I love a bit of night driving.
Doesn’t have to be green lanes or some remote mountain somewhere (although, given the opportunity it’d be rude not to)
I quite often jump in the motor, of an evening, and go for a mooch around country lanes. Gives me space to think. And the roads are far less busy and aggressive at night.
Now the headlamp’s sorted on Lucky, and the night’s are drawing in, I’m even more inclined to head out in the dark. And when I did, there was another little Lucky-present waiting for me…
…a bulb had gone in the dashboard clocks – which meant I couldn’t see the temperature gauge.
In the grand scheme of things, it’s no biggie – unless the engine overheats. In which case, yeah, it’s kinda critical.
It’d be worse if you couldn’t see the speed you’re crawling along at.
I lived with it for a bit, but it was just damn annoying. So I bumped this ‘todo’ to the top of the list
Good news for anyone with the same fate and worrying about how to do it: it’s a piece of cake to fix.
Even the most mechanically un-minded could sort this out, and in only a few minutes…
It’s, quite literally, 4 screws and you have access to the back of the dash clocks. Twist and pull the bulb fitting, and the culprit’s out. Pop the new bulb and in reassemble.
Job done.
But, before you go out and buy a bulb from a Land Rover spares supplier, read this…
You’ll probably be told you need to buy the bulb, complete with green sleeve, and plastic fixing.
But you don’t. Not in the slightest.
Instead, grab yourself a capless 12V 5W bulb – which is identical.
Then when you’ve got access to the old, blown, bulb, strip off the green PVC cover (a bit like a ‘bulb condom’), pull the old bulb out of the plastic fitting, pop the new bulb in and replace the condom.
Bingpot… done!
Why do this?
Because the ‘right’ bulb, complete with green cover and plastic fixing, will set you back more than a fiver. But, for example, I grabbed 10x Lucas bulbs from Fleabay for less than a fiver.
In fact, I’ve just seen a naked bulb (without green condom and plastic fixing), on a well known after-market Landy spares supplier for 36p.
It makes sense. Plus…
…you’ve got a load of spare bulbs when other’s in the dash fail. PLUS…
…this particular bulb’s also used in the sidelight (the ones in the indicators). AND…
…I’m guessing there’s probably other spots around the D2 they’re used, too.
Now you don’t need to fork out a fiver every time one pops, because you’ve got 9 spare from that time you fixed the dash.
Illuminating, eh?
Old Landys Rule!
Cheers, Phil.