I have not written about car repair. Yes, it is DIY, but I just do not work on cars anymore.
I was employed at a service station as a teenager. I worked in the garage and did a lot of automobile maintenance. Oil changes, flat tire repair, exhaust system replacement and tune-ups. So, as an adult, I used that knowledge to work on my cars.
I really did not like working on cars, but as any DIYer knows, you do it yourself because you can do it on the cheap just like the professionals. Yeah, right.
So, while I do not work on my own cars, my daughter, Fets, calls on me to do minor repairs on her cars.
I got the text that the headlight on the driver’s side of her car was not working. That was surprising since I replaced both bulbs last year.
She owns a Jeep Grand Cherokee®. Changing the headlight bulbs required me to open up the wheel well to access the headlight bulbs. It was not a big deal, but not the easiest to reach in when the plastic wheel well closes up on your arm.
I also wish the wires were longer so I could have better access when I changed out the bulb.
It was hard to believe the bulb was burnt out, but nothing surprises me any longer. So, I switched out cars with her and brought her car home. I removed the bulb. I went online to verify what bulb I needed.
I was getting conflicting information. All the websites indicated the “H11” bulb, not the “9012” one that I removed from her car. I noticed when I removed the bulb the plug looked like it was damaged or burnt. Maybe I replaced it with the wrong bulb before. Nonetheless, I went to the world-famous big box store to buy the “H11” bulb. When I returned home, I matched the pins on the new bulb with the “9012” bulb. The pins not only did not line up, but I could not install the bulb into the plug.
I tried the old bulb, and it worked. At least initially. I needed to wiggle the bulb to get it to work. With the plug being damaged I thought I could hold it in place with some tape. So amateurish! I left the power on the bulb as I tried to wrap tape around the plug. The tape melted on the bulb. Halogen bulbs get very hot. I thought I blew out the bulb because it went off.
I came to my senses and decided to replace the plug, like I should. Back to the Internet to shop for a replacement plug.
In the meantime, Fets texted me. She wanted her car back to go to a park to go hiking. I told her I needed 2 hours to replace the plug, and she told me not today. So, I returned her car with a missing headlight bulb. It did not work before, so tomorrow it will be. After I dropped off her car I headed to an auto parts store to buy the replacement plug.
When I walked in, I was greeted by a young man that appeared to be bored with his job. I was the only customer in the store, and I asked him to help me with a dilemma.
I told him about the “H11” and “9012” story and he said I should stick with the bulb I had. So, I asked him to get me a plug for the “9012.”
He went to the back and with the walls shaking like he was climbing up the wall to retrieve THE plug. He took it out of the box, but I could not tell if it was for a “9012,” but I told him I would buy it anyways.
When I got home, I checked out the plug with the “9012” bulb. Nope, it did not fit. But…it fit the “H11.” So, I would use the “H11.”
(I hope I really did not lose you with this bulb thing. Believe me, I was getting bored and confused.)
The next morning, I texted Fets and arranged to get her car. As I was preparing for the great plug replacement, I discovered the “H11” plug and bulb would not work. I will spare you the details, but now I really needed the “9012” plug.
I believe I found an auto parts store that had the plug I needed. So once again, I headed to another place to buy another part.
I walked into the store, and I was greeted by a nice young lady. I told her about my headlight bulb story, and she did not seem interested.
She then walked over to an aisle and reached down and grabbed a plug. I asked her if it was the right one. I gave her the “9012” bulb and she took out the plug and inserted the bulb. Like Cinderella trying on the glass slipper, it fit. I paid for it and went home. I swapped out cars with Fets and started the repair.
I really wanted to replace the plug from the top and under the hood. I believed it would be easier than working in a cramped space between a wheel and fender underneath. However, I needed to remove the battery to get at the plug. Removing the battery was easy. I unwound the plug wire from some cables to get better access. I clipped off the old plug and now there was no turning back. I stripped back the wires and used the wire connectors I found in another toolbox. My connections were complete. Time to put the battery back to check out my wiring job.
With the battery back in, I turned on the headlight switch, the light worked. I said, it works!” Efiwym, my wife, was standing nearby working on her own DIY project. She looked at the car’s headlights and said, “It’s not working on this side,” as she pointed to the driver’s side headlight. I picked up the lit bulb sitting on top of the battery to show it to her. “It’s not in yet. Here it is,” I said to her. “You sure know how to squash my excitement,” I added.
I needed to remove the battery again because I had to tape up my connections. I had heat-shrink tubing to wrap around the connections, but I forgot to put them on before I did the connections.
After I taped up the wires, I shoved the plug below to get the bulb in place to install it. I removed the wheel well and snapped the bulb in place. I connected the battery and checked the light, and it still worked.
As I put everything back into place, I scared Efiwym, my wife. My socket wrench hit the positive post when I was tightening the negative cable to the battery. A pop, a spark and an expletive from my mouth and Efiwym rushed over to see if I was okay.
One more check of the headlight and it was still working. I put some air in the low passenger side front tire before I returned the car.
As I was driving the car back, I was musing about how well the project went. It took 2 days, three trips to the store and plenty of figuring it out, but it ended well.