I have replaced my passenger side fog light bulb 3 times now.
Any reason why this continues to blow. It's a 2004.
I am quite careful not to touch the bulb when replacing.

 

If you are sure that you haven't touched the light. THen it sounds like there is moisture inside the housing to me, if so your best bet is to get a new fog light housing.

 

There isn't any visible signs of moisture that I can see.

I'll have to look into this a little deeper.

Thanks.

 

OK I may come off sounding stupid here but what is a little moisture going to do to the integrity of the bulb?
I have seen moisture in the taillights as well as the headlites and not one blown bulb. I probably just jinxed myself now.
Any feedback is appreciated!
Thanks.

 

Halogens need to to have uniform heat transfer or a hot spot will make resistance which will blow it, condensation wil contaminate the uniformity of the bulb.
If the same light keeps blowing I would check the socket , pigtail , and the next bulkhead connection back from the pigtail..up to the relay, hopefully it is not in the light control module.. doesnt seem logical.
Also check the light housing for being loose and possibley vibrating when it is riding down the road.

 

3 lamps in how long a time period? Plus, who's lamps are you running? Lastly, what is the failure? There are lots of potential failure modes associated with lamps, other then the 2 already mentioned.

I spent many years manufacturing halogen lamps (Sylvania and Philips), and determining failure modes on customer returns (warranty stuff). I'd look at the connector for damage, corrosion, burns, etc. Plus look at the housing, is it real loose and subjecting the lamp to move vibration. Is there a voltage problem.

FWIW, it's also possible that you're buying crap. Lamp manufacturer's will "dump" lamps with defects they know will cause a short lamp life, into the aftermarket. It's easier, read cheaper, for the manufacturer to deal with a field return from Pep Boys vs one from Ford, GM, Chrysler...

 

These are oem bulbs from the dealer.
3 in the last year. 2 within a week or two.

As i mentioned before there is no visable sign of moisture in the housing. There is still some shrapnel from the blown bulbs in there however. I tried to clean it out with a vacuum and tiny tube through the socket hole but it's nearly impossibble to get it all. Also there is quite a large black spot stain\mark forming where the bulbs have blown.

I'll check for a loose housing.

Probably just have to replace the housing.

 

burnt spot on the lense housing, ouch
defiantley too much resistance somewhere, I did'nt mention it but also check the ground for that socket.
I also hope you are getting the correct bulb, I guess that is worth checking the wattage.. the wrong one may have been put in at some time so you could be using the same wrong number.
Hope you get it resolved.

 

Hmmm.

Like a poster above mentioned, if the bulb / socket isn't tight, you can get a lot of vibration damage to the bulb causing it to blow. I see that with a lot of Chebbys around here...

 

I'd say you bought 2 lamps that we're crap from the get go. Both came from the same source and we're very likely manufactured one after another. FWIW, exploding halogen lamps is a very common problem. Most of these lamps explode before leaving the production line, but some do make it out into the field. The problem is a combination of minor damage due to handling in the manufacturing process and a glass annealling process that doesn't remove all of the stress/strain.

So, the high pressure of the gas, heat from operation and a defect in the glass, causes these to explode.

It's time for a new housing. You're at risk for another exploder running a new lamp in a housing with little bits and pieces of broken glass. (cold glass onto hot glass) I'm not sure the new housing will come with a lamp, but get a new one from another source, just to reduce the likelyhood that you've got another one from the same batch.

So, which brand? I'd bet it's a Sylvania.

 

Well we don't discriminate against alternate life styles here, so you might go search in your local craigslist for that special guy.





Anyways I would suspect fingerprints on the bulbs. The oil on your finger tips no matter how little can make a bulb blow really fast. Install them by using a clean tissue or towel to hold the bulb. The glass shards inside the housing won't really cause in problems except looking bad. But you can hit ebay and get new fog housings for cheap.

 

So I have finally got around to replacing the entire housing. Everything worked great for a few months and just the other day it has gone out again.
This time I noticed that when I turn the fogs on with the passenger side blown, the radio turns really staticy (sp?) Some sort of electrical interferance?
Where and what should I check for on the wiring harness?