Headlight wanted

[beagle]

Does anyone have a spare headlight for sale?

It's for a 1992 TL. The reflective stuff is peeling off on one of them, which I expect is an mot fail.

Cheers

Tim

 

[bantamallan]

You can get a new LHD on from Franzose for about £20 and convert to RHD with the instructions somewhere on this site. I have done a couple without problems
Allan

 

[beagle]

Thanks a lot Allan, I've emailed them for a quote.

 

[ChrisH]

Hi Beagle,
Did you get a Franzose - and was it about £20? Need a new light ourselves, the nearside (on a LHD) failed the CT big time and we need a new one also, in a hurry.

ChrisH

 

[malcolm]

The cheap ones from Franzose are not E marked, but they do sell (more expensive) E marked lights. I don't know if that is a CT requirement. The German equivalent requires E marking.

 

[ChrisH]

What is an E mark? Sorry but I've not heard of that term before.

I am not sure it would be a CT requirement - the man certainly did not inspect the lamp, he only shone it into his 'meter' and pronounced it to be a duff one!

A new headlight from the local (French) garage was going to be 179 euros - no way do I want to pay that! But I am rather confused why the lamp has gone duff. The reflector seems OK, no rust, but perhaps as not as shiny as a new one. I am going to see if I can clean the inside of the glass and reflector in case that is confusing things. Seems the beam is being not directed correctly, as far as I can understand the French CT man and the mechanic, but I cannot imagine why that should happen. Any ideas on this?

 

[pepper]

E mark means its the correct light for the construction and use regulations. Basically if you don't want any trouble make sure they have an E mark on them before buying!

 

[pepper]

Oh and when I wanted a pair of replacement headlights for my four, I just went down to my local scrapyard and picked 2 up for €30.

 

[Steve Hennessey]

Chris, the reflector has to be pretty bad for it not to pass......and 179 euros (£157) for a light - even Renault can't charge that much!! It may be worth checking if both bulbs are the same wattage but what about taking it to another garage for it's CT as this garage seems quite harsh.
If you do attempt to try and clean the reflector don't use anything too abrasive.

 

[pepper]

Trouble is with the CT in France is that its all on computer, so you can take it to another garage and they will immediately know what it failed on at the previous attempt.

The CT is an independent test in France the garages are not associated with the repairs like they are here, they only do CT tests and that is all.

 

[ChrisH]

I seem to have possibly answered my own query - when I looked at the lights I saw they had capital 'E' on the lens.

I'm only using the French equiv of meths for cleaning. It all seem to be a puzzle why it's not right.

 

[ChrisH]

I now wonder if the lens has come adrift in the past and been resealed, as the light bulb, when sitting in the light, has the connectors at a slight angle to the horizontal compared to the other light. However, the cut-out to locate the bulb does appear, as far as I can see so far, to be the same orientation as the other lamp.

The light is giving more of a generally diffused beam than having a clear top line of illumination, as though the light beam is not been reflected through the glass correctly, which might be something to do with the bulb orientation?

Also Pepper, what is the French for 'local scrapyard'? I think there maybe one up at Morlaix - we are near Callac in Central Brittany - but I don't know what to look for in the local yellow pages to see where there are others.

It's a bit of a bother at the moment, we're not mobile as our main car, a Scenic, is in the local garage getting the vent fan repaired (we had lost 3 of the 4 speeds) and the AC recharged up - it was not cooling at all - as seemingly Reno (both here and in the UK) say the gas goes after about 2 years. Don't ask me how gas 'evaporates' out of a sealed system, it doesn't make sense to me, but it also happens to Fords as well according to my son-in-law and his Mundayoh. Only consolation is that it's cheaper to do it here than in the UK - but it's big bucks all the same. To repair the fan with a new resistance matrix is 220 euros, and a gas recharge is 159 euros - ouch!

 

[pepper]

Erm pieces d'occasion normally or pieces auto d'occasion.

OUch cos a gas recharge here in the uk is £45. my Renault dealer just fitted a new pipe and regassed my Master van for £200 all in. The pipe alone was £100.

 

[ChrisH]

Hi Pepper,
Many thanks for the info - will now check the telephone directories.

Quote for Scenic gas recharge in the UK was about £100 + labour and + VAT, so 159 euros is not too bad against that - not a lot of difference. The replacement fan resistance matrix is 220 euro here, fitted, against about 310 in the UK, so a saving. Still ouch! Still can't get my head around gas evaporating from a sealed system though!

 

[pepper]

It always does, they are awful, the sealing rings are pants and if I remember correctly then manufacturers are going to be having to improve the air con system an awful lot in the next few years under latest EU directives.

My Kia always needs doing every couple of years and my Renault Master snapped a pipe.

 

[reidalpine]

NO problem plucking your old glass out from old reflector. then you could buy the cheap ones off der F. switch decent glass over and in the process you also have the E-mark inplace
-just be careful to put it into new reflector at correct angle.I use silicone to glue it in-Only place I use the dreadesd stuff btw.