Grease Monkey

The other day, shortly after starting my new job, it was pointed out to me that my break light was out on one side. 'Curses!' I thought. After several weeks of bordom and unemployment, and it is now that suddenly when faced with a full schedule that I have a broken car? The same kindly person who pointed this out, suggested I go to a car parts store and buy a new bulb. It was much cheaper, he said, than taking the car into a shop. I thanked him and told him I would do just that.

The following weekend, I went to an auto zone. I tried to blend in with the locals, projecting an attitude of mechanical brilliance. 'Sure, I change my own oil all the time', my stance suggested. In fact, pretty much the only things I know about cars I've learned from watching Top Gear and Grease.

Luckily, in these kinds of places, it is safe to rely on the expertise of the folks behind the counter. All I needed to provide were the key words, 'break light bulb', and the year and make and model of my car (which I keenly had thought to look up before I came into the store) and they quickly appeared with exactly what I needed.

Two cute little bulbs for less than $10. I left my wrench wielding brethren to go to immediately home and get to work on my 'ride'.

Two weeks later, a good samaritan pulls up next to me and mentions that my break light is out. Shoot. Still hadn't gotten around to that.

I got out of work freakishly early today, with the sun shining and no other excuses in sight I gathered my materials.

Un-pictured, is my car's manual that gave me the step by step procedure to fix my break light.

The first step was to unscrewed the two screws on the side (you can make out the bottom one in this picture) and remove the whole light.

I unscrewed both screws but despite my pulling, the light didn't really want to pop out. I was stuck on the first step. If my auto-zone friends would be so disappointed. I ended up using my screwdriver to sort of pry the pointy side of the light out. Finally the two pins that hold that side in, were free and I was looking at something like this.

I double checked the manual, to make sure I was changing the right bulb gave a twist and revealed this:

Then I just had to pull out that bulb and replace it with another. Twist the socket back in place, pop the whole light fixture back in, screw it in place and stand back to look at a job well done.

A job well done on the wrong side.

I strongly suspect this is exactly why they give you two light bulbs in the packet.

I went on to do the exact same steps on the other side. It went much quicker and now I have two brand new break lights. I'll have to wait until I can recruit another set of eyes to check to see that my lights are both working, but I am ready to call it a success until proven otherwise.

While not exactly the most challenging mechanical feat, it is pretty satisfying to know that it only takes 1 Claire to change a lightbulb.

~Claire Out.