3rd Gen Protege/MazdaSpeed/P5/MP3 General/Maintenance Discussion for 1999-2003.5 Models Only (BJ Chassis)

What's Up with the Stock Fog Lights?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old April-7th-2002, 11:46 PM
  #1  
Registered User
Thread Starter
 
Tom Slick's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: central coast calif.
Posts: 260
Tom Slick is on a distinguished road
Thumbs down What's Up with the Stock Fog Lights?

anyone else notice that the stock foglights are worthless in the fog? the do look nice though
their beam illuminates a useless area in front of the car, almost nothing to the side and put out very little light. in fact when i turn them on in real fog i found them to make the glare and visibility worse.
i have used hella fog lights in the past and they are great. i might just try to find a set of hellas to replace the stockers.
anyone esle notice this? have you found a suitable replacement?

***edit***
i am talking about the fog lights on my P5

Last edited by Tom Slick; April-8th-2002 at 12:14 AM.
Tom Slick is offline  
Old April-7th-2002, 11:56 PM
  #2  
Certified Sick Individual
 
kc5zom's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Houston, TX.
Posts: 1,141
kc5zom is on a distinguished road
Are you talking about the ones on the ES or P5? I'm not sure if they use the same bulbs but mine work fine as stock fog lights go.
kc5zom is offline  
Old April-8th-2002, 12:18 AM
  #3  
Neighbor of the Beast
 
don668's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Calgary AB
Posts: 305
don668 is on a distinguished road
They have a hood covering the bulb on the P5. Remove the bulb and push the hood up to expose the bulb more. Not sure why thats there... the glass of the lens is cut to produce a wide, low pattern.

Don
don668 is offline  
Old April-8th-2002, 12:21 AM
  #4  
Use this to install stuff
 
Installshield's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: State College, PA
Posts: 1,069
Installshield is on a distinguished road
My P5's work pretty well for stock bulbs. Maybe yours are angled wrong or something. Mine light up the road about 8 to 10 in front of the car and give a nice bath of light to the sides of the road. to me they work best in the wet at night when the roads are almost black, however I have not noticed any glare in heavy fog.
Installshield is offline  
Old April-8th-2002, 12:56 AM
  #5  
Protege Enthusiast
 
Don M's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Biloxi MS
Posts: 72
Don M is on a distinguished road
Mine work as intended too - No complaints here.

Don
Don M is offline  
Old April-8th-2002, 07:57 AM
  #6  
Protege Enthusiast
 
Sporin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 126
Sporin is on a distinguished road
Originally posted by Installshield
My P5's work pretty well for stock bulbs. Maybe yours are angled wrong or something. Mine light up the road about 8 to 10 in front of the car and give a nice bath of light to the sides of the road. to me they work best in the wet at night when the roads are almost black, however I have not noticed any glare in heavy fog.
Exactly my experience.
Sporin is offline  
Old September-7th-2002, 07:42 AM
  #7  
031 - Deathtech
 
Redfyre's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Petawawa, ON. Canada
Posts: 401
Redfyre is on a distinguished road
Mine also work fine. No complaints here either.
Redfyre is offline  
Old September-7th-2002, 12:03 PM
  #8  
Protege Enthusiast
 
frankd's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Toronto. Canada
Posts: 90
frankd is on a distinguished road
I agree that the P5 fog lights nicely light up the road a few feet around the front of the car, but don't have much function beyond that. In fog, they do nothing useful, in my experience. So I would call these lights 'decorative' rather than 'functional'.
But DON688s idea/suggestion sounds interesting so I will try that...

Last edited by frankd; September-7th-2002 at 12:05 PM.
frankd is offline  
Old September-7th-2002, 02:36 PM
  #9  
Protege Enthusiast
 
douggie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Posts: 484
douggie is on a distinguished road
Originally posted by don668
They have a hood covering the bulb on the P5. Remove the bulb and push the hood up to expose the bulb more. Not sure why thats there... the glass of the lens is cut to produce a wide, low pattern.

Don
There's no need to do that (and you really shouldn't). Just adjust the foglight assembly, there are 2 bolts that allow you to aim the fogs higher. Works great after that.

The hood there is to prevent direct, upward rays that will cause glare when driving in fog. If you drive with high beams on when there's fog at night, u'll get the idea.
douggie is offline  
Old September-7th-2002, 10:13 PM
  #10  
Registered User
 
P5red's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 9
P5red is on a distinguished road
You'll have to remove three screws to lower the plastic underguard first. Then, you'll have access to both adjusting bolts (12mm).

I adjusted both fog light beams as high as possible; the bulb enclosures hit the front air dam. That helped to throw the beam a bit further down the road but still not far enough.

Has anyone modified the dam to allow the beams to be a bit higher?
P5red is offline  
Old September-7th-2002, 10:58 PM
  #11  
Protege Owner
 
protegeDX's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: va beach 757
Posts: 492
protegeDX is on a distinguished road
get ion yellow plazma bulbs. the color yellow works good in rain/fog type conditions. anything yellower than halogens would work.
protegeDX is offline  
Old September-8th-2002, 08:00 PM
  #12  
Protege Enthusiast
 
frankd's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Toronto. Canada
Posts: 90
frankd is on a distinguished road
I just re-aimed my P5 fog lights, so here is the procedure while it is fresh in my mind. They now are perfectly perpendicular to the road, and I still have some space all around the light housings.

Estimated time: 30 minutes.

1. Remove 2 screws from front of plastic splash shield attached to bottom of bumper, to allow access to rear of fog light. Bend splash shield out of the way.

2. Remove nut and washers from mounting bolt at rear of fog light assembly (14 mm socket)

3. Pull fog light assembly forward an inch or two (as far as the cable will allow).

4. From the front, pop out the blue plastic clip that holds the electrical connector assembly to bumper. You can now pull the light out at least 6 inches, with the connector still attached.

5. With the light assembly now in your hand, you will likely see that the U-shaped mounting bracket / bolt is not at a right angle to the front of the light (hence the light aiming too low). This angle determines the aim of the beam.

6. Simply loosen the nut (12 mm wrench) on each flange of this bracket, and adjust the bracket so that the mounting bolt is 90 degrees to the front of the lens.

7. Reinstall the lamp assembly, and enjoy your improved visibility!

I went for a test drive on an dark road to ensure the fog lights aimed this way did not blind oncoming traffic... seems fine so far.

Last edited by frankd; September-8th-2002 at 11:16 PM.
frankd is offline  
Old September-9th-2002, 10:30 PM
  #13  
Protege Newbie
 
murda79's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Toronto
Posts: 18
murda79 is on a distinguished road
I've switched my bulbs with PIAA Ion crystals, give off a yellow colour. These bulbs are incredable, they look awsome.
murda79 is offline  
Old October-16th-2002, 12:34 PM
  #14  
Protege Newbie
 
ewsmith1's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 32
ewsmith1 is on a distinguished road
Fog Light Adjustment

Ok guys,

Here is what I did to my fog lights and they fricking kick *** now...

I adjusted the vertical position to the most superior position; this is limited by the actually air dam plastic they sit in.

Next I took the bulb out and pushed the hood covering the bulbs up....this allows a ton more light to be shot out of the lights giving more distance....

Note: Any of you thinking about replacing or adjusting your lights should read this.

The lights are easy to adjust or change as you only need to take out one bolt and two screws to change the bulb and you only need to lossen two bolts to adjust the vertical position of the lights.

Anyone who tells you different is only causing more work.

Time to change bulbs and/or push up the hood covering....20 mins top!

Time to adjust vertical position...10 mins top!

Smith...
ewsmith1 is offline  
Old October-16th-2002, 12:58 PM
  #15  
Protege Enthusiast
 
LooseCannon's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 204
LooseCannon is on a distinguished road
guys . . . they're not fog lights, they're driving lights! Their sole purpose is to help light up the road immediately in front of and to the side of the car.
LooseCannon is offline  


Quick Reply: What's Up with the Stock Fog Lights?



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:21 AM.