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cerocmetro
26th-January-2006, 04:34 PM
Ok I am not totally useless when it comes to car mechanics. I used to take the engine out of my race car once in a blue moon and polish it, but...

Has anyone ever tried changing a headlight bulb in a Honda Accord, you need a degree in rocket science.

You have to take the engine out, remove the drivers seat, take the wheels off, cut the chassis in half and then you are nearly there, well maybe a slight exaggeration but not far off.

The mechanic at Honda was a comedian, £30 to change a bulb:sad: needless to say I will only drive now during the day as my headlight does not work.:cool: and at that price never will:(

Has anyone found other stupidly designed car components that should be easy but are not. Maybe we can start a "stay away from this car" list.

Adam

robd
26th-January-2006, 04:43 PM
Perhaps Honda should spend more money on efficiently designing engine bays than on their (admittedly ingenious) TV advertising.

Funnily enough, had to change one of my fronts yesterday (Peugeot 306) - took 5 minutes.

Robert

El Salsero Gringo
26th-January-2006, 04:52 PM
Has anyone ever tried changing a headlight bulb in a Honda Accord, you need a degree in rocket science.It was a bit of a nightmare in a Ford Fiesta too so I called the AA. With the job not finished 30 minutes later (and pieces of car all over the road) I didn't feel quite so stupid.

WittyBird
26th-January-2006, 05:32 PM
I have found everything with my Yaris simple. The only thing I have to worry about is sticking some petrol in it which is challenging enough, especially pushing that little button to open the petrol cap. :eek:

LMC
26th-January-2006, 05:38 PM
More stupid mechanics and their stupid airtools than stupid car components - but...

I was unfortunate enough to have a tyre blow out on the M6 once on a dark and rainy December evening. Since it was passenger side, I thought "I'm a modern independent woman, I can change a tyre".

So I jacked the car up - no problem. Could I get the f***ing wheel nuts undone? (yes, I did try turning them both ways :rolleyes:) Why do they have to do them up so tightly? :mad:

This was before the days of mobile phones (yes, I'm old) and I was on my own so didn't want to leave the car - luckily I got rescued within about half an hour by a passing police car - they changed the wheel for me and sent me on my way :)

cerocmetro
26th-January-2006, 05:47 PM
I have found everything with my Yaris simple. The only thing I have to worry about is sticking some petrol in it which is challenging enough, especially pushing that little button to open the petrol cap. :eek:

so are you suggesting we all buy a Yaris but put an electric motor in it:grin:

WittyBird
26th-January-2006, 05:50 PM
so are you suggesting we all buy a Yaris but put an electric motor in it:grin:
Nah just the Yaris, cos they are great. I even have a guy come round and check the oil and water etc its so good. :D

cerocmetro
26th-January-2006, 05:53 PM
Nah just the Yaris, cos they are great. I even have a guy come round and check the oil and water etc its so good. :D

yeah right and you believe that is his excuse:D

"excuse me love just come round to check your oil??:rofl:

WittyBird
26th-January-2006, 05:55 PM
yeah right and you believe that is his excuse:D

"excuse me love just come round to check your oil??:rofl:
He does :waycool: he also valets it for me if it needs doing :innocent:
The best bit is when I constantly forget how to open the bonnet and he comes round and shows me how to do that over and over again :rofl:

Heather
26th-January-2006, 06:52 PM
I went to Halfords when I needed a new headlamp bulb for a Ford Escort I used to have. The nice guy there replaced it for around £7.

:hug:
Heather,
xx

El Salsero Gringo
26th-January-2006, 06:57 PM
He does :waycool: he also valets it for me if it needs doing :innocent:
The best bit is when I constantly forget how to open the bonnet and he comes round and shows me how to do that over and over again :rofl:Did he have a dodgy moustache and velcro'd overalls, and was there a camera crew standing by? I've a suspicion you may have been unknowingly been the victim of a cruel con-trick. I've seen it happen, many times.

WittyBird
26th-January-2006, 07:08 PM
I've seen it happen, many times.
OMG it's you, no wonder I thought you look familar when we have danced :rolleyes:

elle
26th-January-2006, 07:11 PM
I had a flat tyre one night driving home from work. I tried to change the tyre, but I couldn't even get it out the boot! Some sort of drop-down mechanism to get it out, but I couldn't figure it out. Spent half an hour mincing around the boot scratching my head. Gave up in the end.

Thank god for the AA!

I think I've opened my bonnet twice, and once was to pour water for my windscreen wipers into my oil. Didn't even notice until I went to do it the second time!

I wouldn't have a clue where to FIND my lights, never mind change a bulb!

Icey
26th-January-2006, 08:47 PM
Well, blowing my own trumpet here. I can open the bonnet of my car and add more oil or more water, replace windscreen wipers, I can change a wheel (I know now that left is loosen and right is tighten after a minor episode on the side of a motorway :rolleyes: ) and I can also change the oil, change the air filter and (admittedly last time was more by luck than judgement) change the plugs.

Haven't tried the headlight bulbs though. Something to keep me out of mischief on Saturday afternoon :wink:

Barry Shnikov
26th-January-2006, 09:22 PM
I have found everything with my Yaris simple. The only thing I have to worry about is sticking some petrol in it which is challenging enough, especially pushing that little button to open the petrol cap. :eek:

...and then there's the frantic pedalling when you want to overtake...

Barry Shnikov
26th-January-2006, 09:42 PM
I have the road disaster to end them all.

Some friends and I were on our way from Cambridge to the Lake District where we were up for a long weekend in - um, can't remember which valley now.

We had hired a mini-bus, and were taking turns driving. Naturally, the problem happened when I was driving, on the M6 just by Preston, and it's early evening, but dark.

There was a thump, like driving over something substantial like some two-by-four. Except I had my eyes carefully on the road, and there'd been nothing there. I voiced my concerns, and we thought about stopping. I pointed out that as the engine hadn't immediately blown up, we should probably go on to the services which were only a mile or two off. Things were getting increasingly dodgy before I finally turned into the car park and I immediately switched the engine off.

There's water all over the tarmac under the engine. Flip up the bonnet, can't see a problem.

We turn to the guy who hired the vehicle - oops! He left the documents at home. We have no phone number for the hirer nor does he know how to contact the breakdown service. Eventually we find a number on the VEL holder - there's an 'out of office' message.

Out come all the mobile phones and eventually we get the phone number of a friend of a friend who lives in the Preston area and is able to look up local yellow pages and get a 24 hour breakdown number. They tell us that such-and-such a firm does our hire company's work, and we phone them.

Eventually, after about an hour, a vehicle arrives. Apparently we have an inertia-drive fan, with a fractured shaft. They need a replacement. After another hour, it appears that no replacements are available in the vicinity. It then transpires that this vehicle can't assist us any longer as it cannot carry the number of people we had in the mini-bus.

After yet another hour, another tow truck turns up, this time with a huge cab. Even so, it's only licensed to carry one less person than we actually are. One luckless soul gets the short straw and has to stay in the (unheated) minibus for the rest of the trip.

Shortly after we leave the M6 to head into the countryside, it turns out that our driver has no knowledge whatsoever of the local roads AND (surprise surprise) no road map. Although some of us have a reasonable knowledge of the area, he drives too fast for us to note the names of the villages and try and place them on our mental map of the Lakes. Soon we are hopelessly lost.

Now the mobile phones are out again - some running out of juice, by now - and we try to raise one or more of those of our fellow ramblers who have come up to the hostel by car. All their mobiles are off.

Finally, we get through. They are in the pub. Fortunately, its 20 yards from the hostel so he hoofs it back to his car, gets his road map out, and navigates us in.

"Careful", the only person who has been to the hostel before says to the driver, "I remember the driveway here and it's got a great hump on it. You should probably take it a bit slower."

"This things built like a tank," says the driver, "no problem." Just then he smacks into the hump, cracking the crankcase and sump. Now there's oil all over the place and he's on the phone to his boss, while we stagger into the hostel, some for tea, some straight to sleep. It's now nearly 2am we have been on the road since 5.30.

The following morning, out of the window on the staircase, one by one we looked out toward the fells, with one disabled minibus and one disabled tow-truck stranded in the drive.

After that, fell walking seemed quite relaxing...

Clive Long
27th-January-2006, 12:09 AM
Nothing like Mr. Shnikov's story :worthy:

My first car was a 2 litre, 90,000 mile Peugeot 505 - it was like driving a comfy armchair with a 10 second turbo lag.

Every time I lifted the bonnet I'm sure I heard the sound "a hundred quid guv" - and that were 20 year ago. Why , oh why did I not buy an Escort and learn how to fix it myself?

I sold it to two characters - one six foot two and about 9 stone, the other six four and 20 stone. I turned the car over and they revved the engine by fiddling with the accelerator cable. They complained the starter motor seemed to be "distressed". I said "it starts. What's your problem? Do you want it or not?"

They delved into a Tesco's bag that seemed to be laden with rolls of bank notes. They gave me £1,500 and drove off in my old banger. That's second-hand car dealing for you.

Clive

El Salsero Gringo
27th-January-2006, 01:25 AM
I think I've opened my bonnet twice, and once was to pour water for my windscreen wipers into my oil. Didn't even notice until I went to do it the second time!:rofl:

You should team up with a friend of mine - Little Tom we called him (He's 6' 2") - who got really confused as to why the diesel tank on a 7.5 tonne truck he'd hired was so small. Until we pointed out that he was fuelling it through the oil filler cap.

TheTramp
27th-January-2006, 03:37 AM
I changed both the headlight bulbs a while back (Peugeot 306) when they went within one day of each other. Didn't take too long, but appears that the one on the right is at the wrong angle, so it blinds oncoming drivers. Must change it one day! :whistle:

Had a bit of a nightmare on the way to Southport last June.

About 5 miles outside Perth, the back tyre blew out.

Had a spare in the back, but the nut that held it in place had rusted shut, and I couldn't get it open - apparently this commonly happens with Peugoets! The police stopped by, and they couldn't get it open either with the tools they carried.

In the end, I had to phone up, and join the RAC. A mechanic came along after about 40 mins, and it took him about 30 seconds to get the nut off with a monkey wrench. He did then oil and clean the nut, while I changed the tyre myself.

Total cost of unscrewing one nut (approx as I remember) = £80 emergency call out charge, £100 to join said RAC (and I haven't used them again since), and £17 for the phone call to join said RAC from my mobile phone in the middle of the day :tears:

ducasi
27th-January-2006, 09:34 AM
Is it just me, or do Peugeots seem more prone to dud headlights than average?

TheTramp
27th-January-2006, 09:57 AM
It's a well known fault with Peugeots that they have duff electics.

However, they still have a great reputation for diesel cars, and I've had very little trouble with mine (done 60,000 miles in under 2.5 years).

It's true that the cigarette lighter has never worked. But I can mostly live with that :rolleyes:

Petal
27th-January-2006, 12:29 PM
Ok I am not totally useless when it comes to car mechanics. I used to take the engine out of my race car once in a blue moon and polish it, but...

Has anyone ever tried changing a headlight bulb in a Honda Accord, you need a degree in rocket science.

You have to take the engine out, remove the drivers seat, take the wheels off, cut the chassis in half and then you are nearly there, well maybe a slight exaggeration but not far off.

The mechanic at Honda was a comedian, £30 to change a bulb:sad: needless to say I will only drive now during the day as my headlight does not work.:cool: and at that price never will:(

Has anyone found other stupidly designed car components that should be easy but are not. Maybe we can start a "stay away from this car" list.

Adam

Ford Fiesta Encore (my previous car) was the same, the passenger side headlight bulb was nightmare to change.

So the solution is, go in to Kwik Fit(where i normally buy my tyres), ask the nice young man if they change light bulbs, which the don't, but he took pity on me:blush: changed it and didn't charge me, so guess which garage will keep getting my custom in the future.:clap:

TheTramp
27th-January-2006, 12:42 PM
So the solution is, go in to Kwik Fit
Never!

I once had a 'grinding' brake. So I took my car to KwikFit in London. The car was a beaten up old thing, worth about £200.

Got a phone call, saying that the brake pad, disc and caliper(?) needed changing for about £250.

I told them not to bother as that was more than the car was worth.

Decided that I might as well get a 2nd opinion, so took it to a local garage. Who told me that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the disc, or the caliper. And charged me a pittance for changing the pad.

So now, I try to avoid using Kwik Fit if at all possible - though, I will admit that just because one branch is run by people who try to steal from you, that not all are necessarily the same....

drathzel
27th-January-2006, 12:58 PM
In the end, I had to phone up, and join the RAC. A mechanic came along after about 40 mins, and it took him about 30 seconds to get the nut off with a monkey wrench. He did then oil and clean the nut, while I changed the tyre myself.

Total cost of unscrewing one nut (approx as I remember) = £80 emergency call out charge, £100 to join said RAC (and I haven't used them again since), and £17 for the phone call to join said RAC from my mobile phone in the middle of the day :tears:

I had to do this when my car exploded just outside perth! the AA were cheaper than the RAC (£109 in total) and i have used them twice since! and once to help a friend... i got my monies worth!:hug:

Petal
27th-January-2006, 01:00 PM
Never!

I once had a 'grinding' brake. So I took my car to KwikFit in London. The car was a beaten up old thing, worth about £200.

Got a phone call, saying that the brake pad, disc and caliper(?) needed changing for about £250.

I told them not to bother as that was more than the car was worth.

Decided that I might as well get a 2nd opinion, so took it to a local garage. Who told me that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the disc, or the caliper. And charged me a pittance for changing the pad.

So now, I try to avoid using Kwik Fit if at all possible - though, I will admit that just because one branch is run by people who try to steal from you, that not all are necessarily the same....

I know what you mean. But i think some (maybe not all) garages see a women coming in with her car and think, great, i can tell her anything and she won't understand.

On a previous occasion at Kwik Fit i took my car in for a winter tyre check, and expected to have to replace at least two tyres, the guy checked them all and said they were all above the legal limit, and when i told him the amount of mileage i do, he advised me to come back in a month, to have them checked again just to be safe, so the Perth Branch have been really good.

But i have had a couple of bad experiences, but they were with small private garages, who just tried to take the mick, i think, but what do i know i'm only a woman.

Lee
27th-January-2006, 01:25 PM
Ok I am not totally useless when it comes to car mechanics. I used to take the engine out of my race car once in a blue moon and polish it, but...

Has anyone ever tried changing a headlight bulb in a Honda Accord, you need a degree in rocket science.

You have to take the engine out, remove the drivers seat, take the wheels off, cut the chassis in half and then you are nearly there, well maybe a slight exaggeration but not far off.

The mechanic at Honda was a comedian, £30 to change a bulb:sad: needless to say I will only drive now during the day as my headlight does not work.:cool: and at that price never will:(

Has anyone found other stupidly designed car components that should be easy but are not. Maybe we can start a "stay away from this car" list.

Adam

Has anyone helped you yet ????

I would suggest a haynes car manual first.

Lee

Rhythm King
27th-January-2006, 04:43 PM
Years ago, I went on an adventure training expedition in Wales. Drove back to Kent in an (even then) ancient army lightweight Land Rover. As I crossed the Severn Bridge I was changing from 2nd to 3rd and the gear lever just sheared off in my hand! :eek: I had to drive from there to Kent in 3rd. Not sooo bad on the motorway, but a bit of a nightmare when it came to going through town! :rofl:

(It was pre-mobile phones, on a Sunday evening, in case you're wondering why I couldn't get help. I did ring base but they just told me to get it back before Monday morning. Gee, thanks guys :mad: )

El Salsero Gringo
17th-February-2006, 06:56 PM
Oooh, oooh, I take it all back. In preparation for the marathon 48 hour drive up to Daventry (got my snow chains, my desert suvival kit and my emergency location transmitter) I actually read the f'ing manual (the Ford Fiesta Owner's manual) about how to change the headlight: lift out the radiator grille, undo three screws, the whole lamp assembly falls out into your hand whereupon you can take it somewhere nice and warm and light to change the bulb. Job done in 45 seconds.

Big it up for Mr. Ford.

WittyBird
17th-February-2006, 07:25 PM
Oooh, oooh, I take it all back. In preparation for the marathon 48 hour drive up to Daventry (got my snow chains, my desert suvival kit and my emergency location transmitter)

Don't forget t' take the northern language guide :D

David Bailey
17th-February-2006, 07:48 PM
Oooh, oooh, I take it all back. In preparation for the marathon 48 hour drive up to Daventry (got my snow chains, my desert suvival kit and my emergency location transmitter)
No kidding, it's a scary experience, isn't it? I've got a lift with a native Northerner, hopefully I can blend in behind her. And yes, I will be taking my GPS system...


Big it up for Mr. Ford.
Hey, big up the poor unappreciated tech writers who wrote that extremely good manual too :clap:

El Salsero Gringo
17th-February-2006, 08:03 PM
Hey, big up the poor unappreciated tech writers who wrote that extremely good manual too :clap:Except they didn't say whether it was a left side or a right side unit in the diagram which makes a big difference when you have one in front of you and you're trying to work out which bulb is which.

David Bailey
17th-February-2006, 08:07 PM
Except they didn't say whether it was a left side or a right side unit in the diagram which makes a big difference when you have one in front of you and you're trying to work out which bulb is which.
Now listen, keep on slagging us downtrodden writers off and I'm not saving your life next time, OK?

Also, it wasn't the writer, it was the artist who screwed up, they're always rubbish. :innocent:

WittyBird
17th-February-2006, 08:14 PM
No kidding, it's a scary experience, isn't it? I've got a lift with a native Northerner, hopefully I can blend in behind her. And yes, I will be taking my GPS system...

Careful sunshine :whistle:

Trinity
17th-February-2006, 08:19 PM
it was the artist who screwed up, they're always rubbish. :innocent:
Huge Assumption there :eek:


Careful sunshine :whistle:

:yeah: Men eh :rolleyes:

Robin
18th-February-2006, 03:26 AM
Is it just me, or do Peugeots seem more prone to dud headlights than average?

[RANT MODE ON]
Had to comment as this thread got busy again - My Passat uses a funny H7 bulb which used to blow every 6 months (vag/skoda genuine part) - changed to a 3rd party extra bright job and neither have blown since - reckon there's a moral there somewhere - i just can't work out what it is.

But also have to add that VW are taking the pee when it comes to repairs - the whole front of the car - ie the subframe has to be moved forward in order to do any complicated maintenance - like a service !!!!!:confused:

Apparently (says a mechanic mate dancer) the manufacturers are designing car's mechanics with more thought to a cheaper assembly process than to how it'll be maintained afterwards ... I suppose if you bolt all the suspension together and then drop the car on top of it, you assume that a mechanic is going to be able to disassemble the same through 3 little holes the size of an egg - especially when said suspension goes every 3 years and requires 6-8 seperate struts per side - did I say that was just the front ??? oh yes and VAG garages won;t do any work on your vehicle unitl they have carried out "diagnostics/assessment" at a cost of £56 per half hour - which VAG are very happy about.

Needless to say methinks that VAG's bottom ranking in the Which? tables is well deserved.

[RANT OFF - (maybe)]

Don't get me wrong - I do actually like my car - I just think like lots of companies that car manufacturers take a very short term view on their customers - ie if you buy a new car every 3 years great - otherwise sod off!

Shame really - once upon a time long term customer satisfaction was important.

DavidY
18th-February-2006, 11:30 AM
What Car (http://www.whatcar.com/news-article.aspx?NA=218700) have recently done an article about this..

El Salsero Gringo
18th-February-2006, 07:17 PM
My secret for car maintenance (which I'm willing to share with all you lovely forumites, as long as it goes no further) is this: www.btfleet.com - the former vehicle maintenance arm of BT which was spun off into a separate company.

If you have a car which BT have in their fleet (and they have pretty much all the Fords, as well as many European makes) then I suspect they are as experienced as a main dealer, and their labour rates are only £60 per hour (as I recall) which they discounted by a further 20% without being asked. Since they mainly work on BT vehicles under contract, I've never detected any tendency to 'overdo' the job just to bump up the bill and they're so busy that there's no real point. But you do have to book in advance. I find that reassuring.

Don't tell anyone, please.

Andreas
19th-February-2006, 12:55 PM
The mechanic at Honda was a comedian, £30 to change a bulb:sad: needless to say I will only drive now during the day as my headlight does not work.:cool: and at that price never will:(
This sound very much like my Toyota Corolla that I drove in NZ. Model was three or four generations back. The fron light was a whole unit, couldn't just change the bulb. The unit cost about NZD 100 and, as with your Honda, replacing it meant dismantling the entire front, hence cost another NZD 30-40. :eek:

Lynn
20th-February-2006, 12:15 AM
I changed both the headlight bulbs a while back (Peugeot 306) when they went within one day of each other. Didn't take too long, but appears that the one on the right is at the wrong angle, so it blinds oncoming drivers. Must change it one day! :whistle: Esp if your car needs an MOT - that's one of the new things they can fail you on (headlight at the wrong angle).

Speaking of MOTs - I rang on Friday to book my car in for its first one. I managed to get a cancellation in early April - other than that the first available date was in May - 10 weeks away! :really:

El Salsero Gringo
20th-February-2006, 12:55 AM
Esp if your car needs an MOT - that's one of the new things they can fail you on (headlight at the wrong angle).

Speaking of MOTs - I rang on Friday to book my car in for its first one. I managed to get a cancellation in early April - other than that the first available date was in May - 10 weeks away! :really:Maybe Drathzel could open a second business - MOTing cars in NI? It sounds like there's room for it...

Lynn
20th-February-2006, 11:13 AM
Maybe Drathzel could open a second business - MOTing cars in NI? It sounds like there's room for it...Oh yes, forgot you can get a garage to do an MOT there can't you? (I think I heard that somewhere.) Here in NI it can only be at the government test centres. There are about 3 within 20-30 mins drive from me but in all of them their first available dates were early May. Glad I decided to plan ahead.

El Salsero Gringo
20th-February-2006, 12:33 PM
Oh yes, forgot you can get a garage to do an MOT there can't you? (I think I heard that somewhere.) Here in NI it can only be at the government test centres. There are about 3 within 20-30 mins drive from me but in all of them their first available dates were early May. Glad I decided to plan ahead.There was a bit of a row a few years ago when the last government test centres were closed here - now you can only get a garage to do an MOT, if I remember right.

marty_baby
20th-February-2006, 12:59 PM
Has anyone helped you yet ????

I would suggest a haynes car manual first.

Lee


Hiya All,

For advice on what to do - its worth Googling the question. google checks all the Motoring forums etc - and you may get a reply a bit more helpful than the Owners manual! (My VW one said " to chance headlight bulb - take to garage! :rofl: )

I have a pretty good pile of tools at home (mainly for the motorbike) And just had to work carefully to do the fiddly work myself.


Cheers
Martin

PS:
Take note of all the Posters warnings tho! Rookie error pitfalls... learn from others mistakes/misfortunes....

Lou
20th-February-2006, 02:05 PM
Meh!

Try changing a headlight bulb on a Smart - then you'd have good reason to post! :whistle: