Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Insight on Fog Lamp Melting

I am still trying to figure out why my fog lamps melted.
They were fine for three months and then, poof, bulged out and ugly. Since this event was proximate to my body work, I thought maybe airflow around the fogs may of been the reason. After installing PIAA,s though, I see there is a cutout around the light opening and this is not it.

I cut open my factory lamps to use the adjustment tab for the PIAA's. The 885 bulbs were blackened (still light up though) and the posts were rusty.

My latest theory is that water got in the lamp housing, turned to steam, which caused a pressure build up and the bulge. Without the steam pressure, the bulbs should of just melted and not bulged out like they were inflated.

Any other thoughts ?

And there you have it!

Yes, the 885 aggravates it, but some people have had it happen with the original bulbs too.

Water in the housing is likeliest, IMHO

Sounds pretty likely to me. Mine were fine with 885s for many months and a couple of bulb changes.

I had both of my orginal foglights blow out on me at different times, and I couldn't figure out why they went out with very limited use. After taking a closer look I realized that water had gotten into them. Looked at the bulbs, and they don't seem to lock in place like they should, creating an inadequate seal. Very interesting trying to dry them out, before popping in the new bulbs.