How to fit a car headlamp bulb.

 

Now is the time when we need the lights on our car or van to work the most.

With dark mornings, grey and miserable days and dark when we are leaving work to go home.

How often do we actually check that our car lights work, twice a year? Just before the MOT and when it gets serviced.

For some drivers I would say less than that. I am an MOT tester and on many occasions I fail a car within the first 5 minutes of testing a vehicle. No not because I am mean or because I make any extra money failing cars, it is because most vehicles have either a side light bulb out, a stop lamp bulb not working, an orange indicator bulb that has turned white or a headlamp aim that is either too high or low or is of an incorrect image.

I have seen many times when a car headlamp bulb has been fitted incorrectly, for example not fitting flush with the bulb holder making it shine at an angle, with the upper tag not being fitted vertically allowing it to sit correctly and upside down.

This will cause your headlamp to have a poor image reducing the distance of visibility for you. This will make it harder to see wildlife or pedestrians in the road.

 

Fitting a car headlamp bulb can be quite tricky, I know Halfords fit most lights for £5 or something, But if you did want to fit it yourself.

Here are a few pointers to help.

• Get a small torch so you can get into the back of the headlamp., a large 2 million candle power torch might be great for walking the dog but you will not be able to get close enough to see what you need to do.
• Get a small hand mirror, an old interior car mirror, a spare door mirror glass or a make up mirror, just something that you can get close enough to see the retaining clip on the back of the car headlamp.
• Before you carry out a bulb change pay particular attention to how the retaining clip holds the bulb in place, use your torch and mirror, also how the bulb is located. There are usually three different types of bulbs, two bulbs have three tags and the single tag points up, and the third choice has a straight edge on a circular bulb.
• Remove the bulb keeping it up the correct way to make it easier to go back in, check against the new bulb to be fitted, to ensure it is of the same type.
• Carefully hold the bulb by the electrical contacts, avoiding the glass itself. Then fit the headlamp bulb back into the hole the correct way up to ensure it fits flat against the holder.
• Put the retaining clip back in place to hold the bulb securely, the torch and mirror might come in handy again, connect the wires back on, put the bulb cover back on and test.

Now you can feel a little more at ease knowing that you can see and be seen.

 

 

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I started in November 2010 and spent a reasonably large amount of money on learning how to own and run an online business, with rough sketches of a layout and ideas of how I wanted to portray my message to you. Then I alongside my wife came up with a catchy name and slogan. Clickety Click, New Tyres Quick.

New Mot Updates

If your vehicle was tested on or after 18th November 2012 your next Mot certificate will now show the vehicles recent mileage history, this has been introduced as part of a governement initiative to reduce vehicle crime. Where available, the mileage history will show the readings of the three most recent test passes, along with the dates of those readings.

If you find a mistake in the mileage reading recorded with the current test, the MOT garage that conducted the test will be able to rectify the error within SEVEN DAYS of the test and issue you with a replacement certificate.

Please note if there is a error in an earlier mileage recording then this CAN NOT be changed.


Also from the 18th November 2012 Classic and Historic vehicles, those manufactured before 1 January 1960 will be exempted from the MOT test. Classic and Historic vehicles are often very well maintained by their owners and have a much lower accident and MOT failure rate compared to newer vehicles. The current requirement for an MOT Test goes over and above the obligations set out in European legislation.

Owners of pre 1960 vehicles will still be able to take exempt vehicles for an MOT test on a voluantry basis and will be tested in accordance with the current test standards.

 

Check out our complete help at http://newtyresquick.com/what-is-an-mot.html