I was wondering if ya'll have the same problem after about close to an hr or an hr of the fog lights being turn on. If you touch the external front lens/cover, it's really hot. Is that normal? Thanks in advance.

 

yes, stop touching them.

 

 

And make sure the car is shifted in Park...

 

This is not a stupid n00b question. The reason why I open this tread because the driver side fog light actually caught on fire on me before and I had to replace the whole lighting unit (thank GOD for car insurance). Now even with the oem bulbs put back, I've notice it's really hot after a certain time of usage. No wonder it caught on fire as intially I thought the MTEC bulbs were the primary cause due to poor quality.

 

yes it gets VERY VERY HOT while installing my HID fogs i turned it on for 15 secs touched the bulb and it burnt me! luckily theres carpet in my garage i could have broke the bulb when i dropped it :/ lol

 

I'm sorry if I sounded condescending. I meant no offense; I was being foolish.

I did not know of your situation before. Yes, the bulbs get hot. It should not be hot enough to catch on fire.

When it happened the first time, did you just change the fog light housing, or did they change all the wiring to the housing as well? Perhaps there was a manufacturing defect that caused the fire?

 

Whoa - that sounds like not the bulb's problem. I dunno, I have left on my fogs the entire time when I drive, 45mins to an hour one way for my commute. I never touch my housing, but nothing's ever lit on fire before either.

I'm going to echo Philip's advice - replacing the housing won't do jack.

Oh and I'll go touch my fog light housing tonight just to check.

 

Wow, that is crazy... I've heard of wire harnesses catching on fire, but never the bulbs themselves....

Sorry for your troubles...

How many watts and which product line were the MTECs?

 

wow it caught on fire!

 

I have never heard that either. I have MTECs on my camaro and they are hotter then the normal PIAA's i have in my IS. My MTECs are 4350K and my PIAA are 4000K

Keep in mind the bulbs get really hot. That is why you shouldnt touch the bulb with your fingers before you install them. The oil on your fingers will crystalize and shatter the bulb.

 

Yea, I had those 4000k MTECs installed for over a year myself and I definitely did not touch the bulbs with my fingers as I know that will shorten the life span. I felt really bad for my insurance co cuz they had to cough out over $9k to fix all the damages cause by the fog light fire (all electrical wiring, harnesses, housing, repainting, etc etc).

I'm thinking it shouldn't be right/normal to be soo hot as I come to realize I'm not the only one to have this problem right? Is this just an 2genIS thing or what, had 2 other cars before and did not have this problem whatsoever.

 

I dont think i have heard this before. My PIAAs have been on for 3 hours with no problems. might have been a defective bulb is all.

 

i'm sure that if it was a common issue, a lot of more posts would have been made and i would assume Lexus would do something about it. things catching fire just shouldn't happen.

 

Hmmm... is it possible the insulation around the wires got so hot (because of too much current being pulled through harness) that may have caused the fire? If this is true, then I would bet those MTECs bulbs just got faulty on you.

As far as the fog light housing being too hot, that is understandable. Halogen bulbs uses quartz material instead of glass like your conventional household light bulb. Quartz can withstand MUCH higher temperatures, but will emitt more heat than your standard glass bulbs.

Try touching your 60W light bulb after it's been on for an hour...it will be hot, but have no fear , it won't combust