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Fog light bulb life

L

LilCe98

Hard-core CEG'er
Joined
Jul 14, 2006
Messages
2,030
Location
Richmond, VA
Ok i was just curious.........how long do fog light bulbs last:shrug: It seems as though i've replaced the driver side one at least twice in a year and now its out again. Is this normal? I got the bulbs from advance auto parts. Nothing fancy just the oem replacements. Any suggestions? Anyone else had this problem?
 
I have had this issue just recently, they went in the same day like 2 hours apart. But I don't think I followed the directions properly since they were halogens and I touched them with my fingers on accident. Yes they were not that old either.
 
Mine have lasted for years but I don't use them much. Moisture could be an issue if they aren't sealed well in the socket. Can't touch them with your skin either as Three pointed out.
 
JTod said:
.... Moisture could be an issue if they aren't sealed well in the socket. Can't touch them with your skin either as Three pointed out.
Click to expand...
Correct. Especially since the foglamps are at the bottom. If it isn't sealed well, any small puddle of water can short it out if it isn't sealed well.
 
i feel ya. i was replacing fog light bulbs every other week it seemed it started to cost after a while. i used the stock 18-25watt bulb and they just keeped burning out. turned out i was getting water inside the driver side fog light . removed the fog light housing cleaned and replaced unit - its harder than it looks - and replaced the bulb they would burn out one side first and then the other in a matter of weeks. so after about 10 blubs i swapped to a higher wattage 55 watt bulbs for each side and replaced them both at the same time and have been trouble free for about the past 1 1/2 years. -crosses fingers - . the stock rated bulb i desided was just pain crappy no matter the brand . GE ,slyvanina , ect.

also the oils in your hands will stay on the bulb and once the bulb gets hot the oil will cause it to break or more commonly explode, so used latex gloves while replaceing both fog light and headlight bulbs. turn signals and brake
lights dont seem to get as hot and you can get away with touching the turns and brake lights.
 
I replaced the fog light bulb a couple times in a matter of a month and half on the passenger side only. Turns out there was a piece of an old fog light from the previous owner rolling around in the lens assembly and it shattered 2 new fog light bulbs. Pulled the fragments out with needle nose pliers and the bulb has been fine for just about a year. So check to make sure nothing is rattling around in there and breaking your bulbs.
 
the bulbs aren't breaking, just blowing out. I try to avoid touching the bulbs with my hands. usually i'm wearing gloves, so i don't think thats the problem. I haven't had a chance to check for moisture. One would go out and then the other would a couple weeks after. How hard are the housings to take out? I have a couple of projectors laying around and i'm thinking about replacing the fogs with them and then doing the foglight mod. I know someone here has done that before. I guess until i'm ready to do that i'll just go buy some more bulbs. Has anyone used the amber bulbs that they sell on ebay?
 
00SVTGA said:
so after about 10 blubs i swapped to a higher wattage 55 watt bulbs for each side and replaced them both at the same time and have been trouble free for about the past 1 1/2 years. -crosses fingers - . the stock rated bulb i desided was just pain crappy no matter the brand . GE ,slyvanina , ect.
Click to expand...

where do you get the higher watt bulbs? Whats the bulb number?
 
Lately my bulbs have been troopers :laugh:

The glass is broken on one of them for probably 6 months, it always gets debris in there and I pressure spray around the light usually. Somehow it lasts. I need new fogs anyway so I'll just wait till they burn out :crazy:
 
Foglights just dont last as long as regular headlights. Especially Aftermarket ones, they are tiny little cheap bulbs that pump out 55 watts, thats pretty damn powerful for a little foglight, compare it to a household lightbulb thats conventionally 55 watts, dont you have to replace those once every 6 months? My corolla had Proburner foglights on it, and I blew a light bulb after 5 months. Its normal, headlights on the other hand are engineered to last a long ass time. Because people use them a lot more then fog lights, plus they are little more important then fog lights.
 
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