Bl**dy French Car (No Le Mans content though)

[Big G]

The garage said not only can't you put them in yourself, but you have to have a full tank of petrol so that they/the computer can align them properly (or something like that).

That I can guarantee is Bullsh*t. I know for a fact that when the lamps are set at the manufacturer the tank is no where near full. The law only requires that the headlamp is capable of being aimed correctly. It is the reponsibility of the end user to ensure that they are actually aimed correctly. The MOT aiming range is so large that you could have the boot full of concrete and still pass.
Anyway, all you are doing is replacing one bulb for another, this should not affect the aim by any appreciable amount so if the lamp was aimed correctly to start with it should still be correct afterwards. I would not expect to have to reaim a lamp on a vehicle just because I changed a bulb. We do sometimes see a slight difference in aim between bulbs when we are looking at lamps in our darkrooms, but then we can detect differences of 0.005 of a degree, an error of this magnitude in the real world is inconsequential considering the dynamic pitching of the vehicle on the move. This is not a requirement imposed by the manufacturer or the law, it is a way for the dealer to recoup the costs of an expensive piece of aiming equipment they have bought that they probably don't know how to use properly (very few people in the world know how to aim lamps correctly).
One of the biggest warranty liabilities vehicle manufacturers have is with dealers submitting claims for reaiming lamps as part of the PDI. It is a joke, and is only done to line their pockets
caveat no:1- if the lamp was removed from the vehicle to replace the bulb then it would definitely need to be reaimed. Still no requirement for a full tank of petrol tho...me thinks they are trying to get away with charging you to fill the tank.

[garyfrogeye]

Thanks for the reply Big G.
They didn't ask me or offer to fill the tank but it was pretty much full anyway.

I just checked the invoice and they charged me £9.86+Vat for the bulb. £41+vat for labour.
Total of £59.77 including vat
Renault guidlines says cost of anything between £50 and £90 inclusive.

[Big G]

Renault guidlines says cost of anything between £50 and £90 inclusive.

Its still an absolute joke for something as simple as changing a bulb
Do you know if you can get to the back of the lamp without having to remove anything? In future, I can give details of how best to change the bulbs yourself in tight spaces if only you can get your hand down the back of the lamp.

[Paddy_NL]

Renault guidlines says cost of anything between £50 and £90 inclusive.

Its still an absolute joke for something as simple as changing a bulb

Maybe it has something to do with them car dealers not making enough money on selling cars?

Anyway, just smash the glass and change the bulb from there. Most simple way of doing it

[garyfrogeye]

No. I'd had a really good look and started to take off various panels at the front of the car, but  when it was looking obvious that I'd have to remove the front bumper as well, I decided to admit defeat and book it in to the garage.
There is probably no more than 3mm of space behind the light fitting, and while you can loosen off the headlight mountings and jiggle it about a bit, the whole unit is held captive untill you start dismantling major parts of front bodywork.
Lets hope I never have to replace a fan belt!

[Big G]

Damn bad luck. I know the Ford Group companies are starting to use quick release fittings on their headlamps so that you can release the headlamp by pulling up 2 locking tabs. This is a very good system although it can be tricky to get the clips to re-engage as the lamp has to be really pushed home onto the mounts before the clips will move (clamping/mounting tolerances being very tight on lamp mounts)

[DelBoy]

I had just enough clearance to change the a headlamp bulb (£5.99) on my Audi A4 (V6 version), but had to remove the whole headlight assembly to change the indicator bulb.  Only 3 bolts (yes, torx) were holding it in (only 2 now as I lost the little spring/cage nut on the lower fixing).  Took me a couple of hours, but half of that was learning curve.  Bastard thing was the indicator bulb hadn't blown anyway - it is a bayonet fitting, but the bayonets are off-set, and someone had put it in the wrong way, causing very intermiitent operation of the front indicator.

As said above, the manual says that it is a job for the dealer.

Del

[Lorry]

This all sounds so familiar.  With the Peugeot, the headlight bulbs were easy (but why is a H7 bulb with one filament £7, when a H4 with two filaments is a fiver).  Behind each light was a plastice cap - dead easy.  But the sidelight was between the two, bayonet fit on a plastic stick.  It took 20 mins to fathoum out what to do with it.

Anyway, I bought the new motor thinking thank god back to sensible H4 lights, but no, facelift means limited access H7s.  Its a French thing, except this is an English car

[Big G]

but why is a H7 bulb with one filament £7, when a H4 with two filaments is a fiver

The H4 is a very 'old' bulb. The manufacturing process is relatively crude and the filaments aren't positioned as acurately as an H7. The H7 (from reputable manufacturers atleast) is a tight tolerance (6 axis positioning of the filament), high performance bulb using high spec materials and fill gasses (used to be known as Xenon bulbs until HID came along and stole that title). So it really is just down to the fact that they do actually cost more to make even though they have 1 less filament.

[Big G]

Bastard thing was the indicator bulb hadn't blown anyway - it is a bayonet fitting, but the bayonets are off-set, and someone had put it in the wrong way, causing very intermiitent operation of the front indicator.

The offset pins are intended to prevent you swaping the Amber PY21W (indicators) with a 'clear' P21W (stop, fogs etc). Essentially the same bulb but with an amber coating to the envelope. The problem arises in the bulb holders which have such large tolerances on them that quite often the pins dont even engage in the locating slots. On occasions like this, and where people don't realise that the pins are offset, the bulb can be forced into the holder in any orientation you like.
We have to be very careful when training our assembly operators to make sure that they understand this fact (quite difficult nowadays as they tend not to speak the lingo any more    ) and even then they still occasionally get it wrong  . And before you ask, no we don't do the headlamp for the A4