Indicator bulb stuck in headlight

Chat about your facelift 9n3 Polo - Including the 9N3 Polo GTI!
Post Reply
Bepis
Silver Member
Posts: 322
Joined: Wed Jul 17, 2019 1:19 pm
Drives: 2017 6C GTi Manual
Location: Cheshire

Indicator bulb stuck in headlight

Post by Bepis »

This morning I changed my indicator bulbs to some silver-coated ones from Philips which was going well until I got to the front passenger side(front nearside in the UK).

The plastic blade twist and pops like it should and it becomes loose however I can't pull it out of the headlight. With it being plastic and not wanting to break the housing, blade, or bulb I gave it a firm pull but it stayed stuck. It clicks back into place fine and works so I left it but when I eventually need to replace the bulb I won't be able to.

Anyone got any ideas?
RUM4MO
Bling Bling Diamond Member
Posts: 5859
Joined: Sat Dec 30, 2006 9:12 pm
Drives: B8 S4 & 6R/6C1 1.2TSI 110
Location: Mid Lothian

Re: Indicator bulb stuck in headlight

Post by RUM4MO »

Eventually this problem will need to be resolved, maybe even by replacing that assembly, so why don't you, if you feel that access would be easier, remove that light assembly and work on it away from the car?

My wife used to run a 2002 VW Polo 1.4 16V 75PS SE, and it had an indicator issue at one point in its life, one of the front indicators could not be trusted to switch on on demand, not handy or safe!
On that car, and maybe even on your later 9N3 version, the indicator bulb was fitted into an adaptor/interface and that was fitted into the light assembly, due to probably a slight design dimensional error, with time, one side could become intermittent, so I hard wired the adaptor/interface to the light assembly using flying leads long enough for the bulb to still be replaced if/when necessary - that sorted that issue out for good!
So, if you did not buy this car new, maybe a previous owner had had some similar issues with that car, and bodging it to work has left it with this problem?
Bepis
Silver Member
Posts: 322
Joined: Wed Jul 17, 2019 1:19 pm
Drives: 2017 6C GTi Manual
Location: Cheshire

Re: Indicator bulb stuck in headlight

Post by Bepis »

Forgot to post a fix for this.

The cause of this was that the rubber seal on the base of the bulb holder had stuck itself to the inside of the housing so just needed a firm pull straight back.
Post Reply