need a reverse bulb replacement

[Ramy]

Did a little test myself tonight. Modified an 894 fog light bulb (37 watts) to work in the stock socket. Did the first one to see if it worked, which it did. Was going to do the second one and take step by step pictures, but dropped the bulb and broke it.
Anyway, I was impressed with the difference it made and have included the comparison photo with my modified bulb and the stock bulb.
I'll try to get another bulb ordered and take some pictures next week.

[Ramy]

1: 896 or 894 fog light bulb. 37.5 watts.
2: cut the bulb mounting tabs from the socket with Dremel cutoff wheel.
3: try to leave as much of the metal tabs as possible when cutting
4: bend metel mounting tabs in half to form the "base"

This will snap into the stock socket like the original bulbs.
(I apologize for the poor image quality)

[Bill in Houston]

Neato. Thanks for the follow-up. Nice and easy and simple, now that I see the photos.

Bill

[MikeQBF]

One question: I haven't had my taillights out yet, so this may be of no concern... but when plugged-in, what direction are the tabs aligned? Vertical, or horizontal?

They're hanging the bulb out quite a bit, which actually is OK relative to the socket (less heat transfer). However, if the tabs are vertical, just the vibration of going down the road can cause them to "sag" in the socket, evenutally disconnecting or even shorting-out (with "uh oh" circumstances for our automatic-transmission friends, a/k/a fuse #10).

I'll attempt to dodge the raindrops and look at this today.

[MikeQBF]

I just finished the foglight-bulb mod. This fix is a winner:

1) even in daylight the brightness difference is noticable;

2) not too much wattage. You're replacing two 18W bulbs with two 38W bulbs - adding a mere 3 Amps;

3) no wiring mods, no new lamp housings, no brackets. You do the "nasty" to the easiest replaceable part, the bulb;

4) it's CHEAP! The bulbs were $8 each at AutoZone;

5) it's FAST! Including the round trip to the store it took me 45 minutes;

6) it's technically sound. There is plenty of room in the taillamp housing to handle the extra heat, and the extensions on the contact pins isolate the heat from the socket. Also, the socket has the pins horizontal (see above), so no risk of vibration pushing the bulb out.

There are only two caution points. First is that most foglight bulbs are going to be halogen-type - so keep them clean and dry. Wash your hands first to minimize oil transfer. Second is that it might take a little force to push the folded contact blades into the socket, and if you aren't careful you might bend the pins too close together. I spread the pins slightly before pushing into the socket.

You don't need a Dremel to do this - I cut the bulb base with a mini-hacksaw; an X-Acto micro-saw would work fine, too. Just cut up against the flange of the plastic base (remove the silicone gasket first!). The trickiest part was making sure that the tabs were even after bending.

Ramy, this is a great mod. It was quite astute to realize that the dimensions of the bare foglight bulb were the same as the T-5 spec of the originals. Good job!

[Ramy]

I picked up a pair (actually two pair after I broke one) of these bulbs from ebay for around $8 for the pair shipped from auto8811. He is one of the few who charge a reasonable shipping charge, so look closely before bidding from any others!

You can avoid a quick bulb burnout by wiping the bulb down with a rag and denatured alcohol after plugging it in. This should remove all of the oils from handling it during your modification.

The length of the bulb from the socket actually turns out to be really close to the original bulb. That combined with no actual contact of the glass to the socket should ease any worries about too much heat. (As mentioned by MikeQBF) I have one on for as long as 5 minutes while taking the original photos and I could not really tell a difference in temperature of the tailight housing to the touch between the upgraded side and the original, (real scientific I know) and no melted plastic!

But as with all do-it-yourself mods, proceed at your own risk.

[juggled]

How about wear gloves when installing the bulbs, then you dont have to worry about any oils at all. Thats recommended on most bulb replacements.
Tom B

[Genom]

This is going to sound cheesy...but years ago I bought a pair of 50 watt halogen reverse bulbs from the dreaded JC WhipMe for my Isuzu Pup...but they were for an 1156 style socket...and they were a whole lot brighter than the stockers, no BS...I like the mods shown here...well done!

[hownowcb]

Let's not forget we're dealing with a factory tinted rear window? How many watts is it gonna take to light up the night? As in, how 'bout checking in the side view mirrors, or, um, rolling a window down? Or, what the hell -- spend a couple hundred on a rear-view camera? Or hire some lackey to stand behind your Element and call you on the cell phone to describe the situation?

How about a question that seems to make more sense than this one?

[LEGO MY E]

[quote:0032b9fbcb=" "]Let's not forget we're dealing with a factory tinted rear window? How many watts is it gonna take to light up the night? As in, how 'bout checking in the side view mirrors, or, um, rolling a window down? Or, what the hell -- spend a couple hundred on a rear-view camera? Or hire some lackey to stand behind your Element and call you on the cell phone to describe the situation?

How about a question that seems to make more sense than this one? [/quote:0032b9fbcb]

LMAO, Colin! :) I just knew you were gonna say somethin'! ;)