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Fog light frustrations

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Old 09-22-2004, 04:42 PM
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Fog light frustrations

I finally got the piaa h3 extreme white bulbs today and put them in. Had no idea it was going to be that annoying. It wasn't that hard except for the fact that in housecor's writeup, there is no mention of how hard it is to unplug the wire harness. My friend and I fiddled with the damn thing for about 20 minutes before we finally got it. Also, there is no way to completely take off the black cover where you unscrew 2 screws and take out little black snap thing. I didn't know it was all connected to the wheel well. My friend had to hold it down while I was doing stuff. My thumb still hurts from jamming my nail into the little clip in the wire harness that you have to push in in order to take the two wires apart. When I was done and was putting all the screws back, I couldn't get the little black plastic thing back in. I don't know how its physically possible to do it, but I guess it is. Anyway, if anyone is planning on changing their fog light bulbs, you can im or e-mail me if you have any questions.
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Old 09-22-2004, 04:47 PM
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Originally Posted by NJ Devils Fan
I finally got the piaa h3 extreme white bulbs today and put them in. Had no idea it was going to be that annoying. It wasn't that hard except for the fact that in housecor's writeup, there is no mention of how hard it is to unplug the wire harness. My friend and I fiddled with the damn thing for about 20 minutes before we finally got it. Also, there is no way to completely take off the black cover where you unscrew 2 screws and take out little black snap thing. I didn't know it was all connected to the wheel well. My friend had to hold it down while I was doing stuff. My thumb still hurts from jamming my nail into the little clip in the wire harness that you have to push in in order to take the two wires apart. When I was done and was putting all the screws back, I couldn't get the little black plastic thing back in. I don't know how its physically possible to do it, but I guess it is. Anyway, if anyone is planning on changing their fog light bulbs, you can im or e-mail me if you have any questions.

yeah, it was not a fun job. only reason why it was a pain because my front lip was blocking the foglight from comming out, and i am lowered, and i was trying to do this w/o jacking up the car. took me about 3 hours with no help. finally did it, and it was worth it. and since i didn't put the pannels back correctly, the tire was rubbing against the inner fender and made a fist sized hole. which is good, because if i have to change them again, i can just reach in the hole! lol.

hopefully, they do not blow anytime soon.
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Old 09-22-2004, 05:16 PM
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Use the tip of a small screwdriver to push the tab on the harness. Works 100X better than your thumb or finger.

I changed my fog bulbs a couple weeks ago. Yeah, it's a PITA, but it didn't take me more than 45 minutes to do both of them.
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Old 09-22-2004, 05:27 PM
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yup, hope i don't need to change them for some time
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Old 09-23-2004, 07:08 AM
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There has been some threads about changing the fog light bulbs and suggested using a small screw driver to push in the tabs(gray in color) that connects the harness together and it will come off rather quickly. Also who ever is ready to change, another good sight is: http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/224200
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Old 09-23-2004, 07:40 AM
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I used houscors instructions and had no problems.

I used a pair of needle nose pliers to push the tabs in.
Change both bulbs in 25 minutes
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Old 09-23-2004, 10:33 AM
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I changed my foglights in a matter of 15min. It's really not that hard. Just have the right tools and patience.
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Old 09-23-2004, 11:03 AM
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did you jack the car up? Goldmax did mine in like a matter of minutes, we put my car on ramps.
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Old 09-23-2004, 02:02 PM
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The first time I did it, it took 25 min each, only because I changed the lights with snow on the ground and laying on my back. The second time I changed it, it took 15min total using ramps.
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Old 09-23-2004, 02:37 PM
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Yea, I had it on ramps. The harness was the most difficult part because it took some time to realize that the little clip was there. Then, figuring out how to push it in and be able to pull simultaneously took some time. After that, it was pretty straight forward. The first one took like 40 minutes for the first one and maybe 10 for the second. Oh well, at least the most difficult is over with. Now for the clearence and reverse bulbs.
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Old 09-23-2004, 03:39 PM
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You guys should get the busted fog light mod. All I have to do is reach in through the front to replace my bulbs. Just got to watch out for the broken glass.
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Old 09-23-2004, 05:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Lumbee1
You guys should get the busted fog light mod. All I have to do is reach in through the front to replace my bulbs. Just got to watch out for the broken glass.
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Old 09-23-2004, 08:50 PM
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Issues duly noted: http://www.innerbean.com/housecor/piaa_fogs.html
Better?

Also, if you have any suggestions for improvement on how-to articles, please drop me a PM or email. I may never hear the complaint otherwise.
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Old 09-23-2004, 10:09 PM
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uh........we need to unplug the harness?? i just got the bulbs changed w/o unplugging dat thing..................
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Old 09-23-2004, 10:12 PM
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I guess it comes down to your abilities, as I'm sure we all don't have the same skill level.
Whole process of changing mine out was about 20 minutes total
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Old 09-24-2004, 11:21 AM
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Originally Posted by Lumbee1
You guys should get the busted fog light mod. All I have to do is reach in through the front to replace my bulbs. Just got to watch out for the broken glass.
You're a trip.
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