[Fog] Front fog lamp - smashed

[tomas72]

I checked the lamp and its sort of loose, so I guess it got hit by a rock or somthing.
The dealer here said that they havent had anyone come in with a smashed foglight before. The price for a new one is 3000,- Nkr which is about 250 GBP. Kinda expencive. Oh well, I'll get it fixed next friday.

[audijohn]

Originally Posted by tomas72

I checked the lamp and its sort of loose, so I guess it got hit by a rock or somthing.
The dealer here said that they havent had anyone come in with a smashed foglight before. The price for a new one is 3000,- Nkr which is about 250 GBP. Kinda expencive. Oh well, I'll get it fixed next friday.

These lamps are £199.00 for the full fitting kit including TWO fog lamps in the UK!

[shrimpman]

the ones i had fitted at the dealer do seem to be a "soft" fit
so maybe they were aware of the problem

[damianscott71]

Just to touch on a point that someone else made earlier in the forum, I think that the triangular shape of the foglights may be contributing to their troubles. Way back a long time ago, De Haviland, an aircraft manufacturer in the UK made the Comet, one of the first Jet airliners. It had great big square windows that gave the passengers an excellent view. However, after a few of the aircraft broke apart mid flight, De Haviland though to themselves "Hang on, this isn't right". So they took a plane, and tested it underwater while they pressurised the interior of the plane with air. They noticed that stress fractures appeared at the edge of the windows. This is what had caused the problems. That's why all moderm aircraft have small rounded windows. Also, that's why ships have rounded portholes. (It's probably why your bumhole isn't square too).

Thanks to my wife for the book "Why Don't Penguin's Feet Freeze", for the explaination to this conundrum.

In a similar way, the shape of the foglights is contibuting to their poor robustness. Also, the glass is very thin..... They need to use coated polycarbonate that is 250 times stronger than glass.

Damian

[Kremmen]

Exactly

If they go on mine (when I get it) I'm fitting blanks till they sort it.

Thin glass down there is asking for trouble. When I look at foglights on other cars the glass is usually not as crystal clear as the headlights so must be a different type of glass.

[audijohn]

Originally Posted by damianscott71

Number broken: 2
Age of car: 6mths
Mileage:18000 miles
When driving, or "it just appeared": It just appeared
Cost of replacement: Not done yet, approx £200 per side from dealer, £169+VAT per pair from spares company
Picture (attach)

If we don't get any satisfaction from Honda, I'll get in touch with Which Magazine (I'm a subscriber) My breakage patterns are exactly the same as those pictured elsewhere.

Yes your braekage pattern is not consistant with stone hits, before allowing them to be removed check if they are "floating" or jammed against the bodywork, I think you will find they are "immoveable" which is a fitting error from the factory.

[damianscott71]

just bought an offcut of Macrolon polycarbonate. 250 times stronger than glass, but only 200 times more expensive! Not really, a 600mm x 200mm strip cost me a tenner. I should be able to make 4 lenses in scratch resistant polycarbonate.

Just need to get the pattern now. I think that drawing my own might be a bit wibbly-wobbly.

Does anyone know how to get the fog lamps out? I'll need to clean & dry them before fitting new lenses.

Ta,

Damian

[PTR]

Originally Posted by Kremmen

Exactly

When I look at foglights on other cars the glass is usually not as crystal clear as the headlights so must be a different type of glass.

yes different type of glass because it is plastic!

I can't understand why isn't the fogliht plastic also.. then it would have a good stonechip resistance.. compared to glass

[Tony Fendall]

Originally Posted by damianscott71

Does anyone know how to get the fog lamps out? I'll need to clean & dry them before fitting new lenses.

Damian,
Am I reading this right, you are making new lenses? Are you planning to remove the glass and fit Makrolon?
I think it would melt, but I may have this all wrong.
Where are you getting your material for £10 because I want some to make covers from 1.5mm polycarbonate, Velcroed on.
Regards
Tony

[damianscott71]

Hi Tony,

That's right, I'm making new lenses out of 4mm coated polycarbonate.

Polycarbonate won't melt. It's the stuff that manufacture make headlights out of anyway.

If anybody needs 2mm polycarbonate to make a cover, I can supply a strip big enough to make about 6 covers for £10 plus postage, along with a pattern for you to cut out.

Polycarbonate sheeting can be cut using a handsaw, jigsaw, hacksaw, possibly even tin snips at low thicknesses. Rough edges can be dry sanded and clean edges can be wet sanded to improve the finish.

PM me if you're interested.

Damian

[gray52]

i have 1 pair of fog light covers all ready made, inc fixings to the fog light and the cover can be removed for cleaning etc.

pm me if interested, paypal accepted.

[CivPilot]

Originally Posted by gray52

i have 1 pair of fog light covers all ready made, inc fixings to the fog light and the cover can be removed for cleaning etc.

pm me if interested, paypal accepted.

Got some of Gray's fitted and they are well worth the money. very sturdy, well cut and finished and blend in nicely

[NickG]

I don't know why people keep posting saying "fog lights never break on other cars so why do they break on the civic" (or similar). I've seen loads of broken fog lights on other cars!

On my Ford Focus, I got through 4 of them in a year and then decided not to replace them anymore until it was up for sale. I haven't driven it since then and they're fine My girlfriend has a Renault Megane and both lights went in a few weeks and we've elected not to replace them on that car either until we can get some polycarb covers fitted.


The Focus's foglights are MUCH more sturdy than the Civic's. The front glass is really thick and they still break just as often as the civic's. It's not heat damage as some people are suggesting (do you have any idea how much temperature difference you need to crack glass?! You pretty much need a blowtorch and some ice. The piddly little 30W bulbs are never going to get the glass hot enough to crack it - besides - most people have said they were off at the time). I'm quite positive that the smashed lights are caused by stones at high speed. A 1 pence piece thrown casually at the center of a light breaks it (yes I did this accidentally by a very unlucky co-incidence when I kicked a penny on my drive!!) so what do you think a small stone at 50-90MPH will do? Anything larger than a pea at 40+ mph will definitely crack the glass.

[gray52]

nickg u have a pm regarding fog light covers.

[Tony Fendall]

Originally Posted by NickG

. I'm quite positive that the smashed lights are caused by stones at high speed.

Nick,
You are not entirely correct; a couple of the pictures in the forum are clearly stone damage, but the majority, including mine, were due to a stress issue.
I was driving along a deserted country road when there was a 'crack' from the front of the car; on reaching my destination the offside fog light glass was broken.
The issue was recognised by Honda as not being stone damage and my repair bill was repaid in full.
Read back in the forum and you will find one owner with two lamps gone in the first week of ownership; all paid for by Honda.
Furthermore, in 45 years of car ownership I have only had one other fog light glass broken and that was stone damage on a Vauxhall Calibra, I guess that makes me very lucky in your book.
Regards
Tony

[Tony Fendall]

Damian,
I fully understand what you are doing to your fog lights and the new lenses you are making and why you are doing it, however, manufacturers spend a great deal of time designing lamp glasses.
I am sure you will have no more breakages, but you will not be able to see very well in fog either.
All those little prisims are built in to give correct beam cut off and to keep them legal.
If a manufacturer tried to sell a car with fog lamps with clear covers, they would not get the car homologated for sale in the UK.
Regards
Tony

[NickG]

Originally Posted by Tony Fendall

All those little prisims are built in to give correct beam cut off and to keep them legal.
If a manufacturer tried to sell a car with fog lamps with clear covers, they would not get the car homologated for sale in the UK.

What prisms? Sorry but this is total rubbish and you clearly either don't have a Civic or have never looked at it's fog lights.

As with most cars, the Civic's fog light light spread pattern is controlled by the rear reflector. The front glass is plain glass and the light distrubution pattern is totally unaffected by it. There are no "little prisims" (or prisms as it's correctly spelt) on a Civic's fog lights as you can easily see for yourself.

Originally Posted by Tony Fendall

If a manufacturer tried to sell a car with fog lamps with clear covers, they would not get the car homologated for sale in the UK.

What ARE you talking about? Nearly all new cars going back to the 90's have completely clear glass in their headlights and foglights. The front glass has no effect at bending or controlling the spead pattern. I have to go back 20 years to think of a time when we had a car where the front glass actually did any focussing.

[Tony Fendall]

You are totaly wright; the beem control is dun by the reflektor not by the glas as fist it apears.
My apppologies.
Many of my previous cars had beam control by the glass.
Regards
Tony

[NickG]

Originally Posted by Tony Fendall

Many of my previous cars had beam control by the glass.

Does that include the one in your avatar picture?

[Tony Fendall]

Absolutely right; those foglights cut through fog like a knife.
But just for an additional laugh; a friend of mine at college was giving me a lift home one night in an Austin 7 and the fog was so bad we jumped out of the car, opened the drivers window, set the hand throttle to idle and walked home alongside the car with hand on the wheel.
They were proper fogs in the late 60's.
Tony