Headlight blown

[Lindsay Vette]

Hi folks,

Any ideas on how easy replacing a blown headlight bulb is? And how much I
should expect to pay for parts?? I'm only missing dip on one side.

I'm hoping it's not a sealed unit that's hellishly expensive to replace


Lindsay

[Fletcher Blades]

If you have a Eunos Roadster, you have sealed beams, but they are cheap. $20
at K-mart.
If you have a Mazda MX-5 (ie. NZ new, not an import), you have H4 bulbs that
clip into a lens. Also cheap. 55/60 W bulbs are about $12, you can also find
higher wattage bulbs for a few more dollars.

As Matt says, its a simple job. I showed my flat-mate how to do one, and she
did the other.
All you need is a philips head screwdriver.

Fletch.

[Peter Sweetman]

If you have the sealed beam units and would prefer some decent headlights toss
away the one good sealed beam unit and buy a pair of 7inch replacement lights
that accept H4 Halogen bulbs. There are several brands to choose from and they
should fit nicely behind the metal mounting ring that holds in the sealed beam
unit.

You will notice a gross improvement in the quality of light as the sealed beam
units are rubbish. I converted my headlights about three years ago and would
reccomend it to anyone with the sealed beam units.

A little care and patience will be required to realign the lights, best to
cover one of them while aligning the other on a very dark night.

Cost - When I changed mine was around $60.00 for the lights (I think) plus
$12-15.00 for each bulb.

Peter Sweetman

[Lindsay Vette]

Thanks all for the help. I now have a car with two good headlights, and will
get a WOF next month! And really easy to replace.

I just went with the replacement sealed unit ($24 at Repco.)

Interestingly Repco couldn't supply a match for the wattage of the dead unit
so I pulled the good one out to compare it and they were different ratings.
The dead one was 40w/50w and the good one was 50w/60w so I now have matching
headlights at the more powerful rating. A previous owner had obviously had
similar problems.

Cheers,
Lindsay