How long to change a light bulb

[zedhead]

As i got rained off this morning I got a list of jobs to do around the house, one being to change the headlight bulb on the wife's car. As a background to this I have worked professionally on race car engines and built custom motorcycles in the past so know my way round a spanner.
Well i removed the expansion tank undid the head lamp and tried to get it out because my hands didn't fit in the gap and I can't see round corners, the headlamp weren't coming out so i went to get the manual and couldn't believe what I read, I was supposed to remove the inner wings and front or the car.
Three quarters of an hour later I had it all back together again... 3/4 OF AN HOUR FOR A BULB... and the family get the hump when I don't want to service their cars.
I thought I would moan about it on here.
Thanks for listening.

[Totally Scrambled]

There is probably some good explanation something like it gives better aerodynamics with tha car built this way so the car uses less fuel and is greener but I reckon it is so you have to take it to a garage and pay labour costs etc. so that it keeps the franchises in the money.
Can't remember which car it was but it was advertised as having headlights that could be changed over to Continental headlights with an adjuster knob. I thought that this sounded like a good idea until I found out that the only way to do it was with a special tool that only the franchised garages had and that there would be a charge to set it and then set it back again when you got home.
It's all about keeping the revenue flowing nowadays.
Dom

[Steve valentine]

I read that some of the mercs, the front bumper has to come off to change the bulbs!

[Mad Chick]

I had a bulb on the dashboard panel go a few years back. My local garage (not a main dealer) wanted over £150 to change it as they said the whole dashboard would need to come out and would need my car for the whole day
Nick decided to order the part (£1.30 ish) and said he'd just have a go and see... I wasn't hopeful. Took him about 20 minutes and didn't need to take the dashboard out
I have never been back to that garage since

[Mrs B]

Oooh do you know how to fix a seat mover bar thing as I have snapped mine off?

[zedhead]

I read that some of the mercs, the front bumper has to come off to change the bulbs!

You hit the nail on the head Steve, yep a merc !! Had a chat with an old mate tonight and apparently on some nissan's too.... thought i had missed something

[zedhead]

I had a bulb on the dashboard panel go a few years back. My local garage (not a main dealer) wanted over £150 to change it as they said the whole dashboard would need to come out and would need my car for the whole day
Nick decided to order the part (£1.30 ish) and said he'd just have a go and see... I wasn't hopeful. Took him about 20 minutes and didn't need to take the dashboard out
I have never been back to that garage since

You should have asked the main dealer for their charges Lucy and caused a stink.

[rhubarb93]

Even without having to take the car apart, my last car bulb change took about 45 mins! Just sooo awkward to get to. No idea why they can't be sensible and make them more accessible. Grrr!

[zedhead]

Oooh do you know how to fix a seat mover bar thing as I have snapped mine off?

Sorry Mrs B but you will have to find a local mechanic (not a fitter as main dealers employ)

[zedhead]

Even without having to take the car apart, my last car bulb change took about 45 mins! Just sooo awkward to get to. No idea why they can't be sensible and make them more accessible. Grrr!

I was livid today R93, I am old enough to remember when these jobs were a 2 min job, it would have taken my brother hours to do this one. It is a service item after all ??

[zedhead]

Apparently Halfords do it for £6.50 I can't wait untill the next one goes !!

[Steve valentine]

Oooh do you know how to fix a seat mover bar thing as I have snapped mine off?

Get a replacement seat or mechanism from the scrappers or eBay, only 4 bolts holding a seat in!

[silverback]

Whatever happened to plugs and points, colour tuning, strobing to get TDC

Everything is now manufactured with fuel management systems, and parts buried inside or around other bits, 45mins to change a bulb! ...

[zedhead]

Whatever happened to plugs and points, colour tuning, strobing to get TDC

Everything is now manufactured with fuel management systems, and parts buried inside or around other bits, 45mins to change a bulb! ...

Plugs now last 10's of thousands of miles, pionts are a pain in the #### and should be changed for electronic wherever possible, I still colour tune when working on carbs and use a strobe.
I remember a mate ringing me about his BMW some 20yrs ago (H reg if I remember rightly) telling me it was running rough in the damp weather, I was telling him about looking under the bonnet in the dark for blue flashes around the leads and him telling me he couldnt see any leads ... don't be stupid says I bring it here ... I open the bonnet take the cover off .... NOTHING... That was about the time I gave up with cars.

Computers Silverback ....Progress ???? I know an ole mechanic (72 he is) still employed full time by a main dealer to sort out their fitters and anything the diagnostics cant do.

[silverback]

zedhead wrote: I know an ole mechanic (72 he is) still employed full time by a main dealer to sort out their fitters and anything the diagnostics cant do.

No computer can beat experience ..