Ratt

I changed a bulb on the driver side front light unit last week and thought what a pain in the **** the same job would be on the passenger side. It seems I was tempting fate!!!

Passenger side headlight bulb blew this evening and upon closer inspection, the entire battery and battery box has to come off because the access flap won't even open due to it proximity to the box.

Has anybody discovered a simpler way to do such a simple job?

Cheers.

RADIOTWO

There is four bolts holding the headlight in, undo and pull the headlight forward and then you can replace the lamp.

You might know, but don't touch the glass part of the lamp, or you will be changing them again soon

Radiotwo

cheezemonkhai

Which car, furby, octy I or octy II.

The octy I is simple with everything in place on a car without xennons and I had no problem changing mine a few weeks back

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Ratt

Naming the car would have been helpful wouldn't it!!!!

It's a Fabia VRS. Does the same apply with the undoing 4 bolts and moving the whole unit forward?

ap0gee

I've done it on my Fabia vRS for both main beam and dipped lights on both sides over the time I've owned it, so it can be done! It's just a little fiddly. The trick is to unclip the two clips on the top of the cover, and then lift it towards you (it's not hinged). Then disconnect the bulbs from their wires first, and then remove the bulbs from the holders...

HTH

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Spike15

I have had to replace both dipped headlight bulbs on my Fabis vRS. Firstly the passanger 1 which took an hour as the battery clamp bolt fell down on to the undertray!! after removing the battery it is very easy to get to the back of the light to replace the bulbs!! The sleeve around the battery is a bit fiddly though when refitting the battery. It shouldn't take more than 20 minutes to do this, however removing the light may be easier I'm not sure how easy it is to realign the light when refitting as lights are often fitted using a jig in the factory. Both the bulbs lasted just over 3 years which I've been advised is reasonable for an H7 bulb. I found the best place to purchase the bulbs was the local Skoda dealer who was not only as cheap as the local motor factors but also supplied a GE bulb which was the same as the original. I've been advised that if possible it is best to use Osram or Philips as these tend to last longer, whilst the extra bright ones tend to have a shorter life. Personally I find the dipped beam of the Fabia good for a none Zenon lamp and far superior to many other brands including some VW and Audi's.

bahnstormer vrs

For the Fabia, you don't need to move the battery to get the cap off the nearside headlamp unit.

If you look at the plastic box that surrounds the battery you will see that the front (vertical) panel of it is separate from the main box with two sprung U shaped clips near the top. Release these clips and then slide/lift the panel UP out of the slots that it is located in.

This then gives the space behind it up to the battery to be able to wedge your hand into to get at the bulbs.

You DO NOT need to do anything about taking out the Headlamp unit, but if you need a little more space, just loosen the retaining bolts on the clamps that hold the battery and ease/push it back a cm or two.

OK?

WaveyDavey

The amount of problems you have replacing the passenger side bulbs in the vRS seems to depend on how old the car is....... Pre 06 cars can be done ok with a bit of fiddling. 06 onwards and it seems that you have to remove the battery as the battery cover has been changed and is now of a slightly different design to the previous one.

I say this from experience as four of us led by ChrisRs tried to replace the side light bulbs on my 06 reg car at the Whitby Abbey meet without any success at all....... ChrisRs had already done his own bulbs on his 55 plate car but still had no joy with my car.



I decided to leave the existing bulbs in place in the end as i couldn't be bothered with the hassle.




Cheers

Dave.

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2006 'Black Magic' Fabia vRS... With a few little EXTRAS

devonutopia

It annoyed me so much I relocated the battery to the boot....
























Actually, I just did it to free up some room in the engine bay.

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Spike15

I must say that I did remove the panel on the front of the battery box, however on my 53 plate vRS there is an insulated jacket around the battery which mean't I still didn't have sufficent room to remove the bulb. Without the sleeve and with the battey loose then there is probably just enough room however I couldn't remove the jacket without removing the battery first. Perhaps this jacket isn't fitted to all vRS's? Once the battery needs to be loosened or removed then there is still the chance, as I found, for the battery clamp bolt to fall unless a method is used to secure the bolt as it is extracted from the clamp.

bahnstormer vrs

Ah ha. There are obviously differences between models and years. I was commenting based on experience of an '02 reg 1.4mpi Fabia.

There is also perhaps a difference in the size of the headlamp unit; is the Xenon lamp unit bigger (deeper)? Giving less room?

Spike15

I'm not sure about the Xenon headlights, these weren't an option on the early vRS's!!! but there is definately a big difference in battery size also I don't remember there being a jacket around the battery on the 1.4 mpi ( W plate) or indeed the 1.2 HTP ('55 plate). I'd suggest that anyone attempting this should remove the plate first and see if it gives them sufficent room to get to the bulb. It's likely that all 1.9 diesels will need the battery and or headlight removed to give sufficent clearance to remove the bulb!!

Rizlam

What sort of bulb do I need to replace this? I.e. H04 or whatever?

Dread1977

My god how difficult do some of you people want to make changing a light bulb.

Done both sides of my VRS main beam in less than 10 mins each without removing anything.....

I can only assume most of you have hands like shovels or something as its easy enough ( a little bit of a squeeze ) to remove both covers and replace the bulbs without taking off the battery etc. just have patience!!!!

Rizlam

anyone? Is it H04 or H07?

bahnstormer vrs

It tells you in the handbook; or haven't you got one?

Fabia headlamp bulbs;

H7 - dip
H3 - main

If anyone is interested I have a pair of PIAA Extreme White Plus H3 bulbs for sale. See here:- http://www.briskoda.net/forums/items...11/#post883655

Spike15

It's more of a case how difficult do manufacturers want to make things difficult. Perhaps you should consider providing a bulb fitting services. Actually my hands aren't that large although I do have "farmers fingers" as my better half says. I'm assuming you replaced the H3 main beam bulbs rather than the H7 dipped beam as the H7 are longer which means that most people struggle to manouvre them to get them out of the headlamp especially on the passenger side. It it is quite tight on the drivers side with the fuel canister in situ.

sparky2

How much is a lamp for a xenon fitting ? go on spares lads suprise us.

john1804

Having read some of these posts thought changing the n/s headlamp bulb on my fabia Vrs would be a pain, turned out to be a piece of pi$$, 5 minute job. popped the cover off, enough space to slide it passed the battery, then just replaced the bulb.

WaveyDavey

It's quite easy if you haven't got xenons..... It's when you have xenons that the problems start.



Cheers

Dave.

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2006 'Black Magic' Fabia vRS... With a few little EXTRAS