C5. Drivers side headlight not working cops stopped me

[boristhespie]

Cop car pulled in, then followed me all over town on hogmanay finally putting lights on. Apparently my front driver side headlight wasn't working. Anyway when I said I had the car motd two weeks previous he said "yeah but you are meant to check your car everytime you get in to it". Yeah like he does. Muppet. Anyway he and his mate decided to check entire car. All lights, tyres, wheel lock (?), and stuff. Ended up giving me an advisory ticket for getting bilb changed.

I had bulb in car and he made me try and change it there and then in the dark at side of road. Cut all my hand. Anyway long atory short couldn't so he made my wife and I walk.

(-expletive removed-). (sorry for language, but my entire street has all their wing mirrors knocked off inc me and a neighbour assaulted by two teens as he tries to stop them and the cops do nothing. Continuously they fail to deal with gangs of 30-40 harrassing my street or damaging cars or throwing beer bottles at houses but they can get joe schmo for having a bulb out)

Anyway tried new bulb later but not working. Hope I never damaged wires when trying to hawl off attachment to bulb when under pressure by cop.

Could it be a fuse and if so where and which one would it be?

Any advice to locate problem appreciated. I need car for work. In dark.

Last thing said after this 30-40 minutes of bullying. "enjoy the rest of your night". Git.

[Gibbo2286]

Firstly the cops were right to stop you driving, if some trucker had mistaken you for a motor bike you might not be here to have a whinge, however the fuses for the RH headlamp are F10 and F12 under the bonnet.

[myglaren]

Firstly the cops were right to stop you driving, if some trucker had mistaken you for a motor bike you might not be here to have a whinge, however the fuses for the RH headlamp are F10 and F12 under the bonnet.

Technically correct but you can always (legally) use sidelights + foglights in an event like this.

Lots of cars are almost impossible to have bulbs replace under roadside conditions.
Took me two and a half hours to replace an offside headlamp bulb in my daughter's Rover 75 a couple of weeks ago.
Nearside is a doodle, offside not so much.

Cop was right that lights, tyres and windows should be checked/cleaned before each use but I'd like to see a non-professional driver that does that!

[boristhespie]

Where about under the bonnet.

Attitude of one cop was arrogant and up erse. Hence my vexation. That and the fact that they never turn up when there is work to be done actually preventing regular crime and anti-social stuff in my road or if they do they do nowt.

"Cop was right that lights, tyres and windows should be checked/cleaned before each use but I'd like to see a non-professional driver that does that!"

People who do that tend to get their cars nicked and run down in the process of stopping those nicking it.

[Harlequin]

was it the headlight but side light was on - or the entire thing was off?

[Gibbo2286]

Where about under the bonnet.

[boristhespie]

The sides were on it's just the headlight.

Thanks for the schematic but where in the engine is this box?

[DickieG]

Thanks for the schematic but where in the engine is this box?

[boristhespie]

Yeah yeah take the mick out of my thickoness. Where under the "bonnet" is it. Is that less thick?

[Gibbo2286]

Between the LH headlamp and the suspension fluid tank there's a plastic cover held on by a couple of turn clips, it's under there.

[myglaren]

Have you the handbook for the car Boris?





All are clickable thumbnails but if you want the images emailing to you just shout


Spent ages looking for the screwdriver used to release the clips and failed miserably. Just found it in my back pocket - 10" long

[RichardW]

They were looking for an excuse to stop people and breathalyse them, it being Hogmany and all.... we know they are sometimes on a power trip - best to just tug the forelock and say please and thankyou for pointing out my error and they will probably let you on your way - start to get aggravated and they think you have something to hide and give you the 10th degree..... Not that that helps geting the light fixed, but myglaren's post should point you in the direction!

[CitroJim]

I've been in a similar situation. 20 odd years ago I got stopped very late at night by coppers after the boozers and they found one of my tyres was just/barely legal due to a tracking error.

They issued me an ultimatim. Change it for the spare there and then or get nicked as I drive away. I was no over-impressed but complied anyway.

Next day the tyre was inspected and found to be legal...

Different attitude after getting stopped in Cyprus one night by the RMP. "Sorry Mate, We were after p***-heads. On your way, and oh, by the way, you have a rearlight out..."

[myglaren]

The Cypriot attitude is more like it
I have been stopped for defective lights on occasion but they never made anything of it, just advised to get it fixed at the earliest opportunity - this was in the days when a headlight bulb could be changed in 2 minutes by the roadside.
Hard luck for folks with Xenon HD bulbs then.

[Xaccers]

Sounds like when I had 3 of them trying to decide by comittee what the legal tread depth is for a motor cycle, and then told me that I should consider myself lucky they decided to be generous and not give me an on the spot fine (for a tyre that was legal).
Or when they pulled my parents over because their presence prevented a police van pulling out when it wanted to (ie hadn't seen dad's picasso, went to pull out and had to anchor up before hitting it) siting "You were weaving up the road" to which my dad replied "Yes, I was avoiding the sunken ironworks which haven't been raised when the road was resurfaced so I don't damage my suspension"

Conversely when I was heading home from a night out in Southsea where I'd returned to my 205 to find the rear quarterlight smashed, I was pulled over (late at night, lone driver on a weekend so understandably a candidate for drink driving) and although I don't recall being given a reason for the stop, they were polite, enquired about the window, checked my ownership, and breathalised me as a matter of course and even said to his colleague "I don't think it'll show anything" which it didn't, then they wished me on my merry way.