This whole Northern Lights thing...

Hi

Someone recently commented that I hadn't posted anything for a few weeks - thankfully, nothing broken (ha-ha) but seriously, life is ticking along and it's nearly February.

Or put another way, this time last month was Christmas Eve!

Anyway, this whole 'Northern Lights' thing - you know, them being visible from the UK rather than just the outer rims of the Arctic.

Is it only me that thinks it all sounds a bit like 'the day of the triffids'?

Avert your eyes now!

And this blast of solar radiation heading our way.... Isn't that what happened to the Fantastic Four?

I don't wanna be a rock.

A locked rear door will fail your car's MOT

I thought it was worth sharing that if, like me, you had a broken door lock (in this case a Skoda Octavia with a locked rear passenger door), then make sure it works before taking your car for an MOT as a 'permanently' locked shut door will fail the MOT - even if it's a back door.

The problem was that the door had locked shut on its deadlock some months ago, so I couldn't get to the inside door panel screws to remove it and access the locking mechanism.

Luckily, my friends at Smalley Service Station came to the rescue - managed to unlock the door and secure a repair.

Now that it opens (and locks before you get any ideas), I can make a full repair of the central locking at my leisure.

Just the small matter of the £150 for a new solenoid.....

Well, I never used that door anyway.

Headlamp bulb replacement on an 02 Ford Galaxy 2.3 Zetec.

I had to replace a dipped beam headlamp bulb on Mandy's Ford Galaxy (2.3 Zetec on 02 plate) last weekend for her.

Silly me, without removing the old one first, I headed for the local auto spares shop in Buxton. When I got there, I was informed by the very helpful man behind the counter, that they had 2 bulbs listed.

One was £7 odd whilst the other, a gas discharge type was around £60.

I chose the cheaper version (I'm a cheapskate and prayed it was the cheaper option fitted, plus that was the only one they had in stock!). They don't carry the more expensive gas discharge ones since most customers tended to find them cheaper on ebay, the nice man informed me.

So to fitting it. It was the Driver's side bulb that had gone. First thing I noticed when I lifted the bonnet was that there was no obvious 'rear of headlamp cluster' assembly - all was covered by a multitude of plastic panels. Looked like it was going to be a major job.

Fear not. A 'hidden' panel - hidden because a thin film of engine dirt had obscured the imprint within the plastic - slides upwards and removes to give you access to the rear of the headlamp cluster. A tight metal catch undoes from the top, to allow the protective cap to be removed, giving access to the rear of the bulbs. The plastic cover really needs to be removed completely and it's a bit tight for space so deep breath and patience - especially if you're not good at solving those 'which piece goes where' type of puzzles.

That plastic cap locates on two 'spikes' within the headlamp surround at the bottom - you'll need to check when re-fitting that it's located in these properly, otherwise the spring clip at the top won't hold and you'll loose the cover whilst driving.

Remove the wiring connector from the back of the bulb you're replacing and then release the spring clip holding the bulb in place. It pushes in and either up or down to un-locate from it's little metal retaining hook.

Fitting the new bulb is a reverse of the above. Make sure you get the initial bulb retainer clip secure - it's one of those jobs for small hands (which i don't have) and most of it will be done by feel as you can't really see anything - not on a grey, dull November day.

Apparently, the near-side bulb is trickier because of the proximity of the battery cover. Let's just hope that one lasts a bit longer then shall we?