[Fog] fog light covers made & fitted

[czechplastik]

£25 inc. recorded delivery. Scored me a set!

[IWANTACIVIC]

yer put me down for a set plz

[beepee]

PM sent

[damianscott71]

Got up this morning.... Went to the car.... BOTH FOG LIGHTS SMASHED!!!!

Grrr....

Gray, if you've still got any covers, I might buy a set once I've fitted my new fogs. £200 a set for new lights. What a p!ss take!

Damian

[Miggins]

Originally Posted by damianscott71

Got up this morning.... Went to the car.... BOTH FOG LIGHTS SMASHED!!!!
Damian

You might want to try sourcing the parts direct - it shouldn't be impossible to trace. If you remove the lights and find a manufacturers label/part number or even a manufacturers insignia embossed on the rear reflector glass.

Its not impossible even when the car is brand new and the parts are still under license - could save a pretty penny. Worth a try?

[Kremmen]

Why do they go in the first place ?

I've had fog lights on all my cars for the last 15 years or so with no breakages.

Do we know whether it is stones or overheating ?

[Miggins]

Be careful - I don't think Damian has cooled down yet.

[Foggy69]

PM sent

[Miggins]

PM? Not to me?

[damianscott71]

I'm thinking it's either overheating from the lamps+engine+brakes or flexing of the front bumper. I'm pretty certain it wasn't 2x well aimed stones or vandals.

I hate cars, me.

Damian

p.s. Car going 2 dealers on Friday for power steering recall (did you get your letter? I didn't!) plus boot struts, plus fuel cap, plus rattles in dash, plus steering pullings towards camber of road. Let's see how it goes!

Nice lady at Honda customer services has also covered the cost of my next service too.... Plus she said her husband's had trouble with his Civic fuel cap. Life IS great!

[damianscott71]

Originally Posted by Miggins

You might want to try sourcing the parts direct - it shouldn't be impossible to trace. If you remove the lights and find a manufacturers label/part number or even a manufacturers insignia embossed on the rear reflector glass.

Its not impossible even when the car is brand new and the parts are still under license - could save a pretty penny. Worth a try?

I have considered having 4mm polycarbonate lenses made. Then they'd only need to be bonded to the reflectors. Plus they'd probably last longer than the glass ones. I'll keep trawling the web to find a possible supplier.

D

[Miggins]

Originally Posted by damianscott71

I have considered having 4mm polycarbonate lenses made. Then they'd only need to be bonded to the reflectors. Plus they'd probably last longer than the glass ones. I'll keep trawling the web to find a possible supplier.

D

I expect Honda may have the License tied up pretty tight.

The PC lenses is a good idea. In the past I have managed to get some headlights with grotty reflectors from a breakers and fix them to the ones I smashed on the then girlfriends car (it was the first day I drove it - she eventually married me!!). I found silicone bathroom sealant excellent

Need to be careful on the heat with PC lenses but modern lights with standard bulbs do't get that hot.

[CivPilot]

Originally Posted by damianscott71

I'm thinking it's either overheating from the lamps+engine+brakes or flexing of the front bumper. I'm pretty certain it wasn't 2x well aimed stones or vandals.

I hate cars, me.

Damian

In no way is it overheating from the lamps or engine. Several reasons its not foggy and hasnt been foggy enough to have them on for long enough to shatter through heat (even if your a foglight numpty and have them on all the time there is still no way enough heat can develop). If it was heat from the engine then the plastic bumper would have melted long before the glass foglights. Add to that the following taken from Encarta:-

"Depending on it's composition, some glass will melt at temperatures as low as 500 °C (900 °F), others melt at 1650 °C (3180 °F)"

Do you think your engine or Foglight bulbs are capable of producing that much heat? Dont you think your plastic intake/pipework/ancilaries would have melted long ago at temps of 900 °F let alone 3180 °F?

Flexing of the bumper will not do it either as the lamps are VERY solid units and do not flex in any way and are not a solid part of the bumper. Push the bumper and it will move but it will not "flex" the lamp in anyway. In fact the glass being solid is the very reason it will shatter before the bumper will, if a ston hits the bumper hard the bumper will obviously flex. The glass light will not, hence very easy to smash a bulb.

Sorry to say but think you are either looking at an extremely unlucky drive or vandals. We had a series of foglight smashes in our area, culprit was caught and admitted targeting cars that always had them on. Guy next door had his smashed, I did not (This is a worst case, but these sort of idiots do exist unfortunately).

[Kremmen]

I think we soon find out.

If a unit goes with the plastic protectors on then we will know it is not impact related.

Anyone considered some sort of clear sticky back plastic?

[CivPilot]

Originally Posted by Kremmen

I think we soon find out.

If a unit goes with the plastic protectors on then we will know it is not impact related.

Anyone considered some sort of clear sticky back plastic?

So do you think that the exposed glass of the fog lights breaking are a design flaw as well then?


come on guys, the lights are just above the surface of the road and made of glass. No matter how tough the glass is a stone impacting a non flexable glass surface travelling at 40mph is always going to win. At 70mph the fog light has little to no chance if the stone is any larger than a pea.
Having both go at the same time to me smacks of either extreme bad luck or foul play.
If it was down to "flexing bumpers" or "engine heat" then I would have also lost at least one set by now having put 25K on my car mostly motorway including several very hot days in heavy bumper to bumper traffic (Surely the heat of those days would have melted my car completely?).

There are simply too many people on this board so eager to blame "design flaws" for anything & everything that goes wrong. You would think this was everyones first car

"I had a light bulb go on my car, it was obvsiously a manufacturers design flaw or something or other, no way was it unlucky or due to other factors. it simply must have been Honda's fault. I demand a refund or some good will this instant!"

[Miggins]

Originally Posted by CivPilot

"I had a light bulb go on my car, it was obvsiously a manufacturers design flaw or something or other, no way was it unlucky or due to other factors. it simply must have been Honda's fault. I demand a refund or some good will this instant!"

And manufacturers are installing LED rear lights precisely for this reason - the standard tungsten filament bulbs are not capable of lasting and usually fail due to vibration (motorcycles are prone to this as are some cars). If I remember correctly it's due to the potential of a liability law suite.

Only by expecting more and pushing manufacturers do we get better cars. (point for debate!)

I agree that a piece of glass 8" off the floor isn't likely to last a lifetime and we can't expect them to be bullet proof - nobody is surprised that the windscreen breaks when it is hit by a small stone at speeds in excess of 30mph or are they?

Both my fogs were fitted by my dealer - one floats reasonably freely in its mount, the other does not. So far I have been 'lucky' but then I haven't had one smashed on my other vehicles either! Could it be how I drive?

The people that have had theirs smashed - is your bonnet chipped as well?

[Kremmen]

As you quite rightly say, foglights by their very nature must be prone to occasional damage. I personally have also not had any foglight damage even though I also use the motorways daily.

During the M25 western section major roadworks of 2004/2005 I was having to use touch-up paint most weekends to keep on top of the chips but not once did I have a front light smash.

The theme of this thread as I see it seems to be an above average number of these units breaking. As I see it, if a breakage occurs with these covers in place then it could be viewed as an inherent design fault. If no breakages occur then it's impact related ?

[damianscott71]

I drove back from the North on Saturday, down the M6 in torrential rain. I think for a time I put the front & rear fogs on because the weather & visability was so poor. Then I hit a puddle of standing water that jolted the car. I wonder if the hot lenses + cold water caused the smash?

One lens has completely gone, the other has a crack that runs the circumferance of the lens. It looks like the sort of crack that happens if you put a cold glass in a hot sink.

I really doubt foul play. Also, when I mentioned heat as being a possible cause, I didn't think that it would be the sole source, but I think the heat + rapid cooling might do it. (I didn't think that they'd melt under the heat of the bulbs, I'm not THAT stupid!)

D

[Topcat]

I find it extremely unlikely that all these smashed fog lights are a coincidence!! Especially two at once. I have had fog lights on my last three cars over a period of 17 years and have never smashed one yet and as for the mention of over-heating!! Surely they have not been designed just to look.

[Miggins]

Originally Posted by damianscott71

.....Then I hit a puddle of standing water that jolted the car. I wonder if the hot lenses + cold water caused the smash?

One lens has completely gone, the other has a crack that runs the circumferance of the lens. It looks like the sort of crack that happens if you put a cold glass in a hot sink.

From what you say about how the lens has broken I too would agree with your belief that it is a crack brought on by thermal fatigue. Keep the evidence and please post a photo - try not to break it any more

Originally Posted by damianscott71

.... I'm not THAT stupid!)
D

Permission to comment?