In the last six weeks or so I've done nothing to the van except drive it (and occasionally wash it). It's taken me to work and back every day and, a couple of weeks ago, took me and a friend all the way to Leeds and back, a round trip of 250 miles which it did at about 55mpg.
Winter is on the way, though, so it seemed sensible to fix a few minor issues. Last weekend I drained and replaced the coolant, as I don't think there was any anti-freeze in it, just some unpleasant-looking water. Today I decided to replace the dashboard bulbs. The one above the clock hadn't worked since I'd bought the van and the other had started not coming on for the first few miles in the morning, which made it near-impossible to see how fast I was going.
Removing the speedo surround was surprisingly tricky. There are a few awkward to get at screws and odd things such as the torx screw on the side that needs to be loosened. I found it easier to get the surround off if I loosened the steering column bolts to allow the steering wheel to drop by an inch or two.
Both bulbs were fairly dark. I cleaned the contacts on the ribbon cable with an ink rubber and put new bulbs in. The result is a far brighter dashboard.
It was interesting to note that the wire for the dimmer switch is in place, but with a blanking plate instead of the switch itself so there's no control over the brightness. Life's tough at the bottom of the range.
the one I saw had side windows.
