One foglight dimmer than the other..pulling my hair out.
Hey guys, I have to say, I am stumped on this.
First off I bought Cheap foglights, I just did it more for looks and wasn't going to pay high prices for something like this. I bought them from K2 Motor. Car is a 93 Civic Coupe. I got the yellow lense even though that doesn't really matter.
I installed the foglights weeks ago. Install went pretty easy and didn't have any real fitment problems. I was a bit surprised, I expected to have to do some modifications to get these cheap lights to fit. Anyhow, got them installed, ran the wiring and went back and tucked it once I saw the lights work correctly.
Everything was cool. I wasn't happy with the light output, they just didn't seem bright at all really. Never the less the bulbs were of the same brightness level. After I had them a couple weeks the passenger bulb went out. Again I figured cheap bulbs. I didn't have time to mess with it for a week or so. Yesterday I decided to get new H3 bulbs. So I put in 2 new Sylvania H3 55W bulbs and got everything back together.
Turned them on and the Passenger side light is way brighter than the driver side. I thought maybe I had a bit of a connection problem but I get 12Vs at the light with the meter. Wiring is taped up and I don't see any exposed wires or anything.
Any ideas? And its not just aiming either. I haven't quite got them dialed in the same yet but the driver is for sure dimmer. I can hold my hand in front of the beam about 4 inches from the light and the passenger side gives off way more light.
I am also using the switch(cheapo)that was sent with the fogs as well as the relay included. So the switch is just powering the relay, not the lights themselves.
First off I bought Cheap foglights, I just did it more for looks and wasn't going to pay high prices for something like this. I bought them from K2 Motor. Car is a 93 Civic Coupe. I got the yellow lense even though that doesn't really matter.
I installed the foglights weeks ago. Install went pretty easy and didn't have any real fitment problems. I was a bit surprised, I expected to have to do some modifications to get these cheap lights to fit. Anyhow, got them installed, ran the wiring and went back and tucked it once I saw the lights work correctly.
Everything was cool. I wasn't happy with the light output, they just didn't seem bright at all really. Never the less the bulbs were of the same brightness level. After I had them a couple weeks the passenger bulb went out. Again I figured cheap bulbs. I didn't have time to mess with it for a week or so. Yesterday I decided to get new H3 bulbs. So I put in 2 new Sylvania H3 55W bulbs and got everything back together.
Turned them on and the Passenger side light is way brighter than the driver side. I thought maybe I had a bit of a connection problem but I get 12Vs at the light with the meter. Wiring is taped up and I don't see any exposed wires or anything.
Any ideas? And its not just aiming either. I haven't quite got them dialed in the same yet but the driver is for sure dimmer. I can hold my hand in front of the beam about 4 inches from the light and the passenger side gives off way more light.
I am also using the switch(cheapo)that was sent with the fogs as well as the relay included. So the switch is just powering the relay, not the lights themselves.
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 30,069
Likes: 59
From: Nowhere and Everywhere
Are both bulbs seated correctly? If one bulb isn't seated correctly you may not be getting the full light out through the reflector.
I will give updates. It actually makes sense that this would be the problem, because my grounds and wiring are fine. And the brightness of both bulbs were fine until I changed bulbs. So it makes perfect sense to have a bulb that is not seated correctly. I even went back out yesterday to try and get the driver light aimed like i have the passenger and had no luck. This also makes since to have a mis-seated bulb as the bulb could be crooked and not straight.
Thanks for the response man!
UPDATE:
After work today I took another look at the foglights. I decided to just take the lens off the housing so I could see the bulb from the front to see if it was or wasn't seated correctly. I was hoping to find the bulb crooked or something so then I would know what the problem was. Turns out the bulb was seated as it should have been. I was like "DAMN!". Anyways, I started looking at the lens piece and noticed the metal bracket was towards the bottom. I got to thinking "well if that is at the bottom, it would be sitting right in front of the bulb. I had never had the lens off so I knew I didn't put it on backwards.
I unscrewed the two screws, flipped it around and bam. BRIGHT LIGHTS. Funny thing is, both lights were or seemed to be the same brightness with the cheapo bulbs that came pre-installed in the lights, I am thinking the factory put this bracket in the wrong way and it didn't show up before due to the fact that there cheapo bulbs were so DIM.
And man, these 55W Sylvanias are WAAAAAAAAAYYYY brighter than those cheap stock 55W bulbs. Pictures below to explain what I am talking about.
You will see circled in red a little cut out that goes to the bottom. Now notice the bracket circled in blue. The one on the right is towards the bottom blocking the beam from the bulb. I flipped this around to look like the one on the left

The picture below shows the foglights with the Factory 55W bulbs that came pre-installed in the lights. Yes...there on..Dim as hell!

And lastly, these are after putting everything back together and using Sylvania 55W bulbs..Way brighter..I like!
After work today I took another look at the foglights. I decided to just take the lens off the housing so I could see the bulb from the front to see if it was or wasn't seated correctly. I was hoping to find the bulb crooked or something so then I would know what the problem was. Turns out the bulb was seated as it should have been. I was like "DAMN!". Anyways, I started looking at the lens piece and noticed the metal bracket was towards the bottom. I got to thinking "well if that is at the bottom, it would be sitting right in front of the bulb. I had never had the lens off so I knew I didn't put it on backwards.
I unscrewed the two screws, flipped it around and bam. BRIGHT LIGHTS. Funny thing is, both lights were or seemed to be the same brightness with the cheapo bulbs that came pre-installed in the lights, I am thinking the factory put this bracket in the wrong way and it didn't show up before due to the fact that there cheapo bulbs were so DIM.
And man, these 55W Sylvanias are WAAAAAAAAAYYYY brighter than those cheap stock 55W bulbs. Pictures below to explain what I am talking about.
You will see circled in red a little cut out that goes to the bottom. Now notice the bracket circled in blue. The one on the right is towards the bottom blocking the beam from the bulb. I flipped this around to look like the one on the left

The picture below shows the foglights with the Factory 55W bulbs that came pre-installed in the lights. Yes...there on..Dim as hell!

And lastly, these are after putting everything back together and using Sylvania 55W bulbs..Way brighter..I like!
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 30,069
Likes: 59
From: Nowhere and Everywhere
uhhh no man, those shields HAVE to be on the bottom. That's how a projector lens works. The light reflects off the top of the inside reflector, past the shield, and onto the ground.
With the shield on top, you get ZERO light on the ground, and all of it just shoots up into the air, making them completely useless.
With the shield on top, you get ZERO light on the ground, and all of it just shoots up into the air, making them completely useless.
uhhh no man, those shields HAVE to be on the bottom. That's how a projector lens works. The light reflects off the top of the inside reflector, past the shield, and onto the ground.
With the shield on top, you get ZERO light on the ground, and all of it just shoots up into the air, making them completely useless.
With the shield on top, you get ZERO light on the ground, and all of it just shoots up into the air, making them completely useless.
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