Zel's Motoring Adventures...Volvo, Renault, Rover, Trabant, Invacar & A Sinclair C5 - Updated 30/03

[Zelandeth]

18 hours ago, Andyrew said:

Well fudge me! So that's where that bulb is ment to go! It was hanging down when I got the car so I just shoved it in the glove box. I had that heater panel off recently as the cable sleeve holders had broke and the cable for the heater valve was stuck. In a last min fix the cable was left disconnected for heat control and tucked up under the dash. 

That oil pressure fitting didn't leak before scotland I'm sure. Before scotland the car was hardly being topped up. It's a sweet little engine in my mind. 

I still reckon it is indeed a sweet little engine.  I think it was just time for that washer on the pressure fitting to call it quits.  Was a simple fix once I figured out what was going on with it.  Still looks to be dry there now at least.

[Zelandeth]

Well this isn't ideal.

Camera absolutely doesn't handle colour balance well here...offside headlight is a neutral ~4000K white.  Nearside one today has turned distinctly pink/orange tinted.  Whereas the camera has made the nearside one look normal and the offside one looks green...I gave up after fighting with the camera for about five minutes.  You're just going to have to trust me.

Good side.

Not good side.

Guess it was only a matter of time before I had to mess with this nonsense.  Especially given they run whenever the car is running, because Volvo.

Oddly, they're not actually to hard to get to - though the air box/ECU on the nearside is precisely close enough to just make it really ANNOYING.

2006 date codes on these, so they are entirely likely original to the car, in which case they've definitely done their time.

I'd been pondering changing them anyway on ages grounds as the headlights really didn't seem as bright as I'd have expected - I've only driven the car a few times in full darkness, and had expected better so I reckoned the lamps had aged a fair bit.

Pretty sure I didn't cause this damage when removing the lamp, which makes me wonder how long this has been like this.

New pair hopefully here tomorrow - and I'll find out precisely how much MORE in the way the air box is when trying to get the locking collar of the nearside one back into place.  Given the general decline in quality of HID lamps over the last 10-15 years with the march towards everything being LED, I find myself doubtful that the replacements will last anywhere near as well as the originals have.

[Zelandeth]

Replacements arrived today.  Shown here during the standard customs inspection.

Failed inspection on account of being too boring and not edible.  Better put them in the car then if they're not allowed in the house!

Shiny.

The driver's side is really easy.  You can clearly see where the access cover is off below.

Passenger side, not so much.

Of course this is the one which wouldn't just slot straight in as well isn't it.

Eventually I resorted to getting a camera involved.  It turned out that two of the springy "fingers" which connect with the square ignitor housing (I assume for RFI containment) had been bent over.

Given how wicked tight the locking collar was to release on the old lamp and tell tale scratches in that area, I reckon it's been like that since square one.  With them bent down slightly it slotted straight in and the locking collar clicked into place with an entirely reasonable amount of force.

Much better.

Both lights are now the same colour.  Definitely better than they were - definitely had a distinctly greenish tint before.

Be curious to take the car out after dark to see if they're noticeably brighter - kind of hard to tell just sitting in the driveway.  Really do need to get the lenses properly polished up though as they no doubt aren't helping, and do let down the look of the car a bit.  Job done for now though.

Now just to wait a couple of weeks for the skin on my right wrist to grow back!

[SiC]

At least with HIDs you won't be having to do this in a very long time. Perhaps they'll even be able to outlive the car. 

I don't think I've ever had to replace a dead one. Only because I noticed they weren't particularly bright against other cars and had dimmed with age. 

[Zelandeth]

16 hours ago, SiC said:

At least with HIDs you won't be having to do this in a very long time. Perhaps they'll even be able to outlive the car. 

I don't think I've ever had to replace a dead one. Only because I noticed they weren't particularly bright against other cars and had dimmed with age. 

Exactly my thinking.  A hundred quid service item that's only needed every 50-70K miles of work doesn't seem at all excessive to me.  Heck, it's less than a full tank of diesel if I let it get too low.  If you're willing to take a punt on a random name you've never heard of or roll the dice on the counterfeit lottery on eBay/Amazon there are cheaper options as well.  Shouldn't hopefully be something I need to worry about for a long while now though (assuming the self levelling/cornering mechanisms don't loose their marbles anyway).

[beko1987]

The self leveling rods are prone to snapping on the laguna 2, mine had to be cable tied back on to the passenger side for the mot...

The fix was 4mm or so threaded rod, then ball joints on the ends of those, replacing the full factory plastic linkage.

Always looked a neat and tidy job when I saw it done but I can't help but think in a smack it'll probably rip the ends off the headlight/wherever the other end goes and not snap the cheaper* plastic rod...😂

Luckily on my laguna it dipped the passenger headlight down a tad and away from cars so I could still see, no one got blinded and it never got fixed for more than a few days.