Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Fog Light Problem

My passenger fog light is starting to become very annoying. Here is a history of when I had it changed.

2/1/01 - 40,521
12/12/01 - 50,515

I noticed it was out once again last night. I tapped on the light itself and it came back on. Is there some kind of short going on. Maybe the ground is not working properly????? It has been 8 months and 9,000 miles since it was replaced. What gives??????

The driver's side was replaced on 2/15/00 with 28,018 with no problems since.

Any ideas??????

Thanks in advance........

seems we hear this a lot (people's fog lights burning out quite frequently - Elky and mklaro have had these problems).
I'm doing a search right now in here to see how common it is (especially for 98's)

so far I came upon this:
(read what brapple wrote)
http://www.contour.org/cgi-ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=007624&p=

this one talks about inadequate seals, water getting in and burning the bulbs out:
http://www.contour.org/cgi-ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=006766&p=

Ed, are you touching the bulb when you install it? The oil in your fingers shortens the life of the buld significantly. Just a tought...

I saw that thread earlier and I am starting to think that this may have something to do with it. If there is a crack in the housing, that would explain the shortness of life in the passenger bulb compared to the driver bulb. Any body else concur with this???????

Unfortunatly I can't relate. I've yet to have a fog light burn out, and I'm at 36,000 right now. I did have to replace a tail light though.

i bought my car a year and 3 months ago
and i have replaced each bulb 4 times

they only last a couple month for me if i am lucky

Yeah, I need to find the money to get new fog lamp housings. They BOTH have cracks on the bottom. Last time one went out was when I was driving in a HEAVY downpour. I figure, they're MADE for driving in the rain, so I SHOULD get them fixed so I can use them! I've changed them both twice in my year of ownership (bought the car March 23, 2001 ) and I HATE changing the passenger side, and that's the side that went out in that downpour. I had an appt. for an oil change that Saturday (happened on Thursday) so I figured Id have the dealer change the bulb while the car was on the lift, so I bought my own bulb and had the dealer put it in. When I got my bill...I was charged...check this out...$36 TO CHANGE THE BULB ALONE !!!!!!!!! I was charged $60 total, with oil change, greasing the suspension bushings, and changing the fog lamp...grrr but I need to get new housings, I hear they're about $90 each...right?

the passanger side is more likely to go out in wet weather becasue it takes more abuse from water on the side of the road. When I had problems with mine I could see the water in the light.

My fix was I took out the casing and sanded the cracked area down. I then used silicone and some aluminum flashing to seal the area. That was about a half to a year ago and in a heavy down pour the other week I had no problems and I was hitting some puddles on the road

I will be checking the fog light housings to see if there are any cracks or potential for leaks. That seems to be the consensus.

Thanks......

I have not noticed any cracks in my housing but even so I replace each fog light about every 4-5 months (alternating sides). Fortunately it is not as bad as you Elky, but it is enough to be annoying.