I was playing around with the Volvo at the weekend, and noticed that when I switch the rear fogs on, I get a "Bulb failure Fog Light" message on the panel. Checking around the back, I found I only have one rear fog light working (offside).
I popped into Halfords last night and picked up a replacement bulb. On popping the bulb cluster off the back of the nearside light, I was surprised to find the foglight bulb missing. I fitted a new bulb, left the bulb holder loose, and switched on. Sure enough, the new bulb lights up, and goes off when I turn off the fog lights. Perfect - two working foglights, and it's cleared the bulb failure warning on the panel. Great.
On attempting to refit the bulb cluster, I found that the hole where the new foglight bulb would poke through into the light cluster itself is blanked off, making it impossible to refit the cluster with the new bulb in place. This certainly explains why there was no bulb present.
The blanking plate in the light cluster is plastic with a perforated edge, so it shouldn't be too hard to pop out. Any idea why this light is left out, and would I be doing any harm "re-enabling" it? Also I'm curious why not having the bulb there should trigger a bulb failure warning, when it's clear this is how the car left the factory. It also seems odd not only having the bulb holder for the nearside fog light in place, but wired up and live.
Any ideas?
Edited by DP on 01/04/2008 at 12:26
|
|
There is only a requirement to fit a fog light on the OSR of the car if sold in the UK. There is an augument that one on both sides can cause confusion that 'they' are both on then are they brake light or bright side lights. However I would argue that the driver behind saw you earlier and what he thinks the bright light are is not a problem I have both rear foglight on my Volvo and VW Gulf by removing the blanking plate. Regards Peter
|
|
|
DP
Amazingly common. Like yourself, I always knock out the blank and fit a bulb on the principle that it's not possible to judge distance from a single light source.
The bulb failure was probably triggered by an ageing bulb drawing less than parameter current - doubling the draw overcame that problem....
|
My 1980's Renault 18 only had an OS rear fog light. But it had wiring to both sides.I made a bulb holder but then noted there was not a reflector on the NS.
Current Hyundais have a single, central, foglight.
|
It seems that makers all have variations on a theme when it comes to foglights. My Skoda Superb had one foglight on the RHS but the other side had a bulb fitted and of course the red lens to go with it. There was one vacant pin on the lamp housing connector on that side. When fitting my towbar, it was a simple matter to wire up the LH foglight to the one on the right as I was making connections in that area anyway.
The manufacturing logic behind this is hard to penetrate. Where the lens assembly is blanked off, it doubles the parts count for LHD and RHD. In my case, all that was missing was a piece of wire. So much for attention to vehicle safety - the makers of (even) prestige cars just fit what they can get away with by law.
Much the same applies, annoyingly to wipers. Some cars (PSA and Renault for example) just don't bother to convert for RHD. Their eccentric lonkages are very far from optimal if you are a tall person. The worst offender is Mercedes-Benz. Their "quasi-symmetrical" wipers park with the LH blade on top. This means that the final sweep leaves a streak right in front of your eyes.
Disgraceful.
659.
|
Thanks all. I'll pop the plastic blank out and put the bulb in. I just wanted to make sure that it wasn't going to cause any problems further down the line.
I can't say the eccentric linkage-d LHD wipers on the Scenic give me any problems at all (apart from as a matter of principle). I'm 6ft 2 and don't notice a blind spot. We once owned an early mk2 Golf on a B plate which had standard LHD wipers though, and that was a big problem.
Cheers
DP
|
|
|
|
![2024 Volvo S60 2.0 T8 [455] Recharge PHEV Plus Dark 4dr AWD Auto](http://images.honestjohn.co.uk/imagecache/url/crop/90x60/https/cdn.uk.prod.group-mobility-trader.com/images/cas/a06f5f0af39ec641a4b1c92ffd9ac763/9edd88754787becb7f4b63a6a920f8cd.jpg)
