LH Headlamp Bulb - 2001 Golf

[chopchop]

Just found my LH headlamp bulb isn't working, so tried to access it. Boy, this must be the most inaccessible headlamp bulb on any car I've EVER had.

If you want a laugh, see p76 of the Canadian handbook! So VW admits it's inaccessible, and goes on to say
"For your safety, we recommend that you have your authorised VW dealer replace any bulbs for you......"

Well, Mr VW, for MY safety, I NEED TO BE ABLE TO CHANGE THE BLOODY BULBS MYSELF when they blow, not be reliant on a mythical VW dealer who might be hundreds of miles away in a country such as this. And, VWoA, listen carefully, I expect to be able to find the relevant information in my HANDBOOK.

Time for some schooling in practicality on the part of VWoA, instead of spouting all this mindless, customer-unfriendly marketing crap.

To me, it looks as though you'd have to remove the battery to gain access, but can anyone please enlighten me?

- Richard

[ July 15, 2001: Message edited by: Richard P ]

 

[spoilsport]

Richard:

If you have an A4, you need to create a little room for yourself by removing the plastic piece that routes air from the grille to the oem airbox. There should be a little headlamp pic on the piece itself. The image server seems to be down or I'd post a picture of it.

After that is removed, loosen the large retaining clip that holds the plastic headlamp housing in place. You can unplug the lamp and remove the retaining clip to the bulb... if your hands aren't too big. It's tight, but definitely doable. It was helpful for me to look at the passenger side assembly to see what you need to do.

 

[kato258]

the book is a joke alright. i had to replace the passenger side head lamp and the book doesn't even list replacement codes. thank goodness autozone had a cross reference to go to. and it took all of 5 minutes to replace. for "my safety" - bull!!

 

[GeWilli]

H7

both bulbs.

I am pretty dam n good at replacing them now.

under 2 minutes for the Drivers/LH side bulb adn my hands aren't exactly small. It has to do with how you get your hands in there. easiest way is to get you hand in there first and then feed the bulb down with the other hand.

Just be careful not to touch the glass of the bulb.

The best way to figure out how it all works is to do the right hand side first.

It is difficult to change but not impossible.

 

[banzai]

I got screvved for 38bux when dealer changed my headlight bulb!!!-NB!
Was NOT bulb- but BAD CONNECTION- I had 3 bulbs go- bulb did NOT look burnt- I roughed up blade of bulb with sandpaper- and jammed some into the connector to make a better connection- used a little dialectric grease as well-

I see lotsa VWs with burnt out Head/tail lights- I checked all my connections and cleaned/greased them.


Dealer told me they had to take entire front end apart to change bulb- took them ALL DAY to do this as well! I regularly change friend's headlight bulbs- they think I am a genius etc etc. 3 minute job- 2 minutes staring at "situation"

[ July 16, 2001: Message edited by: banzai ]

 

[JRTTDI]

Some more tips:

Memorize how things fit together before you start dismantling stuffs. The spring-clip that holds the H7 bulb needs only to be "pinched" a little on the upper part of it to unseat the bulb, don´t unhook it from its holes. If after your work is done you notice that there are shadows or that the lights don´t shine as one(at night and a wall help) then you didn´t seat the bulb right on its socket. Don´t do this work if you´re hungry, thirsty, press for time, or night is approaching and you have no light!

 

[banzai]

The entire headlight assembly slides out on the NB- kinda nice-
I made the mistake of laying the lens on the floor of the car- got a nice scratch on it on the gravel.

 

[NYTDI]

I found that a pair of bent end needlenose pliers made everything go eaiser, someone else posted the same suggestion in an old thread on this subject. I guess that I used them as one of the "hands" in GW's one hand feeds the other method. And YES look over the passenger's side first so you can get a clearer picture of how it all goes together.