Hi Everyone,

The front left headlight (lowbeam) has burnt out on my 2002 A4 1.8T Quattro.
The dealer wants 75 to 80 bucks to replace the bulb (part is around 20 plus
30 minutes of time...). This seems a little excessive to replace a bulb. I
am wondering how easy it is to replace it myself (are any special tools
required?). Is it obvious how to do it?

Thanks in advance for your help,

Dave

 

David,
wow...deja vu....didn't this question about an A3 just come up this morning?
As a matter of fact....it did!
[cut&paste follows]
Rob,
I believe that your first step should be to get an owner's manual for the
car - it's useful for more than just warnings about drinking windshield
washer fluid. You can pick a manual up at the dealer's, or on eBay, or
through an obliging person on Audiworld or a local club.
It would be advisable to replace both headlight bulbs at the same time,
since you'll find that the other bulb will fail shortly after you install
the new bulb (I'm told that it has something to do with resistance, age,
etc., but I believe that it's jealousy)
Cheers!
Steve Sears
1987 Audi 5kTQ
1980 Audi 5k
1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes
(SPAM Blocker NOTE: Remove SHOES to reply)

"RobP" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:44045b63$0$6995$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader02.plus.net...
> Hi
>
> Got a A3 1.8T 2001 with one headlight dead.
>
> I thought I'd try and replace it myself, but am just wondering if anyone
> can give me any tips or point me towards any online docs.
>
> I'm not entirely sure if you change the bulb from the front or from
> behind.
>
> If it's from the front, I guess I have to get the headlight cover off
> somehow?
>
> I looked at the rear of the headlamps and saw some cover that comes off,
> but it didn't look to me like there was space to take a bulb out from that
> side.
>
> Any help would be much appreciated.
>
> Cheers
>
> Rob

There were other responses about removing a cover & such.....try looking in
the recent posts.

 

David,
wow...deja vu....didn't this question about an A3 just come up this morning?
As a matter of fact....it did!
[cut&paste follows]
Rob,
I believe that your first step should be to get an owner's manual for the
car - it's useful for more than just warnings about drinking windshield
washer fluid. You can pick a manual up at the dealer's, or on eBay, or
through an obliging person on Audiworld or a local club.
It would be advisable to replace both headlight bulbs at the same time,
since you'll find that the other bulb will fail shortly after you install
the new bulb (I'm told that it has something to do with resistance, age,
etc., but I believe that it's jealousy)
Cheers!
Steve Sears
1987 Audi 5kTQ
1980 Audi 5k
1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes
(SPAM Blocker NOTE: Remove SHOES to reply)

"RobP" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:44045b63$0$6995$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader02.plus.net...
> Hi
>
> Got a A3 1.8T 2001 with one headlight dead.
>
> I thought I'd try and replace it myself, but am just wondering if anyone
> can give me any tips or point me towards any online docs.
>
> I'm not entirely sure if you change the bulb from the front or from
> behind.
>
> If it's from the front, I guess I have to get the headlight cover off
> somehow?
>
> I looked at the rear of the headlamps and saw some cover that comes off,
> but it didn't look to me like there was space to take a bulb out from that
> side.
>
> Any help would be much appreciated.
>
> Cheers
>
> Rob

There were other responses about removing a cover & such.....try looking in
the recent posts.

 

David,
wow...deja vu....didn't this question about an A3 just come up this morning?
As a matter of fact....it did!
[cut&paste follows]
Rob,
I believe that your first step should be to get an owner's manual for the
car - it's useful for more than just warnings about drinking windshield
washer fluid. You can pick a manual up at the dealer's, or on eBay, or
through an obliging person on Audiworld or a local club.
It would be advisable to replace both headlight bulbs at the same time,
since you'll find that the other bulb will fail shortly after you install
the new bulb (I'm told that it has something to do with resistance, age,
etc., but I believe that it's jealousy)
Cheers!
Steve Sears
1987 Audi 5kTQ
1980 Audi 5k
1962 and '64 Auto Union DKW Junior deLuxes
(SPAM Blocker NOTE: Remove SHOES to reply)

"RobP" <nospam@nospam.com> wrote in message
news:44045b63$0$6995$ed2619ec@ptn-nntp-reader02.plus.net...
> Hi
>
> Got a A3 1.8T 2001 with one headlight dead.
>
> I thought I'd try and replace it myself, but am just wondering if anyone
> can give me any tips or point me towards any online docs.
>
> I'm not entirely sure if you change the bulb from the front or from
> behind.
>
> If it's from the front, I guess I have to get the headlight cover off
> somehow?
>
> I looked at the rear of the headlamps and saw some cover that comes off,
> but it didn't look to me like there was space to take a bulb out from that
> side.
>
> Any help would be much appreciated.
>
> Cheers
>
> Rob

There were other responses about removing a cover & such.....try looking in
the recent posts.

 

"David McCracken" wrote
>
> The front left headlight (lowbeam) has burnt out on my 2002 A4 1.8T
> Quattro.
> The dealer wants 75 to 80 bucks to replace the bulb (part is around 20
> plus
> 30 minutes of time...). This seems a little excessive to replace a bulb.

If it's anything like my B5 (2001) where the space under the hood is quite
limited, the 30 minutes doesn't sound all that excessive. Dealer rates -
well, that's another story. To get good access to the bulb may require
pulling the entire headlight out. I've done it several times, and while I
successively get better at it, it's still not as easy or quick as replacing
a bulb in your flashlight.

Cheers,

Pete

 

"David McCracken" wrote
>
> The front left headlight (lowbeam) has burnt out on my 2002 A4 1.8T
> Quattro.
> The dealer wants 75 to 80 bucks to replace the bulb (part is around 20
> plus
> 30 minutes of time...). This seems a little excessive to replace a bulb.

If it's anything like my B5 (2001) where the space under the hood is quite
limited, the 30 minutes doesn't sound all that excessive. Dealer rates -
well, that's another story. To get good access to the bulb may require
pulling the entire headlight out. I've done it several times, and while I
successively get better at it, it's still not as easy or quick as replacing
a bulb in your flashlight.

Cheers,

Pete

 

"David McCracken" wrote
>
> The front left headlight (lowbeam) has burnt out on my 2002 A4 1.8T
> Quattro.
> The dealer wants 75 to 80 bucks to replace the bulb (part is around 20
> plus
> 30 minutes of time...). This seems a little excessive to replace a bulb.

If it's anything like my B5 (2001) where the space under the hood is quite
limited, the 30 minutes doesn't sound all that excessive. Dealer rates -
well, that's another story. To get good access to the bulb may require
pulling the entire headlight out. I've done it several times, and while I
successively get better at it, it's still not as easy or quick as replacing
a bulb in your flashlight.

Cheers,

Pete

 

On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 16:21:23 -0500, "David McCracken"
<davidmc@cae.com> wrote:

>Hi Everyone,
>
>The front left headlight (lowbeam) has burnt out on my 2002 A4 1.8T Quattro.
>The dealer wants 75 to 80 bucks to replace the bulb (part is around 20 plus
>30 minutes of time...). This seems a little excessive to replace a bulb. I
>am wondering how easy it is to replace it myself (are any special tools
>required?). Is it obvious how to do it?

RTFM. You do have the owner's manual, don't you? Read it, and follow
the very clear, detailed, and pictographic instructions that Audi
provides in there.

 

On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 16:21:23 -0500, "David McCracken"
<davidmc@cae.com> wrote:

>Hi Everyone,
>
>The front left headlight (lowbeam) has burnt out on my 2002 A4 1.8T Quattro.
>The dealer wants 75 to 80 bucks to replace the bulb (part is around 20 plus
>30 minutes of time...). This seems a little excessive to replace a bulb. I
>am wondering how easy it is to replace it myself (are any special tools
>required?). Is it obvious how to do it?

RTFM. You do have the owner's manual, don't you? Read it, and follow
the very clear, detailed, and pictographic instructions that Audi
provides in there.

 

On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 16:21:23 -0500, "David McCracken"
<davidmc@cae.com> wrote:

>Hi Everyone,
>
>The front left headlight (lowbeam) has burnt out on my 2002 A4 1.8T Quattro.
>The dealer wants 75 to 80 bucks to replace the bulb (part is around 20 plus
>30 minutes of time...). This seems a little excessive to replace a bulb. I
>am wondering how easy it is to replace it myself (are any special tools
>required?). Is it obvious how to do it?

RTFM. You do have the owner's manual, don't you? Read it, and follow
the very clear, detailed, and pictographic instructions that Audi
provides in there.