Gtc and 5 door Drl bulb holder

[stephenjlord]

Hi all,
I was just wondering if anyone knows if the bulb holder for the sidelight/drl is the same in both gtc and 5 door headlights?
I know the bulb fitment 7443 is the same but is the holder itself interchangeable? (correct diameter and holding mechanism)
I have had an issue with one of my drl bulb holders and need to replace it preferably without changing the whole headlight. I have tried to find photos of the gtc lights but can only find photos of the 5 door.

Thanks for your help,
Stephen

[Steve64]

Hi
Do you have the gtc ? If so can you put a picture of your holder on here and I will compare it to my 5 door drl holder.
Has one of the inner bulb retaining lugs snapped off on your bulb holder. This happened to me, so I purchased a used crash damaged headlight off eBay and removed the holder from that and fitted it to my headlight. I removed the wires along with the copper contacts from the bulb holder with a filed flat hair clip. From the front of the holder you can see a bent up retaining tab on each contact , push the thin hair clip in there and it pushes the tab down so you can pull it out from the back. Change one wire at a time and bend the tab carefully back up when pushing into the replacement holder.

[Rusty2009]

I'm fairly sure it's the same but getting a pic will help to confirm


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[stephenjlord]

Hi,

Thank you for your replies.
I have a 5 door Astra but there was a cheap GTC headlight going on eBay (sold for £20) and was planning on buying it just for the holder assuming it was the same as the one in my headlights.
My holder has had an LED bulb melt in it, luckily it has not damaged the headlight itself!
I have replaced the holder with a standard 7443 socket however it does not hold the bulb in the correct position for the reflector.
I have now bought a used 5 door headlight off eBay, just waiting for it to be delivered, hopefully its a used genuine one as described although I have my suspicions after reading the sellers feedback (sadly after I put in a bid!).

Cheers,
Stephen

[Steve64]

Hi Stephen
Just out of interest which standard 7443 holder did you buy and where from?

[stephenjlord]

Hi Steve,
I bought some 7443 decoders (which don't work) and cut the connectors off. They are quite pricey as well. http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-x-7443-T20-W21...nav=SEARCH
I have seen the connectors for sale on there own but always from China/Hong Kong with very long lead times on aliexpress.com.
The connector seems to fit nicely but it holds the bulbs too far back. If you do use these connectors do not use them with standard filament non led bulbs as they will be held too close to the reflector and the heat will probably melt your headlight.
Cheers, Stephen

[Steve64]

Thanks for that