CambridgeSteve
Member
- Posts
- 39
- Location
- Cambridge
This weekend I sorted out a few things that have been annoying me and had a couple of nice surprises.
I'd got a bit fed up of the poor headlights so bought a pair of Bosch Gigalight bulbs they claim an extra 120% light, worth a try as I'm not prepared to do the mod to get facelift headlights just to have more often stolen headlights.
My hands are too big to change the bulbs without removing the headlights, so off came the headlight protectors and I learnt how easy it is to pop out the headlights, I think perhaps having the self-levelling lights makes this easier as it's only held in the ball and sockets so there are no fasteners to undo. In the process I found that one of the sockets is broken and doesn't really hold the headlight properly
the new bulbs went in. One of the mount points for the headlight protector was rotating when I came to reinstall the protector, so the headlight came back off as did the indicator so I could tighten the mount point. A sidelight bulb was also blown, so I replaced that which I managed to do without removing the headlight.
The battery was being held in place with a zip tie holding the front of the clamp down. So I got a battery clamp kit from Halfords. The threaded rod behind the battery was still there so I wanted to use that, the front one was missing. The rod in the kit was too long so I had to cut that down with a hacksaw, then I used a blowtorch and pair of pliers to bend a new hook, that was very satisfying. The battery is now properly secure, the battery cover can clip into place properly because there isn't a cable tie in the way and the cover above the headlight isn't locked in place by the cable tie either.
When I bought the car the owner said the CD player didn't work, so I've never even bothered trying to turn it on, I've had other more pressing things to sort out. For some reason I tried turning it on and it turns out the radio does work, so perhaps it's just the CD playing function that doesn't work. So that was one nice surprise, the other was that while looking for the code for the radio I found a £20 note tucked in the owners manual, I'll have to read some more of that!
I'm sure many of you would consider that a small amount to get done over a weekend, but I had to do it while looking after my 7 month old daughter, so I'm pretty happy with that, she's learning about car maintenance from a young age.
So that's two jobs off the list, and delayed having to buy a new radio unit (I'd like DAB), next up I need to
I'd got a bit fed up of the poor headlights so bought a pair of Bosch Gigalight bulbs they claim an extra 120% light, worth a try as I'm not prepared to do the mod to get facelift headlights just to have more often stolen headlights.
My hands are too big to change the bulbs without removing the headlights, so off came the headlight protectors and I learnt how easy it is to pop out the headlights, I think perhaps having the self-levelling lights makes this easier as it's only held in the ball and sockets so there are no fasteners to undo. In the process I found that one of the sockets is broken and doesn't really hold the headlight properly
the new bulbs went in. One of the mount points for the headlight protector was rotating when I came to reinstall the protector, so the headlight came back off as did the indicator so I could tighten the mount point. A sidelight bulb was also blown, so I replaced that which I managed to do without removing the headlight.The battery was being held in place with a zip tie holding the front of the clamp down. So I got a battery clamp kit from Halfords. The threaded rod behind the battery was still there so I wanted to use that, the front one was missing. The rod in the kit was too long so I had to cut that down with a hacksaw, then I used a blowtorch and pair of pliers to bend a new hook, that was very satisfying. The battery is now properly secure, the battery cover can clip into place properly because there isn't a cable tie in the way and the cover above the headlight isn't locked in place by the cable tie either.
When I bought the car the owner said the CD player didn't work, so I've never even bothered trying to turn it on, I've had other more pressing things to sort out. For some reason I tried turning it on and it turns out the radio does work, so perhaps it's just the CD playing function that doesn't work. So that was one nice surprise, the other was that while looking for the code for the radio I found a £20 note tucked in the owners manual, I'll have to read some more of that!
I'm sure many of you would consider that a small amount to get done over a weekend, but I had to do it while looking after my 7 month old daughter, so I'm pretty happy with that, she's learning about car maintenance from a young age
. So that's two jobs off the list, and delayed having to buy a new radio unit (I'd like DAB), next up I need to
- Replace the broken headlight mount socket
- See if replacing the gear oil sorts out shifting into second gear when the car's cold.
- Choose a new set of tyres before it gets to winter.
