Changing lightbulbs (share hints & tips)

53-polo · Post by **53-polo** » Sun May 25, 2014 5:06 pm

Changing lightbulbs - a source of strife with this car.

Could we share hints and tips here?

53-polo · Post by **53-polo** » Tue May 27, 2014 5:07 pm

Changing a lightbulb should be easy - but the headlight units are inaccessible and my 1st headlight changing eperience took half a day! Had to use a Haynes guide to learn how to remove the grilles and the whole front bumper. Yes, really, that's what you have to do!

Bulb-changing for the rear light unit is easy, but only if the specially-designed nut and bolt setup hasn't shattered.

Why didn't VW make the lightbulbs easier to replace?

WANT TO CHANGE YOUR HEADLAMP BULBS?
You'll need a quiet day, a good toolkit and instructions! Haynes manual = Book No: 4608
http://www.haynes.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stor ... &langId=-1

53-polo · Post by **53-polo** » Tue May 27, 2014 5:14 pm

ANOTHER DISCUSSION HERE on uk-polos.net > http://www.uk-polos.net/view ... er#p345877

53-polo · Post by **53-polo** » Tue May 27, 2014 5:18 pm

Following the Haynes manual 4608 is really helpful, but instructions are split between pages! http://www.haynes.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stor ... &langId=-1

Even with this handy book, the operation to remove front grilles and the bumper takes practice and patience! My first attempt took half a day, but I've got the process down to an hour, now that I've done it several times.

pwheels · Post by **pwheels** » Wed May 28, 2014 10:23 pm

I recently changed all my bulbs for brighter ones with out having to remove the bumper, but I did remove quite a lot of skin of my hands & arms in the process!

53-polo · Post by **53-polo** » Sat Jun 07, 2014 8:47 am

pwheels wrote:I recently changed all my bulbs for brighter ones with out having to remove the bumper, but I did remove quite a lot of skin of my hands & arms in the process!

Did you use a dentist's mirror?!

RUM4MO · Post by **RUM4MO** » Sun Jun 08, 2014 4:32 pm

53-polo wrote:
pwheels wrote:I recently changed all my bulbs for brighter ones with out having to remove the bumper, but I did remove quite a lot of skin of my hands & arms in the process!
Did you use a dentist's mirror?!

I think that the trick is to have a look at the bulbs as you remove them, so that you fit them in the correct orientation first time, plus it helps if you look in through the outside while fitting the bulbs. Never ever needed to remove the bumper in almost 12 years of looking after this car.

The issue with the retaining nuts on the rear clusters is that the seal leaks, or gets lost, and rust takes over. I managed to clean the threads up, bond the studs back in, replace the seals and use lots of petroleum jelly etc to avoid a repeat.

One other light that can suffer from seal failure is the high level brake light, when the seal failed on wife's Polo, the water dissolved the wires and plated metal contacts, I bought a new fitting and had to fit a new in-line plug and socket and solder new wire tails on to the new light fitting!

No one ever have trouble with the front indicators, I had to modify the lamp holder as it had an intermittent contact once - bad/wrong dimensions I think, so could happen to any of these cars.

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