Changing a C4 brake light bulb

[demag]

I can now change a C4 brake lamp bulb! I have the NVQ to prove it!

The handbook writes it off in three lines and is pretty well useless.

1, Remove trim from boot. (It doesn't say WHICH trim, we removed a LOT )
2, Remove nut "A" (small picture of REMOVED light assembly)
3, Undo clips 1,2,3.

This is a coupe and the lamp assembly is huge. We took out loads of trim looking for fixings that aren't there. Once the nut "A" is removed through the hole which is a tad too small for the average hand, the whole assembly just pulls out backwards from the car. But it doesn't actually tell you that in the book, so after 40 minutes of pulling the back of the car to pieces the penny suddenly dropped. I grasped the light unit firmly and out it came!

Now I know, I could do it in 15 minutes. I bet a lot of these have been taken back to the stealers for bulb replacement. At what cost to the owner is anyones guess.

[andmcit]

Well done you. You have now passed the new car DIY initiation process...

The newer cars seem to be deliberately designed to be main dealer only repairs for ANYTHING now. I guess when
the AA spend around 50% of their call outs changing flat tyres for people who are mechanically inept or simply
cannot be bothered is it any wonder newer cars are designed to be more like a sealed unit like a fridge or washing
machine. From the manufacturer's/garages point of view, if people want to pay to have previously simple tasks
fixed, let them!

I had to succumb to the delights of the handbook fitting a pal's other half's new style Beetle front dip bulb. Not only
was it stupidly expensive (£30 IIRC), the light required complete removal from the bodywork and was sprung loose
unlocked from the inner wheelarch area - you'd never know by examining it in situ.

Incidentally, I've bid and won a whole C4 saloon nearside light fitment including the extra triangle piece that runs
into the roof as a handy spare for my sister's car and only paid a fiver!! Probably less than the price of the bulbs
from the likes of Halfords and this one came with the bulbs fitted - it's one of my better ebay purchases.

Crazy prices from Citroen for the light fittings themselves mind; pal of mine only yesterday mentioned he'd been
told the price of a replacement old style C5 headlight costs £1k!! Probably an old wife's tale that one
although the steerable C4 one's have been on ebay for £400 second hand...

and that was each!!

Andrew

[Ciaran]

I do believe changing the headlight bulb in a Megane makes that C4 look like childsplay.

We're talking jacking the car up, and going in through the wheelarch here. Given the fact most owners don't like to change a bulb, and certainly wouldn't be doing something drastic like getting the jack out, I wouldn't be surprised if 99% of this had been to the stealers for this particular task.

That said, even for the mechanically competent, an hour a side to change a bulb still takes the piss IMO.

Ciarán

[robert_e_smart]

The C5 series 2, not the 3 series car, is a disaster as well. There is next to no room to put your hands in behind the lamps. The sidelights on them are a halogen thing, and blow really quickly, and are a real pain to change.

[onthecut]

[

Crazy prices from Citroen for the light fittings themselves mind; pal of mine only yesterday mentioned he'd been
told the price of a replacement old style C5 headlight costs £1k!! Probably an old wife's tale that one
although the steerable C4 one's have been on ebay for £400 second hand...

and that was each!!

Andrew[/quote]


No wonder I love my old Landy with its 7" round headlamps a little more each day !!

Mike.

[Dean]

Yes mike, when i had a range rover classic i think the whole lamp unit was oooh £12 from a LR dealer, i know, its a criminal price
Ive seen first hand a rather upset mazda customer being told that he now owed £400 for the replacement headlamp bulb in his nice new RX8, im so glad im not a new car person

D