Unplugging Fog Light

A little help from my friends please. I'm trying to change out the fog light bulbs on my 2019 OR to LED ambers. I want to do just the inexpensive bulb change at this time to see if I really like amber color before I commit to a $300 set of pods.

I got the LEDs and can get my hand on the rear of the installed fog light, but for the life of me I can't get the thing unplugged. I've watched the various videos on how to do this and the guys in the video just push down a little on the tab and it magically comes apart. I've pushed and pulled with all the force I can muster in that tight space and nada... sucker just won't give up. Any tricks to this?

 

Remove the fog first. Do this by removing the screw holding the fog to the frame, then the plastic housing. That will make it infinitely easier to work with. I think I used a very small flathead to separate, but it was a PITA.

 

There's a retention button on the back of the connector. You have to push that to release it from the bulb. Then push the connector downwards to remove it from the bulb.

 

Do you mean down as towards the ground or pinched in. The little tab that is.

 

You can literally open the hood, reach don't twist and they come out, pull the old bulb, put in new one

 

um yeah. but they won't let go.

 

You push in the button and then push the connector down (towards the ground). When the connector is off, turn the bulb counter-clockwise (when looking at the bulb from behind) and then pull it straight back.

 

I always recommend removing the connectors on bulbs before pulling the bulbs out. One, it gives you more support to remove the connector when the bulb is in the lamps. Secondly, there's less of a chance of touching the glass on the bulb when it is in the lamp.

 

yep, that's exactly what I've been attempting. Maybe I don't have enough strength to press the tab in sufficiently but I'm squeezing as much as I can given the tight place and using my left hand. It does seem to move inward but won't let go. I might try some vice grips or pliers if I can rig them to just push in on the tab.

 

That was my plan if the sucker would come out. The way the thing seems configured, you can't twist the bulb out with the plug in as there is a hump in the housing to prevent this.

 

Push the plug into the bulb and try to push the tab on the plug and pull off some times it gets stuck

 

I tried that early on. I understand the mechanics of how the plug is retained. A little dimple under the tab that has to be cleared in order for the plug to release. I managed to get one (drivers side) undone by putting a small screwdriver in the slot from above and twisting which lifts that tab enough to let go. There is no way I can do that from above on the passenger side due to the restriction of the washer fluid tank. So that side will need to be done from the fender unless the tank is removed. I'm going to wait until it's warmer out and I'm thinking about putting in some KC G4 amber so it's all on hold for now. Thanks for the input.

 

Yes, you can reach from under the hood on the passenger side.
I just replaced H16 housing with H11 housing from under the hood. 10 minutes. No need to pull the fender lining.
Push the tab on the connector (squeeze at very bottom of the connector) and apply downward force at the same time..

 

After battling this issue for a few more minutes than I should have I just found the issue I was having. I first tried to remove the bulb. It rotated a little but wouldn't pull out. Then finally got frustrated and tried to remove the connector. Couldn't do that either. Then I found that when I rotated the bulb back to its normal position the connector came off very easily. Then with the connector off, the bulb would fully rotate and easily pull out. Just had to be in the right sequence. The bulb will not fully rotate to pull out position with the connector sill on it and the connector will not pull off with the bulb rotated out of normal position. I hope that helps someone so they don't have to spend extra time.

 

Just want to give a thumbs up and a thank you to blakecurry on his last post.

I, too, was struggling with the removal of the OEM bulbs. His tip worked right away for me. Thank you.