcrow said:

that reminds me of the 5W led downlighters i put in our bedroom and chose a 5000K...the ones in the living room are 4000K

so i had to put the bedroom ones in the living room....they were soooooooooooooooo bright

should have got 2700K in hind sight

great economy these skips with sun roofs...

 

LEDs in the house, yes I went for the "cold" ones when we refurbed the ensuite, really driven by ignorance and the improved light output, I think we were both happy when the units started to fail and I replaced them with "warm" versions, the fan/light in the shower is still surviving though - I use the bath to avoid that!

3 hours ago, rum4mo said:

One comment about buying a multi pack of Lucas branded headlight bulbs, that would have been a good idea many years ago when the proper Lucas company made or branded these bulbs, any Lucas branded bulbs you buy nowadays are just cheapest nastiest crap that will last a few weeks if you are lucky as the Lucas name was bought by one of the ECP partners I think, and gets rented out to nasty people that import junk and use what used to be a good/reliable name to make their crappy bulbs look like a good buy.

 

Buy Philips or Osram headlight bulbs if you want to avoid needing to dive into these headlights frequently - and if long life is really the most important feature you look for in a bulb, avoid the higher output options - though for what they are intended for they are very good but just a bit shorter service life as you should expect.

 

In the last year I've gone through 2 Osram Long lasting bulbs (one each side) and 3 (2 Driver 1 passenger) of the Chepo ones! I can't justify spending £15 on one bulb when the Lucas (or other cheapies) are about £2 per bulb.

 

My car seems to eat bulbs! :(

Hum, that is not good I was used to replacing the Premium Plus bulbs, ie Philips Extremes after 18 months, next set after 24 months and next ones after 36 months - as these bulbs improved, and I thought that was bad!  My daughter's late 2009 Ibiza is still on its factory fitted Philips Premium ie standard output bulbs and she will be using that car every day, early morning and late at night, so the lights do get used! I've even suggested that she bought a better set of bulbs to make her life a bit easier, that was declined as the ones fitted still work!

 

One thing though, maybe your car has dual filament bulbs, ie H4 that might be keeping their service life a bit shorter than H7 etc.

On 2/7/2018 at 10:03, rum4mo said:

 

LEDs in the house, yes I went for the "cold" ones when we refurbed the ensuite, really driven by ignorance and the improved light output, I think we were both happy when the units started to fail and I replaced them with "warm" versions, the fan/light in the shower is still surviving though - I use the bath to avoid that!

 

i am looking to replace my bathroom 12v halogen MR11 with led MR16..should be able to get 5/(50)w out of them but since my bathroom is small and has a white vinyl planked floor and white tiles all over...ceiling isnt..and a small window that bright ones will do the job...and possibly as you did get the warmer ones.

i have 4 lights in total..room is about 2.2 metres square

cheers

geof

 

Edited 8 February, 20188 yr by mrcrow

On 2/7/2018 at 13:24, Simoneale1973 said:

 

In the last year I've gone through 2 Osram Long lasting bulbs (one each side) and 3 (2 Driver 1 passenger) of the Chepo ones! I can't justify spending £15 on one bulb when the Lucas (or other cheapies) are about £2 per bulb.

 

My car seems to eat bulbs! :(

do you think its the vibrations from the road...that is poor performance really...led's could be a solution if the MOT is happy with that...

what's your normal driving situation....lots of traffic or country roads?

cheers

geof

22 hours ago, rum4mo said:

Hum, that is not good I was used to replacing the Premium Plus bulbs, ie Philips Extremes after 18 months, next set after 24 months and next ones after 36 months - as these bulbs improved, and I thought that was bad!  My daughter's late 2009 Ibiza is still on its factory fitted Philips Premium ie standard output bulbs and she will be using that car every day, early morning and late at night, so the lights do get used! I've even suggested that she bought a better set of bulbs to make her life a bit easier, that was declined as the ones fitted still work!

 

One thing though, maybe your car has dual filament bulbs, ie H4 that might be keeping their service life a bit shorter than H7 etc.

 

i think my golf had dual filiment...i only changed them after around 8 years for higher wattage bulbs which were sold with the car after another 7 years...is it just sod's law..

after hearing those words of wisdom from your daughter and in light (pun) of my initial comment...

i will leave well alone...and peer through the darkness

cheers

geof

1 hour ago, mrcrow said:

 

i think my golf had dual filiment...i only changed them after around 8 years for higher wattage bulbs which were sold with the car after another 7 years...is it just sod's law..

after hearing those words of wisdom from your daughter and in light (pun) of my initial comment...

i will leave well alone...and peer through the darkness

cheers

geof

Ha Ha, I think that she is what you might call very modern in her outlook, and minimalist - and no chance of ever accumulating  junk/extras or handy stuff!

20 hours ago, mrcrow said:

do you think its the vibrations from the road...that is poor performance really...led's could be a solution if the MOT is happy with that...

what's your normal driving situation....lots of traffic or country roads?

cheers

geof

 

Probly... I drive mainly Country Lanes (A, B and Unclassified roads) and a half mile long 'Cinder Track' driveway to my office! 

 

One of my colleagues had a suspension spring break on the driveway a month ago! Though he drives a dirty Ford!!  

Edited 9 February, 20188 yr by Simoneale1973

22 hours ago, rum4mo said:

Ha Ha, I think that she is what you might call very modern in her outlook, and minimalist - and no chance of ever accumulating  junk/extras or handy stuff!

 

"out of the mouths of youth comes forth wisdom"...paraphrase Psalm 8:2

 

 

4 hours ago, Simoneale1973 said:

 

Probly... I drive mainly Country Lanes (A, B and Unclassified roads) and a half mile long 'Cinder Track' driveway to my office! 

 

One of my colleagues had a suspension spring break on the driveway a month ago! Though he drives a dirty Ford!!  

....

ah yes Fords!!...on my first cortina the front struts needed welded up...the usual

i had the mk 1,2,3,4 cortinas over the period 1971-1980 and escorts from 1987-2001......

the golf 1.6S came in 2001 to 2016...then the skoda!!

what the fords gave me as an ex marine engineer with tool expertise was doing all the servicing and maintenance on all the fords...no electronics to speak of on them..tappets, points, servicing all done with expertise...the tyres and brakes i let kwik fit do..:D

then cameth the golf...i only polished this and changed the air filter and bulbs...it was totally under the hands of those who understood all the wires and sensors

i am now making some effort to do the skoda but so far its only been the air, fuel and cabin filters..and putting leds in the cabin lights...

so...

i do miss the simplicity of the old Fords...i dont miss the fuel performance that my model skoda can return

the highest so far on a legitimate run on cruise control 60mph over 18 miles nearly hit the 70mpg...cant wait to do my bristol trip in a fortnight...mostly on dual carriageway A30 and motorway M5...we have 6 hours to get there to meet the airport parking time we booked to arrive..3AM..so its going to be a slowish 60mph journey again just to see what comes up on the computer...

cheers

geof

 

Edited 9 February, 20188 yr by mrcrow

There was a time (1970's) when having a Ford was the sensible choice. Replacement bits were cheap, and all cars required quite a lot. 

 

Headlamps were sealed units, the bulb went, you changed the whole headlamp!

 

Even remember the indicator unit (bimetal strip alongside some resistance wire in an aluminum can) was regularly replaced. As for contact points....the less said about them, the better.

 

End of reminisce mode....

Humm, I ran an "old E " reg Anglia van for a short time > an "old L" reg Escort Mk1 van for a short time > an "old P" reg Escort Ghia 1.6 from almost 3 years old for a short time > an "old V" reg Escort Ghia 1.6 from almost 2 years old for a short time, an "old X" reg Escort Ghia 1.6 from new for a short time > an A reg Orion Ghia 1.6 Injection from new for a while > an E reg Orion Ghia 1.6 Injection from new for a while, then in 1992 moved to VX and bought a 9 month old Cav GSI 4X4 2000 16V, as Ford had stopped moving forward at the right rate, that VX Cav GSI 4X4 2000 16V was a very good car, so I kept it until June 2000 when I moved to VW Group products.

 

Ford, in my mind, during that period, did provide what a lot of people wanted and used to be very easy to repair and sell on.

20 hours ago, xman said:

There was a time (1970's) when having a Ford was the sensible choice. Replacement bits were cheap, and all cars required quite a lot. 

 

Headlamps were sealed units, the bulb went, you changed the whole headlamp!

 

Even remember the indicator unit (bimetal strip alongside some resistance wire in an aluminum can) was regularly replaced. As for contact points....the less said about them, the better.

 

End of reminisce mode....

 

yes glad they are over really...i dont fancy fords now that i have been bitten...

i went into a ford spares dealer in 1971 for a bendix for my 1965 1500 cortina..5 bearing crankshaft donchaknow...

he never went to the stores just put his hand under the counter and popped one up...did it in the carpark at lunchtime...and many more times after

and that gearstick..:D  pudding stirrer

cheers

 

now what about the saab dustbins...i had one of those..V4

19 hours ago, rum4mo said:

Ford, in my mind, during that period, did provide what a lot of people wanted and used to be very easy to repair and sell on.

yes repairs were really easy and cheap..and i did get good prices on resale...considering i always had vehicles around 5 years old....and got my money back on the mark 2 cortina 1600E and the mark 3 cortina 1600GT

skoda spares arent that bad pricewise if you dont want OEM for some....i got my door window switch off off ebay...didnt come from china though..and the filters were from aftermarket sources...

cheers

geof

I kind of thought the 1600E was a but special in its day, one of our neighbours when down South on holiday and lost his 1600E - gone for ever as they did!

 

I was aiming at getting an Escort 1300E Mk1 when I discovered that an Escort 1600 Ghia Mk2 would make more sense, so got that instead.  Later while owning my first Mk1 Orion 1.6 Ghia Injection I looked at a used Orion 1.6E - the leather was in a terrible mess for a 2 year old car, so binned that idea and ordered a new Mk2 Orion Ghia 1.6 Injection.

 

SAAB dustbins - my mate has had about 8 or so of SAAB 96s, even an Anniversary version, and a couple of SAAB 95s (estate), too many 99s, a couple of 9-3 (VX) SAAB TDIs for his wife, she did not think they were proper SAABs, SAAB 9000 saloons, a 90 and then a couple more newer 9-5s and then a 9-5 estate, that one has been given to their son, so now they only have a SAAB 9-5 saloon and a "toy" which is a late SAAB 96, which is being sorted out and ready for back on the road for summer and the new "no MOT or Road Tax" which I think comes in this May.  His medical doctor, seems to rally Subarus or at  least co-owns one and he is navigator and the other co-owner drives it on local/club/ect rallies, they have just been on the Monte Carlo Rally Historique in a used rally prepared 1965 SAAB 96 V4, car 203, unfortunately they suffered mechanical failure during the second last stage, so that was not. I am speculating that it was clutch failure as the day before leaving from Glasgow at the start of the UK group heading down to Monte Carlo, they had to replace the clutch cover, so the competition cover came off and the only cover available was the used normal one that was fitted to a SAAB 96 V4 they originally bought off ebay with a view to preparing it for next year, time will tell!  Doing that seriously costs a seriously lot more money than I would put into it - and besides, I don't have a black penguin suit and that is need for the evening get togethers for grub etc!

 

Edit:- my mate is not minted, all his SAABs have come tried and tested at about 75K miles and many years of use!

 

His current "toy" seems to have been off the road too long due to things that life throws at us, and it bent a pushrod when it was initially started after its long sleep, heads have been off and cleaned up and hardened valve seats fitted to make it fit for lead free fuel - and a new pushrod procured, so the engine is back running.

Edited 10 February, 20188 yr by rum4mo

5 hours ago, mrcrow said:

 

skoda spares arent that bad pricewise if you dont want OEM for some....i got my door window switch off off ebay...

 

I have just finally sourced some of the later type window switches with the little alloy trim, fitted to later VW's but with the Skoda green light! I tried getting the easy to get red ones and converting them by swapping innards but due to different manufacturers etc, this was unsuccessful so I had to find the passenger and driver side from a different source. The simpler, passenger one was from a UK seller, the other from China so guess which one cost more... The one that came less then five miles away or the one from the other side of the word;d, nearly? Yup! You guessed right. I love a Chinese takeaway!

 

 

Quote

cheers

geof

 

Edited 10 February, 20188 yr by mrgf

23 hours ago, rum4mo said:

I kind of thought the 1600E was a but special in its day, one of our neighbours when down South on holiday and lost his 1600E - gone for ever as they did!

 

I was aiming at getting an Escort 1300E Mk1 when I discovered that an Escort 1600 Ghia Mk2 would make more sense, so got that instead.  Later while owning my first Mk1 Orion 1.6 Ghia Injection I looked at a used Orion 1.6E - the leather was in a terrible mess for a 2 year old car, so binned that idea and ordered a new Mk2 Orion Ghia 1.6 Injection.

 

SAAB dustbins - my mate has had about 8 or so of SAAB 96s, even an Anniversary version, and a couple of SAAB 95s (estate), too many 99s, a couple of 9-3 (VX) SAAB TDIs for his wife, she did not think they were proper SAABs, SAAB 9000 saloons, a 90 and then a couple more newer 9-5s and then a 9-5 estate, that one has been given to their son, so now they only have a SAAB 9-5 saloon and a "toy" which is a late SAAB 96, which is being sorted out and ready for back on the road for summer and the new "no MOT or Road Tax" which I think comes in this May.  His medical doctor, seems to rally Subarus or at  least co-owns one and he is navigator and the other co-owner drives it on local/club/ect rallies, they have just been on the Monte Carlo Rally Historique in a used rally prepared 1965 SAAB 96 V4, car 203, unfortunately they suffered mechanical failure during the second last stage, so that was not. I am speculating that it was clutch failure as the day before leaving from Glasgow at the start of the UK group heading down to Monte Carlo, they had to replace the clutch cover, so the competition cover came off and the only cover available was the used normal one that was fitted to a SAAB 96 V4 they originally bought off ebay with a view to preparing it for next year, time will tell!  Doing that seriously costs a seriously lot more money than I would put into it - and besides, I don't have a black penguin suit and that is need for the evening get togethers for grub etc!

 

Edit:- my mate is not minted, all his SAABs have come tried and tested at about 75K miles and many years of use!

 

His current "toy" seems to have been off the road too long due to things that life throws at us, and it bent a pushrod when it was initially started after its long sleep, heads have been off and cleaned up and hardened valve seats fitted to make it fit for lead free fuel - and a new pushrod procured, so the engine is back running.

i liked the practical engineering of my Saab 96...cant remember the year...i guess around 1969 model

i changed the water pump and the large timing gear ...the bonnet comes off just two clips and then the front grille and lights similarly....all the brake pipes and handbrake cables run inside the car...mine had removeable rubber floors which i could scrub...the rear seat had a rotary adjuster to change the rake of the bit you sit on...both front seats very comfortable....the brakes were lousy...the front calipers were constructed out of steel plate...very aeronotical

fresh air at  the push of a lever and freewheel at the turn of a handle...rather dangerous and probably why the thing wouldnt pull up sharply on downward slopes....i wallowed around so i fitted koni's set at the hardest setting...it sat VERY WELL  then...head used to hit the roof on humpback bridges

sold it for my first cortina...

heard of the vauxhall viva rust bucket???

we all have a great history of lying on the ground using filler and cataloy...??

cheers

geof

22 hours ago, mrgf said:

 

I have just finally sourced some of the later type window switches with the little alloy trim, fitted to later VW's but with the Skoda green light! I tried getting the easy to get red ones and converting them by swapping innards but due to different manufacturers etc, this was unsuccessful so I had to find the passenger and driver side from a different source. The simpler, passenger one was from a UK seller, the other from China so guess which one cost more... The one that came less then five miles away or the one from the other side of the word;d, nearly? Yup! You guessed right. I love a Chinese takeaway!

 

 

 

well i cant complain i think my led's came from afar...pretty quick...i think the boat was just at dover when i made my order

i got a few more items on ebay from the orient...not knocking the idea.. and bulbs from germany!!!

what happens after brexit??  we will be exporting to them...with the new trade deals..:D

cheers

geof

On 2/5/2018 at 02:31, mrgf said:

I got the ones with the "EYEBALL" on the inside as opposed to the later "EYEBALL" on the outside. I think MrCrow, yours are the same as mine...

 

Just fitted my LED bulbs, along with the replacement bulb holder... Very nice! Brighter, whiter light with more glow on the road and further along.  I am most happy with them and I was running Nightbreakers already so they must be loads better then "Normal" bulbs. I paid a tenner for the pair, which is a great deal and I may just get a spare set as I don't know how long they will live. The fans on them are very quiet in the box and off the car but are more noticeable once they are fitted as the headlights kind of act as a speaker of sorts. I haven't fitted the rubber covers back on though as I am going to replace those with ones with holes for the bulbs. Not because they protrude but just to help the cooling. 

Just came across this threat and decided to go through it, Mrgf could you please post some details & pictures of the light output the leds are providing you, as i bought leds for my mk1 octavia fog lights {(projectors) i know these are very different cars we're talking about, and fog lights are meant to be yellow} but the output from my leds were horrible. my original Osram 55w bulbs were far better in terms of brightness and distance covered.

 

The leds i bought were from aliexpress.com and were of the brand oslamp.

 

H7 LED HEADLIGHT BULB CONVERSION KIT DIRVING FOG LIGHT XENON WHITE 110W 9600LM

 

Hopefully going in to eBay and clicking that listing should show you the LED headlights I fitted. Seller was called inxsj-light and they accepted my offer of £10. I then obtained these... 2x H7 LED Headlight Bulbs Holder Adapters Retainer For Benz BMW Audi VX Skoda MG From a different seller, to clip them in with. This seller was called buy4motor.

 

I could have got the clips elsewhere, for around half the price but I wanted them quickly so paid the asking price rather then save a few pounds.  They are a little fiddly to get on but DO work.  Nice white light, even compared to my Osram Nightbreakers.

Edited 12 February, 20188 yr by mrgf