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Thread: Front foglight bulb change

  1. #11

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    It's not scary, really.

    Lose the cover (that's another four screws) then you'll find four holding the h/lamp to the pop-up frame.

    I removed the front two, loosened the rear two and flipped the headlamp up, sort of like a tipper truck.

    It gave me plenty of room.

    I think I used a plumber's water pump wrench to loosen the side light connector, as it was a bit hard to get sufficient finger purchase on it.
    Nick



    “I find myself irresistibly attracted to cars that nobody else buys. The NSX is a classic of the genre because nobody buys it and yet it’s a fantastic car. It’s got a wonderful compactness and simplicity and unpretentiousness to it. Honda rudely continues to make them whether we like it or not, even though there can be no commercial logic in doing so — I thoroughly admire that.” Rowan Atkinson

  2. #12

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    And make sure you use a brand new, high quality very tight fitting screw driver bit, preferably using a "T" driver to remove the headlamp cover screws as they can be excessively tight.

    I had a devil of a job undoing mine, they get corroded in place so if you can soak them over night in releasing fluid all the better.

    Good luck.
    Last edited by Pride; 24-11-2018 at 03:21 PM.
    Pride.

    1992 My beloved Red/Black manual NA1.😎
    1992 Chevy Lumina apv Rockford Fosgate sound system demo van.🙉
    2003 Hartge Mini Cooper S (2 x UK & 1 x European sound quality finals winner) 🏆 

    "The NSX's greatest victory was to WIN the 1995 Le Mans 24hr GT2 Class"
    ..............and guess what, it was a RED one but of course.  

  3. #13

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    Good point - mine are now decidedly slot-headed instead of chewed.

    And only use a JIS-cross-headed screwdriver, not a Phillips.
    Nick



    “I find myself irresistibly attracted to cars that nobody else buys. The NSX is a classic of the genre because nobody buys it and yet it’s a fantastic car. It’s got a wonderful compactness and simplicity and unpretentiousness to it. Honda rudely continues to make them whether we like it or not, even though there can be no commercial logic in doing so — I thoroughly admire that.” Rowan Atkinson

  4. Default

    Before today I had never heard of JIS screw heads. I will now have Phillips, Posi-drive, and JIS to confuse with one another.

    I can see myself acquiring quite the assortment of additional hand tools and replacement fasteners doing little jobs like this . . .

  5. Default

    Well that was an adventure.

    The extra long screwdrivers I'd ordered were actually too long to get under the bumper to get to the combination light release screw (d'oh), so I went directly to the headlight removal to access the sidelight. Really very straightforward - in the end I used a mini ratchet set with a PH2 head to (very carefully) break the initial torque on the headlight cover screws and used the car's toolkit screwdriver from then on. Have some JIS screwdrivers coming for the next time.

    The sidelight had indeed blown because I looked it at funny, so with a new bulb it's back to working order. I have no fear of replacing it through the headlight in the future.

    The fog light turned out to be a bitch.

    The problem was that the earth connector had broken between the crimp and the female socket, leaving the socket attached to the light housing. First time round I'd assumed there was only one wire and that the bulb earthed itself through the body of the fog light housing, which in hindsight was a fairly rudimentary error.

    The connectors are a standard size, so I nipped down to Halfords to pick up a box full . . . and thus began a deeply frustrating afternoon.

    Snipping the body of the old connector off: easy.
    Crimping a new connector onto the tiny length of cable buried deep within the rubber boot on the back of the fog light: fiddly, but OK.
    Ensuring that the new connector was connected to the body of the fog light, successfully coaxing the fog light into position, and then ensuring that the rubber boot was securely attached to the back of the unit: bordering on impossible.

    Every time I tried to get the boot seated there would be a little ping as the connector let go of the earth wire. What felt like twenty connectors later I gave up and reinstalled the fog light without the boot, which by this point had split anyway . . .

    The next time that fog light bulb blows the car will be going to the garage so someone else can worry about it - in order for bulb changes to be swift and efficient (at least for my fists of ham) it's going to need a couple more inches of cable splicing in for leeway, and a new rubber boot.

    Anyway. Lights all working again. For now.

  6. #16

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    Well, you got there in the end!

    Those rubber boots are best soaked in something like Holts silicone & rubber lubricant for a while. It restores pliability and does make sliding things in a lot easier. Cleans them up a treat, too.

    PS - I did something similar when I removed the Leg End's front bumper and didn't realise how short the loom to the temperature sensor was. Having broken the wire, my cack-handed attempts to extend the loom with crimps and speaker wire took longer far than did the pop-up bonnet sensor re-alignment itself...
    Nick



    “I find myself irresistibly attracted to cars that nobody else buys. The NSX is a classic of the genre because nobody buys it and yet it’s a fantastic car. It’s got a wonderful compactness and simplicity and unpretentiousness to it. Honda rudely continues to make them whether we like it or not, even though there can be no commercial logic in doing so — I thoroughly admire that.” Rowan Atkinson

  7. Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Nick Graves View Post
    Well, you got there in the end!

    Those rubber boots are best soaked in something like Holts silicone & rubber lubricant for a while. It restores pliability and does make sliding things in a lot easier. Cleans them up a treat, too.

    PS - I did something similar when I removed the Leg End's front bumper and didn't realise how short the loom to the temperature sensor was. Having broken the wire, my cack-handed attempts to extend the loom with crimps and speaker wire took longer far than did the pop-up bonnet sensor re-alignment itself...

    Good tips!

    Postscript to this story - I was unburdening myself of this ordeal to a colleague this morning and they made an astute observation.

    "Incandescent bulb?"
    "Yes."
    "So why not swap the wires around so that the long tail on the bulb goes to the shorter wire of the connector, and the longer wire of the connector goes to the light housing?"
    " . . . because I was slavishly putting it back together the way I took it apart without engaging brain."

    My colleague is a smarter man than me. I'm sure there's a lesson here . . .

    Now to determine whether I can face taking the fog light out again, just to put it back the way it probably always should have been . . .

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