Fog Light Assembly - Complete Replacement

[Eve]

Hi,I have spent some time searching and did not find an answer to help me.I live on a gravel road. The fog light on the passenger side is broken, the outside glass and the bulb. I assume that the entire part will have to be replaced. I can not find out how to remove the part so that I can put in a new one. Also, I have seen on the site different bulbs to use. Are the bulbs replaced separately? What are the covers? Some type of protector for the glass? Could someone provide me with step-by-step instructions?My Vibe is a 2005. I get around 32 miles to the gallon, typically.Thanks for your help.Eve

[joatmon]

I don't know, but this has gone unanswered for too long. Come on genvibers, answer up

[KNINE]

I have the same fog light broken on my car, but I've been too cheap to replace it. My bulb is still operating, so I put some clear RTV on the hole for now to keep the water out. Sameful, I know. I think the protectors are lexan.

[kevera]

The foglamp assy is held with clips that are molded to the foglamp housings.Not sure if there is 3 or 4.You just have to release them,it's not too difficult.

[ToolGuy]

If you still need the procedure on how to remove them, let me know and I will get it to you...Buy a replacement lense off ebay, they are much cheaper than the dealer. Yes the bulbs are separate, so you will need a new one as well.

[BurnOnyx08]

2008 model-drivers side smashed fog light lense.I am currently under the bumper in my driveway. Removal is not going well. I took the front 4 bolts and the one plastic pop-bolt out of the wheel well shroud, gently bent it down and got in behind the light. Removed the wire harness by wiggling it down, and rotated the bulb counter-clockwise (lefty-loosey) to remove. The fog light assembly pushes out from under the car and exits the bumper on the paint side. The trick is releasing the tabs that are holding it in. I've found one of them and the thing is still in there tight as a vice. Sorry no pics to get you as far as I've gotten, but more detail to follow if I ever get the damn thing out.

[jcbahome]

Hi ToolGuy, please try to post the procedure for the fog light assembly...We will appreciate that!Thanks!

[bull77]

from mo.comhttp://matrixowners.com/?showtopic=76039

447187=13883-Fog_lamp_assy_.jpg

[jcbahome]

Thanks!

[jcbahome]

Thanks!

[Sublimewind]

Beware with the Ebay replacements, you "may" need to swap over the adjuster screw... Inspect carefully for differences... I had to swap both when I did Darkmatter's fogs (who is no longer with us on GV)

[MisterHighway]

I've had the passenger side glass and bulb broken on my '03 vibe for years. I didn't want to pay $110 to replace it through GM (that was the cost a couple years ago) so I just put it on the back burner. A little while ago I was driving down a dirt road and a big truck threw a rock at my car. I looked in all my mirrors and all looked okay. Later that day when I was filling my tank I saw that it had shattered my driver's quarter panel glass but it was still intact. After getting a few bids of $400+ to replace it, I posted my query on my favorite site, GV.One of the replies suggested I go to PamsAuto.com. It is essentially an online junkyard. I bought the glass for $50 (w/ shipping it was $80) and had it installed for $35. At the last second, I browsed for fog lights and found several on there for $50 as well. I called them up and they added it to my order without any additional shipping, quick as can be. I was very happy with them and will be looking to them for my other vibe parts needs.@Bull77 - Thank you for your post with the image. This helped me in replacing my fog light tonight and saved me enough time to pop off both front door panels and tighten my window bolts (again). I have to do this every few years after learning the tell tale "pop" and "crack" of the bolt sliding around when moving the window. I already lost my drivers side window once because of that!Also, after doing some searching I did find new OEM replacement fog light assemblies for about $41 before shipping on eBay.Thanks for all the help, all of you,[MisterHighway]

[Caretaker]

Good work MisterHighway. I too had a broken lens for over 4 years (4 years of passing inspections). One day my wife brings the car in to the wrong side of the Delta Quadrant and the jerk fails her for a broken lens. She explained that the lens is NOT part of the operating system (in 4 letter words of course) and that we should not fail when every other place has passed us. I ended up going to my local glass store and have them build me a plexiglass lense. I used bathroom caulk and put it into place. So far so good. We never use the fog lamps, so we are not concerned about water vapor build up burning the bulb out. We just wanted to stick it to the jerk who failed us. See you around the universe.

[G96nt]

We had a rock crack our '08 Matrix fog light, and since I had to search high-and-low to find the instructions, and they were none-too-clear, I figured I'd contribute.

Removing the foglights on our '08 was wicked easy. It's literally 3 steps, and there's almost no tools needed.
I read a lot of instructions saying to remove the bumper, and all the plastics, and I was like "whaaa? nawwww!"

Anyways, with the car in the air and everything attached, you can remove the entire housings fast.
1: Remove the electrical plug off the light.
2: push in the 2 tiny tabs on the adjustment screw. I used an O-ring puller because it's small and pointy, and pushed the tabs in with no effort. In my case, since I was replacing them, I just pushed and they snapped. The old ones were trash- I didn't care about their condition. no love-loss there.
3: Use "something" to pop out the tab holding in the foglight. You'll be able to see it clear as day. you just pop the tab out enough for the "button" on the foglight to pass under, and then push out on the light. It will pop right out the front.

That's it. Don't mess around with the tab on the side between the housing and bumper. you can't see it. you can't REALLY reach it, and it's not really meant to be messed with. you don't need to remove the bumper, or the splash shields. just reach around 'em.

The first one took me about 20-minutes of struggling with the tab you can't see before I decided to undo the adjuster screw first, and then it just popped right out.

Once you figure this out, you'll also see that adjusting the foglights is WAY easier by removing the whole light and screwing the adjustment screw by hand instead of trying to wedge your hand up there. just pinch, pry, and pop.