installed fog lights = low battery
#1
installed fog lights = low battery
I bought a pair of fog lights the other day, and installed them yesterday. Went for a ride to meet up with one of my friends at a local park where we take walks.
Anyway, I parked the car and we walked about 2hours. Came back to the car, started up fine drove her back to her place. On the way, everytime I pressed the brakes my headlights would dim, got to her place and when I put the car in reverse it just died on me. So I started it up again and drove back home.
My alternator charged the battery since by the time I got home my lights weren't dimming anymore. As soon as i got home, I unhooked my fogs to prevent them from draining my batt again.
I followed the instructions for installing them. So I don't know what I did wrong.
Here is a diagram of what I did.
* I've use the airbag fuse since I have no airbag installed in the car, and the fact that it was easier to just tap into there. The lights do not come on when the car is off, meaning the fuse isn't getting any power when off. So that's not the problem. Correct me if I'm wrong.
other notes:
-lights come off when car is off
-always have my switch set to off
I'm thinking that the main power to relay is what is draining my battery even when the lights are off, But I don't know enough about electronics to be sure about that. And if it's that I have no idea how to fix it.
Any help would be appreciated.
Anyway, I parked the car and we walked about 2hours. Came back to the car, started up fine drove her back to her place. On the way, everytime I pressed the brakes my headlights would dim, got to her place and when I put the car in reverse it just died on me. So I started it up again and drove back home.
My alternator charged the battery since by the time I got home my lights weren't dimming anymore. As soon as i got home, I unhooked my fogs to prevent them from draining my batt again.
I followed the instructions for installing them. So I don't know what I did wrong.
Here is a diagram of what I did.
* I've use the airbag fuse since I have no airbag installed in the car, and the fact that it was easier to just tap into there. The lights do not come on when the car is off, meaning the fuse isn't getting any power when off. So that's not the problem. Correct me if I'm wrong.
other notes:
-lights come off when car is off
-always have my switch set to off
I'm thinking that the main power to relay is what is draining my battery even when the lights are off, But I don't know enough about electronics to be sure about that. And if it's that I have no idea how to fix it.
Any help would be appreciated.
#2
see the wires going into the bottom and the right of the relay? swap them. your relay is always on even when your lights are off. what you need is for the switch to determine the on/off state of the relay... not whether or not current passes through the 'throw' of the relay.
at least that's what i think you did. it's hard to tell what people do with relays unless they actually draw the relay's internals, cuz in a relay you have a 'coil' and a 'switch' (aka 'pole' and 'throw' respectively, as in SPST or SPDT)
at least that's what i think you did. it's hard to tell what people do with relays unless they actually draw the relay's internals, cuz in a relay you have a 'coil' and a 'switch' (aka 'pole' and 'throw' respectively, as in SPST or SPDT)
Last edited by CapedCadaver; 05-31-2009 at 09:23 AM.
#3
Alright, I'll look into that sometime this week as for now I don't feel like working on it.
I might of have inverted those two wires when installing without realizing it. if not, I'll still switch them and see what happens.
When I installed them, I saw the harness for the oem fogs and the plug for the oem switch pre-installed, Would I be able to just tap into those and call it a day without any other modifications to them?
I might of have inverted those two wires when installing without realizing it. if not, I'll still switch them and see what happens.
When I installed them, I saw the harness for the oem fogs and the plug for the oem switch pre-installed, Would I be able to just tap into those and call it a day without any other modifications to them?
#4
i mean, if you had the pre-wiring, i would've just plugged them into the stock wires. you can change it to run when the parking lights are on instead of only working with the headlights if you wanted to, but the stock wiring should be set up and ready to go (except maybe needing you to pop in a relay under the hood)
#7
Well, I think I found the problem.
My negative terminal at the battery wasn't screwed up tight, it was loose. I tighten it. Should resolve my problem, I'll rewire the fogs this week and see if that was the problem.
Thanks for the help guys.
My negative terminal at the battery wasn't screwed up tight, it was loose. I tighten it. Should resolve my problem, I'll rewire the fogs this week and see if that was the problem.
Thanks for the help guys.
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
vingodine
5th Generation Classifieds (2000-2003)
45
05-21-2016 12:46 PM
Viralkill
7th Generation Maxima (2009-2015)
1
08-17-2015 10:54 AM