Good ol’ Lucky (my D2 Td5).
He’s been constantly dishing out little pressie’s since I got him earlier this year.
Like the burst brake pipe (getting home with one wheel braking was, uh, exciting)
Like Victoria Falls gushing over the dash every time the heavens opened.
And also like the weird beam pattern on the headlamps…
It took me a few weeks or so to realise something was amiss.
Probably should’ve spotted the road signs lit up like Blackpool illuminations a bit sooner, but I wasn’t really looking for them.
Once noticed, however, it put me off driving in the dark because it’s only a matter of time before some bonehead takes exception to being dazzled and road rage comedy ensues (wouldn’t be the first time).
The headlamp had already been pulled out once before, but I wasn’t looking for anything beam pattern related. That said, I didn’t remember seeing anything that jumped out at me screaming “I’m blinding everyone coming towards you”.
So once more the headlamp was popped out, bulb removed, and peering inside revealed…
…nothing. Well, nothing obvious.
Weird.
Out come the other headlamp, which was fine, to act as a point of reference.
Still nada.
Weird.
And then, just by pure chance, I spotted it…
See it?
The bulb was crap. From new.
The filament and glass surround were on the piss?!
Had I not seen it, I wouldn’t have believed it.
In over 30 years of motoring, I’ve never even heard of these kind of shenanigans before.
Just to make sure this was the culprit, the ‘good’ bulb was popped into the crap headlamp and, yep, it was fixed.
So another bulb was acquired from Dick (it should come as no surprise just how many spares us old Landy owners horde over the years) and it was job done.
Night time motoring is, once again, as it should be. No blinding other people. No lighting up road signs like Wembley Stadium’s floodlights.
And I could even aim the headlamps back up to where they should be – seeing more than 10ft in front of you is definitely underrated.
Doubt I’ll ever suffer this weirdness again, but thought I should share this in case someone, somewhere, suffers the same head-scratching curiosity.
Old Landys Rule!
Cheers, Phil.
PS. Find that insight illuminating? Want to help shine a light on Old Landys Rule!? Tell your old Landy lovin’ mates to go here: https://oldlandysrule.com/newsletter so they can also start getting Old Landy love direct to their email inbox.