Headlamp bulb holder is too stiff to move

[GrahamM]

I've only recently started driving cars, having been a biker for about 16 years, and a few days ago was the first time I'd driven my Fabia Mark 2 HTP at night and whilst that holds few problems for me, I did feel that the headlights on the car were a bit underpowered.
 

On checking, I found that a) the car uses the same bulbs (H7) as my motorbike and b) due to a mis-reading of an advert, when I thought I was buying two replacement bulbs for the bike, I didn't realise I was actually buying two *pairs*.
 

The new bulbs are Osram Nightbreaker 200s which are brighter and give a longer "light path", so they seemed to be an ideal choice to switch for the existing ones.

According to the videos I'd seen on YouTube etc, it should have been a simple matter of opening the bonnet, removing a rubber cap and twist to remove the holder to replace the bulbs.

Except, twist, press or turn as much as I was able, I couldn't get the damn holders to move and I didn't want to start using excessive force in case I damaged something.

Also they have little sharp edges at certain points, but there wasn't really enough room to get a gloved hand in there to protect my fingers 🙁

Ok, it's not vital to replace the bulbs, but it would be nice, however I can't get a clear enough view of the mounts to see where I might squirt a bit of lubricant, WD40 or contact cleaner spray to help things shift and I really don't want to pay a garage an hourly rate for a job that will probably take five minutes...
 

Anyone got any ideas on how I could proceed?
 

[Murdockman]

Don't know what you have looked at but mu old Fabia MK2 had a spring type clip that holds the bulb in place and when you need to get the bulb out you remove the rubber cap unplug the black connection and then press each loop on the spring clip down and upwards on the top of the spring and down and downwards on the bottom loo of the spring  part you then swing the clip out of the way of the bulb fitting, the bulb then wiggles out of the headlamp fitting , the newer mk3 bulbs twist out NOT the mk2 version try looking on u tube amd make sure you select a mk2 version to see how to remove the bulb good luck and best get a pair of mechanoics gloves as these will save your hands when doing this job

[GrahamM]

I'm familiar with the spring clip type (it's the same as on my bike, but there appear to be different versions of headlight holders, mine has two separate bulbs, one for the dipped beam and another for main beam.

 

This is one of the videos which appears to be the same type as mine:

 

Here's a picture of the fitting...

[xman]

1 hour ago, GrahamM said:

Anyone got any ideas on how I could proceed?

They can be a little stiff. Grab hold of the plastic bulb connector, push it forwards and at the same twist it counter clockwise (looking from behind the connector toward the front of the car).  Some twist easily, others need a fair amount of force

 

Note this applies to cars fitted with a projector (lens) headlight fitted with single H7 bulb and shutter dip operated.

 

May be different for cars fitted with seperate main and dip bulbs or reflector headlights using H4 bulbs

 

Edited 2 September, 2023 by xman

[GrahamM]

I just thought I'd round this off in case anyone else ever has the same problem and finds this topic from a search.

 

I've been a bit busy, so today was the first chance I had to have another go and I found that if I squirted some WD40 Contact Cleaner spray  onto the bulb holders and left it for a few minutes, it got rid of whatever crud was stopping them from turning and I've succeeded in putting in the new bulbs 🙂

 

(It's still a bloody fiddly job getting in there with a pair of mechanics' gloves on to protect your fingers from sharp edges and then making sure everything is lined up properly, but at least it's done now!)