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cracked foglight

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Old Aug 28, 2003 | 05:58 PM
  #1  
BellaMaxima's Avatar
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cracked foglight

Hi quys

Quick question, i just noticed today while walking to my car that one of my foglights is cracked, I have no explanation of how it could have happened, I have a 2k2 gle, Has anyone had any problems of cracked foglights?? I know for sure i didn't hit anything or someone hitting me, Any idea if it would be covered or would i have to purchase a new one and if so does anyone have a ballpark figure of a new foglight is?? Thanks
Old Aug 28, 2003 | 06:07 PM
  #2  
Audtatious's Avatar
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Both of mine are broken, best bet is a rock....

My local dealership stated $160 for one light and it is not covered under warranty. Courtesy sells the whole kit for $185.
Old Aug 28, 2003 | 06:39 PM
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The 2k2/2k3 are now made out of glass.. EVERYBODY I KNOW has cracked theirs within a year depending on driving condition.

I recommend not replacing it with NISSAN foglights as it will happen again and again..
Old Aug 28, 2003 | 06:39 PM
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Jeff2k1GLE's Avatar
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i really wanted to switch to the 2k2 glass ones, but they didn't fit.. now i'm kinda happy that didn't happen, it sounds like cracked 2k2 foglights are pretty common..
Old Aug 28, 2003 | 06:42 PM
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MiniRX7's Avatar
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both 2k2 and 2k3 are a piece of crap..

EDs
Old Aug 28, 2003 | 07:17 PM
  #6  
Aggie Jurist's Avatar
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Well, what can you put in their place?
Old Aug 28, 2003 | 07:38 PM
  #7  
Jesse's Maxima's Avatar
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Same thing happened to my 2000 when i placed ANGEL EYES FOGLIGHTS, something hit the driver side foglight ,, and now i only have an ANGEL EYE <-- .. and not cheap to replace these because i have to buy the SET from custom max..
Old Aug 28, 2003 | 08:05 PM
  #8  
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I think any circular one can do..

ED
Old Aug 29, 2003 | 06:29 AM
  #9  
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When you replace them cover the lense with 3M clear bra. This will stop a large % of the issue which is caused by road debris from vehicles in front of you.
Just buy asheet of the material and do it your self. A little windex on the lense when you are placing the clear wil allow you to move it around to get it positioned just right. Then hit it with a hair dryer and a plastic squeege to get rid of the air bubbles.
Old Aug 29, 2003 | 07:03 AM
  #10  
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That foglight lens gets very very very hot from the light. Putting the 3M clear bra on it wouldn't be bad? Meaning, the 3m will either melt and leave a nast residue, or who knows what else?
Just asking, i don't know.
Old Aug 29, 2003 | 07:15 AM
  #11  
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Originally posted by MiniRX7
both 2k2 and 2k3 are a piece of crap..

EDs
When I bought my 2000 Maxima I had the dealer install
the fog lights. They are still good as new. They were
installed in June, 2000.
Old Aug 29, 2003 | 07:41 AM
  #12  
2002 Maxima SE's Avatar
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Originally posted by brianc
When you replace them cover the lense with 3M clear bra. This will stop a large % of the issue which is caused by road debris from vehicles in front of you.
Just buy asheet of the material and do it your self. A little windex on the lense when you are placing the clear wil allow you to move it around to get it positioned just right. Then hit it with a hair dryer and a plastic squeege to get rid of the air bubbles.
It doesn't work. My driver side lense cracked then a month later it had a hole in it from a second hit. I bought a replacement from someone on this site, then covered the new lense and passenger lense with xpel headlight/lense cover (thicker than normal clear bra).

It's been about 2 or 3 months, and now my passenger side is cracked. The xpel will help keep the glass from chipping or breaking, but if you get a large enough stone, the impact will transmit to the glass. I wish there were some type of plastic cover that would be seperate from the glass and could snap onto the light body. That would protect the glass from stone chips transmitting in.
Old Aug 29, 2003 | 08:36 AM
  #13  
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Of course a big enough rock will still break the lense but it should minimize the damage fro smaller stones.
I used to have clear plastic covers for teh lenses on my Alfa. The headlihts were like $400 each and just huge square pieces of glass. The plastic kits were$95 and well worth it.
You could probably rig up a plastic cover using a couple of white velcro tabs and clear lexan cut to fit. Just stick the tabs on the lenses and lexan and attach. It will probably hold up in all conditions except a power car wash and stuffing the nose in a snow bank.
This is what several Alfa owners did when the custom plastic shields became unavailable.
Old Aug 29, 2003 | 09:09 AM
  #14  
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Cool. Do you know where can you get sections of Lexan?
Old Aug 29, 2003 | 09:17 AM
  #15  
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Originally posted by 2002 Maxima SE
Cool. Do you know where can you get sections of Lexan?
Home Depot sells Lexan. Go the the windows/doors area.
Mine has lexan located where they cut glass for buyers.
Old Aug 29, 2003 | 09:18 AM
  #16  
Aggie Jurist's Avatar
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problem with plain Lexan is its inability to handle UVA radiation unless it has a stabilizer additive. It will eventually yellow and crack after enough sun exposure. Automotive Lexan has such an additive, but I don't know if you can purchase sheets of it.
Old Aug 29, 2003 | 09:23 AM
  #17  
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Aggie -- agreed.
I'd look on the web for this product or possibly a motorcycle shop. I know you can buy precut rectangles for bike headlights. They may be just big enough to cut out 2 ovals for the foglights.
Then again, depending on how cheap the lexan is at home depot and how much of a hassle it is to cut it (think dremel or high speed jig saw) you may want to make a couple sets and as they discolor just replace them.
Old Oct 1, 2003 | 12:36 PM
  #18  
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I have had three cracked lights....

Originally Posted by BellaMaxima
Hi quys

Quick question, i just noticed today while walking to my car that one of my foglights is cracked, I have no explanation of how it could have happened, I have a 2k2 gle, Has anyone had any problems of cracked foglights?? I know for sure i didn't hit anything or someone hitting me, Any idea if it would be covered or would i have to purchase a new one and if so does anyone have a ballpark figure of a new foglight is?? Thanks

I know why they are cracking, and it's most likely not from rocks.

The problem I have found is that they are extremely hot. Being glass, and getting too hot to touch makes them very fragile. I had 5K miles on my 02 GLE when I noticed both were cracked all the way across. Like most of you, I take very good care of the car and wash it often. I did not know at the time what the problem was, but I did not see any rock pits or anything on them. Brought it to dealer and complained, and they replaced them both under warranty. Car now has 37K on it. Both were fine until the other day when washing. I was washing in it the driveway around dusk, and the lights were on. I use one of those big wash mitts, and when I got to the front of the car, and scrubbed the right side fog, I heard a pop under the wash mitt. Low and behold...the cold wash mitt against the very hot glass caused it to crack. Now I know how it happened the first time around 5k miles. And now that it's out of warranty doubt they will replace.

So...FYI...be carefull washing when fogs are on. The xenon lights with the plastic covering are cool almost to the touch. So...now gotta find the one light and replace it.
Old Oct 1, 2003 | 12:45 PM
  #19  
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I have a hole in one and a crack on the other... will just keep them until it stops working.
Old Oct 1, 2003 | 02:02 PM
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Originally Posted by soundmike
I have a hole in one and a crack on the other... will just keep them until it stops working.
My passanger side stopped working (cracked within 24 hours of owning the damn car) Damn glass POS foglights...
Old Oct 1, 2003 | 02:12 PM
  #21  
2k3blk6spd's Avatar
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Both of mine been cracked for months now,but they still work fine.I probably won't replace them until they stop working.
Old Oct 1, 2003 | 03:41 PM
  #22  
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Both of mine are cracked, but that did not happen until both had holes in them from rocks.....I will be replacing them and making a sealed-lexan cover for them...
Old Oct 1, 2003 | 03:47 PM
  #23  
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definitly heat is the cause of them cracking- specially those of us w/ aftermarket bulbs that have ever higher output
Old Oct 1, 2003 | 03:48 PM
  #24  
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There are kits out there, like the one from Xpel, that have headlight and fog light protection. Unlike the 8mil clear bra these are 40mil. I've had mine on since new and not a single problem.
XPel also gives you a 4yr $1000 guarantee.
Old Oct 1, 2003 | 05:00 PM
  #25  
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Alright guys I have the answer. Me and Nathan have done this to our cars since me both purchased a new set of fogs off a 01 max owner that had 02 max fogs. Yes these fog light crack very easy so I went HERE and bought the 1 sq ft. of the 3M film made for headlights. You can view what I did on my webpage
http://www.cardomain.com/member_page...=313259&page=7

It's been on there for about 7 months now and still no problems.
Old Oct 2, 2003 | 09:58 PM
  #26  
PhxBlue's Avatar
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MY driver side fog has been cracked for a while now. i just filled it with silicon and havent had any issues with it. No probs with my passenger side.
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