Xantia 2.0 hdi ESTATE lights

[bill hughes]

Hi everyone, here I go again, I need to replace the bulb in the f/o/s fog / driving light on the above car, my Haynes manual tells me how to do it but it's for the saloon Xantia , totally different, I started removing panels on the front end but no way could I get to it, any advice would be much appreciated (apart from dumping it and buying a Morris Minor ) many thanks

Bill

[xantia_v6]

The difference is between the Mk 1 and Mk 2 Xantia. I think the official procedure is to remove the front bumper for access, but I recall reading here that with small hands you can reach down after removal of the indicator light unit. Someone else recommended removal of the headlight.

[bill hughes]

Xantia v6 thanks for your reply, it's 2000 S2 I tried taking out the headlight, got it loose but that's as far as it would go, something was holding it in but I could'nt see what, I looked at getting it with my hands but you would need hands the size of a baby to get in from underneath, if I have to remove the bumper etc I think I will have to live with it, but thanks anyway.

[van ordinaire]

I replaced the n/s one on mine, without TOO much difficulty, from underneath, greatly assisted by an LED worklight providing illumination from above.

The o/s did look impossible (so will take longer) due to even worse access. However, that was before I removed the indicator (prompted by some U-bend footage on adjusting the foglights) & now think that's the answer but won't be put to the test 'til I try to fit the yellow bulbs I bought on a whim - & that will have to wait until I actually see the Xantia in daylight.

[van ordinaire]

So that time has finally come to pass - &, yes, the impossible does take a bit longer BUT, it's done now; full details lifted from latest post in my blog (saves you, perhaps unwillingly, trawling all through that verbage): " . . . it's a fiddle & a half, but it can be done (even in failing light) - without removing the bumper! f-w-i-w, the trick seems to be, remove from above, i.e. through the indicator hole, then disconnect the 2-pin connector, when you can hold the bulb-holder in one hand & easilly remove the clip with pliers. Replace from above, to the point that bulb enters hole in back of lamp then, from underneath, locate bulb-holder in lamp & twist (i.e. fiddle) to lock, then retrieve the lead from above and get the connector aligned with the terminals on the bulb-holder, although I had to get underneath again to actually push it home & positively locate the wire clip. Access was not actually as bad as I feared, in some ways a bigger problem was never having been able to work out how the bulb-holder locates in the lamp shell, exacerbated in my case, I suspect, by some local damage to shell under the hole. The access issue, I found, was offset by strategically positioned LED work lamps, meaning you can form a clear mental picture of the set-up for when you're, inevitably, working by touch."