2005-2009 Mustang Information on The S197 {Gen1}

Fog light lens cracks?

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Old 1/26/08 | 10:38 PM
  #1  
backafter20's Avatar
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Fog light lens cracks?

Both of my fog light lenses on my 05 GT are equally and completely covered by fine spider-web like cracks. It looks bad, and would appear to be road damage, except that there are no impact points. Also, I have no damage or cracks in my headlight covers. There is also no damage to my front bumper, mirrors, or hood, so I don't believe that they were damaged by rocks or anything. How could they both be damaged equally, with no signs of impact there or anywhere else? Is this a Ford defect? The car is still under warranty? Do you think I'll get anywhere with asking Ford to replace them?
Old 1/27/08 | 06:17 AM
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Sounds like a defect to me and I would take it to Ford since you still have a warranty.
Old 1/27/08 | 07:14 AM
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Your car is less than 3 yrs. old, so if you are under 36K mi. it s/b under warranty.
I gave up on my fogs and switched them to driving lights to run with high beams.
(I don't ever drive in fog.)
Old 1/30/08 | 01:10 PM
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Thanks guys. I'll check with Ford.
Old 1/31/08 | 11:52 AM
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karman...I guess those local police in the New Hampshire countryside don't issue any tickets to you when you "blind" them at night?
Old 1/31/08 | 01:21 PM
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You should take it to the dealer, they should replace them w/o a problem. Dad's Mountaineer had the same on one lens, and the other had broken where a rock hit it.
Old 2/10/08 | 05:42 AM
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go to the dealer and get it replaced with your warranty
Old 2/10/08 | 05:49 AM
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Originally Posted by Mark S.
karman...I guess those local police in the New Hampshire countryside don't issue any tickets to you when you "blind" them at night?
Hey Genius...
Did you read my sig. (or my post)
The lights only come on with the HIGH BEAMS.
I turn off my high beams to oncoming traffic, don't you?
Old 3/29/08 | 12:50 AM
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Ok, I went to my local Ford dealer about the cracked fog light lenses, and I was told that they may have cracked due to "drying out" from some kind of chemical, such as a degreaser applied to them. Huh? Since when are lenses subject to drying out? Also, I only use washes intended for cars to clean the exterior. The service guy said he'd be happy to replace the lenses for me, but if Ford denied the warranty work, I'd have to pay for it. He said that Explorer fog lenses were very bad for this, but he hadn't seen it on a Mustang till now. He also said that Ford usually denies the claim on the Explorers. He then told me that I needed to contact Ford myself and get approval through their website, which he claimed was very easy to find. Well...I can't find it.

Is this guy just putting me off? Wouldn't it be normal for the dealership to file a claim to get approval, not the customer? The service guy and several others at the dealership had no problem saying that the cracks were not due to road damage, but were issues with the lenses themselves. So why would Ford not be willing to replace the lenses? Anyone out there with similar issues?

Anyone have a link for Ford Warranty?
Attached Thumbnails Fog light lens cracks?-100_0232-large-.jpg   Fog light lens cracks?-100_0236-large-.jpg  

Last edited by backafter20; 3/29/08 at 12:52 AM.
Old 3/29/08 | 10:15 AM
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I had some warranty issues with my F150. All it required was the dealer taking some pictures and submitting them to Ford. No problem, all issues were covered. By the way, it only took minutes and the service writer handled it, not me.
Old 3/29/08 | 04:38 PM
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That crack doesn't look like an impact, but more like rapid heating/cooling of the lens. Do you drive with the foglamps on for long periods of time?
Old 3/29/08 | 08:57 PM
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Originally Posted by metroplex
That crack doesn't look like an impact, but more like rapid heating/cooling of the lens. Do you drive with the foglamps on for long periods of time?
Thats what I was thinking. Or after market bulbs
Old 3/29/08 | 10:14 PM
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They are factory bulbs/lenses. I used to use them a lot. I pretty much had them on anytime the headlights were on, until I moved to Colorado last year. For some reason, everyone here thinks they are my high beams and flashes me to turn them off. That never happened when I lived in Ilinois. I'm not sure when they cracked, but they are getting worse and I hardly ever even use them anymore because I get sick of getting "flashed". I just don't think that the lenses should crack just because I used the lights, and I don't think that they should tell me that they are "chemically damaged". That's BS. Rapid heating and cooling is more likely, but shouldn't Ford have accounted for that in the material they chose for the lens? I don't see how it cannot be under warranty. As I said, those at the dealership all agreed it was not road damage. Try another dealer or look for that Ford warranty link?
Old 3/29/08 | 10:22 PM
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yeah, that should be covered, I would **** n moan till it was covered.
Odd tho, you would think we have seen it on others. Just a bad set I guess
I use mine all the time.
Also in Illinois and get flashed all the time, dummies.
Old 3/30/08 | 05:32 AM
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I get flashed all the time in MI. I had one police car flash me with their spotlamp.
Old 4/9/08 | 08:23 PM
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Just an update. I went back to the same dealership and saw a new guy in the service dept. He immediately saw that the lenses were defective and said he had never heard of anyone asking a customer to get warranty work approved themselves. He came out of a back room with an apologetic look on his face, and I thought he was going to change his story, but he was just disappointed that they didn't have the lenses in stock. He said they were already on order and could be replaced the next day. I go in tomorrow for the replacement. Now that's service! Don't know why they couldn't have done that in the first place?
Old 4/9/08 | 08:28 PM
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Just how it should have been done in the 1st place, some people
Old 4/11/08 | 12:08 PM
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Just out of curiosity, did you at anytime have those stick on tint covers on them? If you did, that's what probably caused the problem. The same has happened to my headlight covers, spider cracks everywhere. The cause were the spray and cling headlight covers and leaving them on while the lights were on. That's the chemical reaction they're talking about in regards to them drying out.
Old 4/11/08 | 12:46 PM
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So far most of the cracks that have been reported appear to be on naked foglamp lenses (no tint covers or otherwise). I have installed my Xpel clear 40mil covers for over a year now and so far so good. The clear covers are similar to the shatter-resistant security films they install on windows. It only helps strengthen/protect the surface.
Old 4/11/08 | 01:20 PM
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Originally Posted by SixtySix
Just out of curiosity, did you at anytime have those stick on tint covers on them? If you did, that's what probably caused the problem. The same has happened to my headlight covers, spider cracks everywhere. The cause were the spray and cling headlight covers and leaving them on while the lights were on. That's the chemical reaction they're talking about in regards to them drying out.
+1. Same thing happened to me.


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