Time for the regular DB9 rear light drying-out
Discussion
I'm getting quite adept at this. In five years my car has eaten four different rear light units and every repair fails after a few months. Hence I've come to regard regular drying-out as a basic part of VH ownership.
Open boot
Pull off rubber edge trim
Remove carpet section on lower left
Haul the cardboard liner forwards
Loosen the three big nuts with an adjustable wrench/spanner thing
Remove the nuts, being very careful not to drop them into gap of doom that lurks beneath
Remove the spring washers, big washers and foam washers (if stuck to the bodywork leave them)
Carefully ease the light unit forward and note the connector on the back
It needs a small screwdriver to unfasten, so put the light unit back in the hole and go off to find a screwdriver.
Prise out the red bit and pull off the connector.
Place the light unit under one arm, shut the boot and go back to the house.
Caution - don't twiddle the three mounting bolts!
Peel off the gaffer tape from the holes you made last time, and using tweezers extract the silica gel bags that are now spent.
Remove the grill pan from the oven and lower any shelves to the bottom.
Cook the unit for an hour at 50C (whoever designed these units evidently thought ahead because they just fit in a domestic oven)
Remove the unit and leave for a few minutes before adding fresh silica gel bags and covering the holes with new gaffer tape.
Return to the car, connect the plug and place the unit loosely in the aperture while you switch the ignition on and make sure it works.
It works!
Replace the washers and nuts and finger-tighten whilst keeping an eye on the external alignment.
Refit the liner, edging and carpet.
Relax for a few months
In total, excluding oven time, it was only 10 minutes work. Practice makes perfect as they say!
Open boot
Pull off rubber edge trim
Remove carpet section on lower left
Haul the cardboard liner forwards
Loosen the three big nuts with an adjustable wrench/spanner thing
Remove the nuts, being very careful not to drop them into gap of doom that lurks beneath
Remove the spring washers, big washers and foam washers (if stuck to the bodywork leave them)
Carefully ease the light unit forward and note the connector on the back
It needs a small screwdriver to unfasten, so put the light unit back in the hole and go off to find a screwdriver.
Prise out the red bit and pull off the connector.
Place the light unit under one arm, shut the boot and go back to the house.
Caution - don't twiddle the three mounting bolts!
Peel off the gaffer tape from the holes you made last time, and using tweezers extract the silica gel bags that are now spent.
Remove the grill pan from the oven and lower any shelves to the bottom.
Cook the unit for an hour at 50C (whoever designed these units evidently thought ahead because they just fit in a domestic oven)
Remove the unit and leave for a few minutes before adding fresh silica gel bags and covering the holes with new gaffer tape.
Return to the car, connect the plug and place the unit loosely in the aperture while you switch the ignition on and make sure it works.
It works!
Replace the washers and nuts and finger-tighten whilst keeping an eye on the external alignment.
Refit the liner, edging and carpet.
Relax for a few months
In total, excluding oven time, it was only 10 minutes work. Practice makes perfect as they say!
Edited by Simpo Two on Friday 16th January 15:57
A pocket money hobby, perhaps yes. Perhaps like this?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tq_xTeWiv6I
But the problem would be the customers coming back after a few months complaining their lights have gone wonky again, and also I think not all units are so easily fixed.
Edited by Simpo Two on Friday 16th January 16:00
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