hey all:

anyone have problems with the passenger-side foglight bulb burning out? i have replaced that bulb twice in the last month already and i don't know why it keeps burning out.... wiring looks good, i am using normal 55w bulbs (piaa). the first bulb (piaa superwhite) had a burned up filament, the second bulb (factory 55w) the bulb turned all black inside.

at the beginnning of the year, i started a new job that requires 2 hours of driving with lights on (1 hour/44 miles each way, at 6am and 7pm). i always have headlights and my foglights on during the drive.

thanks for any info.

tommy

 

Well for me it's the driver's side. I'm using 55w xenon bulbs and it blows every month or so. I run the parking lights and fog lights to and from work as well. It happened with the factory bulbs too. Very annoying.

 

what brand bulb are you using? i had some piaa superwhites 55w and they are a nice white, but i wouldnt mind going whiter. have you thought about going 85w? do you think it is safe to do that?

 

If the bulb clouded up, it's running too hot. I only had that problem with my APC 100W fog bulbs. I had to take them out and go back to stock.

 

depend on the quality of the bulb, how there are installed and what they subjected to. First make sure you're not buying cheap bulbs.

Take your housing off the car. Clean it, inspect it. Check the lens for cracks. The inside of a foglamp IS subjected to the same atmosphere (contrary to common belief). This means that moisture will ALWAYS be present inside. But, if the moisture is to great, it will condense when the lamp is not on. This condensation leads to actual drops of water. When you turn the lamp on, these drops of water form cool spots and the bulb glass will shatter. Also, check the glue seam between the lens glass and the plastic reflector housing.

When installing a bulb, NEVER touch the glass. Clean the bulb glass with a tack cloth (lint-free) and <90% isopropyl alcohol.

If you're problem is not with the glass, but with the filament, check one of your burnt bulbs. Is the inside of the glass blackened? This blackening, is carbon. This means either a cheap bulb, or a high voltage condition. Something could be wrong with the wire harness leading to the bulb. Also, since the wires leading to the H3 bulb inside the housing cap (the black cap with the o-seal that covers the H3 bulb) are near each other...check to make sure they are properly insulated and are not in contact with each other. If they touch, aa short could occur, producing bulb blowout.

 

are you sure that the interior of the foglamp is "open" to the outside? i thought there was this little rubber hose that let air out when the inside gets hot, but not to let air back in. i have checked the housing and it looks fine. the first bulb was a piaa superwhite 55w and the filament burnedout on it, so i am thinking that it was age or vibration that killed that one. the second bulb was the factory original, and it blew out like one of those old flashcubes, the inside of the glass was all shiny black. overvoltage? i wouldnt know how that happened - doesnt the same power source power all the bulbs? the wiring seems to be ok, so i dont know how it could have shorted out. we will see about this 3rd bulb, it is the other factory bulb....

 

As well as the moisture content. True, when you trun the lamp on, and it heats up the moisture and air is forced out (Boyle's Law), but one it cools down, the temperature inside equals that of the outside. Air WILL "get back in" through the little rubber tube...it's not a one way valve.

If something shorts, it is possible that the bulb could blow. It's hard to tell, it could've been the vibration. I'm just offering ideas.

 

Have you been touching the bulb with your hands because if you have then that,s why because the oil from you skin makes the glass of the bulb hotter than normal causing it to blow prematurely.

 

no, i am very careful to not touch, or have anything touch the bulb when i handle them. of course, i am trusting that they are clean out of the package, because i dont clean them before putting them in.

 

Did you ever get his problem fixed??

 

wow, a old thread....


i'm not sure if i got it fixed, but the problem went away, so it was probably just a case of bad luck, or bad handling of the bulbs.

thanks for checking up on me.

dfwmax

 

I spend more money on fog bulbs than I do gas!
I went to replace my driver's side last week and it had exploded! I gave up on the xenons, too expensive. Im back to using regular 55W bulbs.

 

Maybe this is nitpicking, but...

Are you sure you mean Boyle's Law (P1V1 = P2V2) or do you mean the Ideal Gas Law (PV=nRT)?