Change bulbs at the front + rear of the car

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glasgowjim
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Change bulbs at the front + rear of the car

Post by glasgowjim » Thu Aug 08, 2013 1:41 pm

When working on any of the front lights you have to raise the popup headlamps and keep them raised the correct method as given be Volvo is ..
turn on ignition raise popups then release the bonnet catch (at left hand side of passenger footwell in a RH drive car) then turn the lights off and swtich off ignition. The popup headlamps will remain up allowing you to work at your leisure :lol:

HeadLamp bulb:

Locate the 4 screws the 2 at the top as shown in picture below and the two ( one on each side as shaon on second picture
ImageImage

undo them and do not lose them they are a specific size. now removethe black cover.

Next remove the top cover .

Warning do not apply any pressure downwards as the plastic hinges are designed to snap under pressure


Before removing the top cover trace round the edge of the cpver flange so that you can reseat the cover when you are finished in the correct position.
Using a 4 mm allen key (hex key) remove the front retaining bolt on each side and loosen the rear bolt , pull the top cover clear.
Image

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glasgowjim
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Re: Change bulbs at the front of the car

Post by glasgowjim » Sat Aug 10, 2013 11:48 pm

Head lamp bulb part 2...

Having removed the cover now pull the rubber connector off and remove the round rubber seal
Image

Now release the 2 metal retaining springs and replace bulb .

Image

Reassembly is the reverse of disassembly. :lol:

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glasgowjim
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Re: Change bulbs at the front of the car

Post by glasgowjim » Sun Aug 11, 2013 11:07 am

Indicator and day running lights

Raise the headlamps as shown in the headlamp section. then...

loosen and remove the screw shown in the picture below.
Image
and a clearer picture
or bulbs and day running lamps.Image
do not unscrew the other 2 screws

retain screw carefully as it is a particular size.
Now the tricky part you need to be careful when removing the cluster as the plastic around the day running lights in UK cars is very brittle as the bulbs are 21W . Cars or front clusters from Europe are luckier as they only use a single element 5w bulb.
You have to locate and hold down (depress) a retaining spring as shown on the photo below..
Image
When you look at the approx position of the screwdriver from the same level you will see the double metal of the retaining clip you depress it with a screw driver and hold it in . Now carefully prise out the whole of the front cluster.

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glasgowjim
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Re: Change bulbs at the front of the car

Post by glasgowjim » Sun Aug 11, 2013 11:18 am

The auxiliary or long range lights ,
the light shown in the picture below...
Image

Raise headlamps and completely remove the front cluster.
Having done this look carefully at the exposed SIDE of the light unit there are 2 black plastic clip lugs push these in ( they will be stiff ) and free the side of the unit . To remove the unit the other side has a hinge lip so you pull the freed side out as if it where a little door and the unit can then be freed bulb changing is straightforward after that.

Reassembly is the reverse blah blah......

Hope this helps . :D

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glasgowjim
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Re: Change bulbs at the front of the car

Post by glasgowjim » Mon Feb 10, 2014 6:04 pm

FOR REAR LIGHTS

first open rear hatch then open the side cubby as shown below . Then lie the cubby door fully open on the boot carpet out of the way.

Image

Now pull / prise the rear cover off as shown it is only clipped in place and NO you cant break anything even if you are the incredible hulk . When you prise it off start from the inside end as the other end has a lug (shown below that fits into the edge of the cubby.

Image


Image

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glasgowjim
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Re: Change bulbs at the front of the car

Post by glasgowjim » Mon Feb 10, 2014 6:12 pm

Now push the lever as shown below and release the lighting board

Image

you can swing it out and change the bulbs easily .

Assembly is the reverse of this. ;)

balto8
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Re: Change bulbs at the front + rear of the car

Post by balto8 » Wed Mar 02, 2016 10:16 pm

This is helpful stuff.

Thanks Jim.
1991 480 Black Turbo
2012 Seat Exeo ST
2013 VW Polo TSI DSG

balto8
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Re: Change bulbs at the front + rear of the car

Post by balto8 » Sun Mar 27, 2016 11:44 pm

After replacing all interior lighting for warm light leds It was time to move to exterior lights.

I bought different kinds of bulbs on Ebay to try on different positions. Here's my market research results this far. All of them in warm white tones. Avoiding MOT issues and keeping the car looks as less tunning-deal as possible makes me run away from ultra white 6000k tones.

This one seemed to me like the best for DRLs. Best amount of light.

Image
http://m.ebay.es/itm/1156-Ba15s-P21W-20 ... ING_ACTIVE

Wrong choice. They get hot as hell. They have so many high power leds packed that the thing gets hotter than filament bulbs. I think they're designed for blinkers or reverse lights but not to be kept on for a long time. The thing got so hot that it melt the leds soldierings to the bulb body and the led panels started to fall from the body. So hot this could substitute uranium at nuclear power plants. Do not buy.

This other one stays quite cool but having only a front beam is not ideal for obvious reasons.

Image
http://m.ebay.es/itm/2-x-Warm-White-Car ... ING_ACTIVE

This one is the right choice. They have a great illumination power. I did not understand the metal isolation between the leds until I tried the first ones. This acts as a dissipator.

Image
http://m.ebay.es/itm/1-x-700lm-1156-BA1 ... ING_ACTIVE

Still to receive and try theese ones. Will report soon.

Image
http://m.ebay.es/itm/Coche-1156-BA15S-S ... 6311577009

Filament bulb on the right, led on the left

Image
1991 480 Black Turbo
2012 Seat Exeo ST
2013 VW Polo TSI DSG

rhigga
Started learning about 480
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Re: Change bulbs at the front + rear of the car

Post by rhigga » Wed Jun 22, 2016 3:28 pm

Thanks for taking the time to do this comparison,can you now give a definitive choice as to which led bulb is the best suited ?
1992 480 Turbo Auto with richmod

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