Replacing Bulbs. and Aircon Pump.

D

djfuego

Hey all, I finally paid off the finance on the car last week WOOHOO! :D and no sooner than I did that, A sqeek could be heard under the bonnet. It goes if the revs are over about 2300 but is just annoying when the car is ticking over. It doesn't do it straight away when I start the car though. And the air con is not on

The garage proved it was the Air-Con pump. This was what looked like a dynamo sort of looking thing on the left of the engine being run from a belt near the place where you top up the windscreen wash. The garage dude sprayed a little lube on what looked like the area where the bearings would go and the squeeking stopped. I found that these pumps can go for about £60 How long would it take a garage to change it?

My almera is a WJ05 model N16 Hatchback
The car has done about 68000miles

Another thing about Bulbs. Forgive my ignorance.

Is it right to assume anything over 55 watt is illegal?

Is it as easy to change the dips as it is the full beam lights?

Can you put Full beam type lights in the dip slots?

I have looked at Xenons but don't know what sort to buy for this model car?

How do you install those little side light bulbs you get with some xenon kits do you have to get extra kit?

Oh and is it worth putting in a set of those performance Spark plugs or is that just going to ruin my engine?

If you could recommend some links that would be great!
Thanks
 
i Put LED SMD's in my side lights and ebay H4 bulbs with slight blue tint would sort the dipped and main beam.

pics of my smds on sidelights, you can see how bright they are for sidelights! only cost £5.50 delivered pair:



06122009940.jpg



can give you the links for both if you want them?
 
Aircon pump should be ok, maybe a few hours to change over, depends a lot on seized bolts etc! You have to be careful with the gas escaping as well as it is poisonous!
The garage should have a workshop manual that tells them how many hours to quote you for each job.
 
Okay

I had to get the brake pads changed (this is the second set of brakes the car has had) and the off side wheel was seized on so Could be a bit of hassle with the pump then.

Oh another thing I need is an engine cover. The problem with this is I only noticed it had gone about 5 months after the last service was done on the car. I can't prove the dealer had it, but it was still in warranty when the cover disappeared.. Any idea how much one of these would cost.

I'm not to keen on the blue lights, just white ones, not like the old slightly yellow lights you get on really old cars.

So Dips are H4 type bulbs?

One thing I did notice is the Main beam lights don't come on with the dips Is that supposed to happen?

When driving at night the light on the road is no good, I have to put the lights on full beam to see the road.
 
they look blue in the photos but they are bright white. i would not have blue bulbs in as you get pulled all the time.

the blue tint makes them come out like xenon bulbs ie a brighter white...not blue. thats only on the H4 bulbs not sidelights
 
One thing I did notice is the Main beam lights don't come on with the dips Is that supposed to happen?

When driving at night the light on the road is no good, I have to put the lights on full beam to see the road.
Click to expand...

If your main beam lights came on with your dip then you'd still be blinding everyone that drove towards you, small chance of making someone crash, put their full beam on to blind you as payback, give you abuse, etc.. after all, it's just bad road manners :)

My dips are also quite feeble compared to other cars I've had (although better than some bikes!).
 
It did have a cover

There are screw holes for the bolts that hold the cover on and I don't remember seeing the spark plug housing.
 
Yep, you will see screw holes on the rocker cover, but cant remember seeing an engine cover on an N16 petrol. The Primera P12 1.8 uses the same engine and that has an engine cover, maybe you could use one of those?
 
Dips

The little sidelight dips where not putting out enough light. The fillaments where on their last legs I guess because the new xenons I've put in light up the road like a charm and I can see a good distance now without full beams.
Not bad for £7. I'll see how long they last. The bulbs are imports.
 
n16 petrols dont have engine covers, a seized wheel wont mean seized bolts for the aircon pump, if your slightly spanner handy you could easily change the pump yourself in an hour, then you'll just need to get it regased. The main and dipped beam are both 55w as standard, the only difference is the 'dipped' beam is leveled as to not blind oncoming drivers, and main beam isnt leveled as they shouldnt be on while other drivers are in sight. As for uprated spark plugs, they still 'spark' just like standard ngk ones. I wouldnt waste your money on them for a standard engine.
 
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