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D2 - Lights Headlights, xenons, foglights. Everything outside the car that glows

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  #1  
Old 23rd July 2016, 06:39 PM
HPsauce HPsauce is offline
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Default Numberplate lighting nightmare!

If I was as OCD as some on here I might need a new boot lid by now!

A while ago a mechanic replaced my numberplate bulbs at MOT time. I had put LED's in there but he said they failed. MOT is due fairly soon and I was thinking about swapping back to LED's as I have some spare of the right sort.

I also wanted to have a look at the light unit to see if it might help with reversing camera fitment.

Three of the four bolts came out fairly easily, the fourth looked like it wasn't in straight and didn't want to move........
Sure enough, it had been rammed in, probably with a power tool, at an angle and was jammed. Worse, the metal sleeve it screws into was rotating in its seat in the boot lid.

I removed all the lining to see if I could get access to grip it from behind. But no it's in a pretty inaccessible place.
I could just about get a small mole wrench onto it, but the back of the bulbholder got in the way and I didn't want to break that. Not enough grip to make any progress.

And it was all inaccessible from the front too, the numberplate backing plate and bulbholder both getting in the way.

Eventually I removed the backing plate (luckily possible with lights still in place) and with the help of my glamorous assistant (SWMBO) managed to get a small Stanley hacksaw blade onto the bolt beneath the head and cut it off. Took ages and didn't do the paintwork any good either (luckily only the area normally hidden by the backing plate.

It was all very contorted with her holding the boot lid half open with one hand and the other with a spanner on the bolt head while I guided the Stanley hacksaw blade very carefully. Repaired the paint scratches with touch-up paint.

So now one of the numberplate lights is only held by a single bolt, though it is fairly secure. The other end has the stub of a cut off bolt jammed into the threaded sleeve.

Has anyone else had this problem? I'm wondering whether to just leave it alone or to drill out the offending stub/sleeve and insert some other fixing, if so what type would do the job?
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2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!
Finally: gone, but not forgotten.....
1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors.
e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)
1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer.
And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!
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Old 23rd July 2016, 08:23 PM
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ScottD3 ScottD3 is offline
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Drill it out and replace.

I hate the number plate bolts.
POssibly the worst design ever.

On par with the drain holes, rear wipers and roof shape that drips water on your arm via the open window.
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Old 24th July 2016, 07:50 PM
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Ameiseuk Ameiseuk is offline
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Had the same problem when i first got the car. Bolt spinning pointlessly. Ended up drilling it out, breaking the lens in the process
Replaced the offending nut with a new trap nut and fitted 4 stainless screws in place so hopefully no re occurrence
A lot of effort for my first Audi repair, now i know why they cost so much to fix!
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Current 'Project':
VW Crafter CR50 4 berth camper van

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2006 Subaru Legacy Spec 'B' 3.0R,
1994 Ex-MOD Land Rover Defender, now "civilianised".
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Old 24th July 2016, 09:33 PM
HPsauce HPsauce is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ameiseuk View Post
Replaced the offending nut with a new trap nut
Details please, what exactly and from where?
__________________
2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!
Finally: gone, but not forgotten.....
1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors.
e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)
1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer.
And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!
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Old 4th October 2016, 12:50 PM
HPsauce HPsauce is offline
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Finally managed to remove the old, spinning fixing with a dremel. Took ages and destroyed two bits in the process.

Used a nice cavity fixing that I had already with an expanding rubber plug that was exactly the right diameter. So all good now.

Fixing was the same type as shown below, except mine happened to be longer; still worked fine.
See original suggestion here: http://forum.a8parts.co.uk/showpost....1&postcount=11


(Generally known as rubber nuts or well nuts)
__________________
2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!
Finally: gone, but not forgotten.....
1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors.
e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)
1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer.
And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!

Last edited by HPsauce; 4th October 2016 at 02:28 PM.
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  #6  
Old 5th October 2016, 07:02 AM
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Ameiseuk Ameiseuk is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HPsauce View Post
Details please, what exactly and from where?
Oops, missed that post.....sorry!

Used a m5 trap nut and trap nut tool to fit. Thankfully had them in work and borrowed the tool overnight.
Most bodyshops will have the same tool.
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Daily drive:
2016 Infiniti QX70.....a car that's even more complicated than my last Infiniti FX to modify

Current 'Project':
VW Crafter CR50 4 berth camper van

Previous 'Projects':
2006 Subaru Legacy Spec 'B' 3.0R,
1994 Ex-MOD Land Rover Defender, now "civilianised".
2000 Audi S8 FL

www.whall.co.uk
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  #7  
Old 5th October 2016, 09:00 AM
HPsauce HPsauce is offline
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I'm not sure what you mean by a trap nut though, is it this sort of thing, which I would call a cage nut? Needs a square hole though...
__________________
2003 D2 FL S8. Irish Green Pearl/Beige. Solar sunroof, auto-dim mirrors, electric rear seat functions, ski hatch retrofit; extended leather. Aftermarket DVB-T, reversing camera and full XCarlink (Bluetooth etc.).
2016 Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country (4WD) with ALL the toys including adaptive cruise etc. etc. Osmium Grey with Blonde/Charcoal leather interior. Polestar performance "optimisation". (A much rarer model than a D2 S8 by the way!) Oh, and a brand new engine at just under 30,000 miles on the factory one!
Finally: gone, but not forgotten.....
1998 D2 PF S8. AgateGrey/Platinum. Every option (I think) except electric rear seats, tiptronic steering wheel, ski hatch, towbar & dimming door mirrors.
e.g. Cruise control, NavPlus/TV, Bose, GSM, Xenons, Solar roof, Parking sensors, Alcantara/leather everywhere of course. (internal dimming mirror added later)
1998 (very early) Ford Focus 1.8 Zetec; ABS/TCS, Heated screen/mirrors, Aircon, Auto-dim mirror, Leather, Trip computer, Cruise control, OEM Ford SatNav with CD changer.
And before that a lot of Rover 800s, a few oddities, a lovely Triumph Dolomite 1850HL with Overdrive and way back in my schooldays an Austin Seven aka Mini 850!
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  #8  
Old 5th October 2016, 09:07 AM
MikkiJayne MikkiJayne is offline
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Rivnut / nutsert?

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Old 5th October 2016, 11:54 AM
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David's8 David's8 is offline
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Thought that some preventive maintenance would be worthwhile after reading this thread so today went and removed mine. For some reason the bolts holding the right hand light fitting were corroded and took some careful force to remove but, thankfully, they did unscrew. Phew! Quite why both the right hand side were affected and not the left hand one I am not sure though, like HP (I think?), I have had issue with water ingress on the right hand side of the boot lid.

Anyway cleaned the lenses/ fittings up ready to get some LEDs, applied some copperease to the bolts and threaded inserts and put all back together.

Good heads-up
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2002 D2 S8 – Ming Blue, Valcona leather, Vavona wood insert, solar sunroof (to be fitted), Heated rear seats, extended leather pack, 18” Avus, ski hatch, Bose, auto dim rear view mirror, rear blind.
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  #10  
Old 5th October 2016, 09:09 PM
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Ameiseuk Ameiseuk is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikkiJayne View Post
Rivnut / nutsert?

The very one!
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Daily drive:
2016 Infiniti QX70.....a car that's even more complicated than my last Infiniti FX to modify

Current 'Project':
VW Crafter CR50 4 berth camper van

Previous 'Projects':
2006 Subaru Legacy Spec 'B' 3.0R,
1994 Ex-MOD Land Rover Defender, now "civilianised".
2000 Audi S8 FL

www.whall.co.uk
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