Re: Changing fog light bulbs...

[HMercerCo@aol.com]

It may be possible to replace the bulbs from behind, though the engine
compartment.  However, space is tight.  They are easy to replace once the
light assembly is removed. 

The fog light assemblies come out from the front.  There are two phillips
screws behind the reflector, and then then the bulb goes in from the back of
the assembly.

The trick however... at least on my car... is that these screws have become
impossible to remove over time.  The screw does not go into the plactic, and
not into a bolt (the backside is impossible to get a wrench or pliers of any
kind onto).  It goes into one of these do-hickies that has teeth to grab the
plastic from the other side to keep it from spinning as the screw is removed.
 Unfortunately, once the screw seizes, the plastic is the first to strip.  I
ended up drilling my screws out to remove the unit - one side only so far.

The reason for my need to take this light out?  Water...  I have no cracks in
the front, but water pools up inside.  I have not yet been able to solve this
yet, but its supposed to rain today, so we will see if my latest attempt has
been in vain.  

If you have not looked at these lights, the inner workings are rather
interesting.  I'm impressed with how these have been designed.  If you crack
one, you do NOT need to replace the whole assembly.

The origninal writer indicates that they are changing these bulbs.  
Curiousity Questions...  
1) Have you had failures that need to be replaced?
2) Are you upgrading to higher wattage?  55W is standard, and EC recommended
against going higher due to heat issues.

I have ordered some of these "Blueish" colored bulbs for my fogs, and expect
them any day now.  They are supposedly coated and give a whiter, sometime
blueish hue.  The M-Benz and a few others are using this type of light as
standard.  I am opting to try them only on the fogs, as IMO, buy utilizing
them for the standard headlights may create unwanted attention.  I will let
you know what I think.

For those of you with newer vehicles (mine is only a '95, but I live in
winter salt), I recommend removing the screws for the fog lights and coating
them with anit-seize BEFORE you need to get in there.  Save yourself some
headaces down the road.

- -Steve Mercer