So I'm kinda picky about car maintenance and like to see when I drive at night so I decided that the original headlights and fog lights had become too yellow since '02. The lenses are fine since it's kept in the garage but the bulbs have lost their intensity. I went to Auto-Zone this morning and picked up Silverstar Ultra headlights and Silverstar fog lights. After running a few more errands it was out to the garage for replacement. Headlights pretty straight forward according to the owners manual went in without much fuss. Fog lights according to the owners manual sounded even easier. Reach in through the front fascia, turn the bulb 1/4 turn and remove bulb after unplugging harness.........RIGHT! Do only dwarfs work on Neons? There is no way in hell I can get my hand in there and even touch the rear of the bulb let alone turn the damned thing and remove it! Plan B: Remove lower air dam at the bottom of the front fascia. 3 8mm screws holding dam to front fascia and 4 10mm screws holding dam to lower radiator support. Drop dam and then and only then can I even get a partial look at the back of the bulbs. Then with two fingers clearance turn the bulb 1/4 turn and remove which is a trick in itself. Now to install the new bulbs WITHOUT TOUCHING THE GLASS SURFACE WITH MY SKIN WHICH IS THOROUGHLY ABRADED AFTER REMOVING THE OLD BULBS! The first pair of disposable rubber shop gloves I have in the garage for this type of deal or really grungy work were shredded just getting to the old bulbs so putting on another pair seemed futile at this point. Well through much persistence and several choice words while speaking in tongues I claim victory in the name of all do it yourselfer haters of automotive engineers everywhere! PITA yeah but it beats paying someone to do it for you plus I'll have people flashing their headlights at me again like they used to when the car was new.

 

Are the fog light bulbs rated at the factory wattage?

 

IDK? I'll have to look. I'd imagine so since they are a direct replacement. The Silverstars throw a very nice white light though. I don't foresee a problem even if they are a little higher wattage. I've had some Pilot fogs on my Dakota for several years now with no problems and I know they are a higher wattage than the factory fogs.

I checked and the fogs are 45W compared to 43W factory. Headlights are 55/65W which I think is the same as the factory bulb. I think the difference is in the type of materials used that creates the brighter whiter light.

 

I was just checking because sometimes people get bulbs that are much higher than the factory rating, which in turn causes the potential for melted wiring and/or a fire hazard. Extra light is always good though!