edit: writeup with pictures here: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/590995

I know this has been over many times, but I finally got my foglights working how I wanted them to be. Independant of everything, and not when car is off. Only when key is turned.

This is not the same as the foglight rewire which taps into the corner light. This only requires 3-4 inches of wire, which does not leave the fuse box. This is very simple and takes approximately 5-10 minutes to do.

**NOTE: Some people mentioned tapping into the ORANGE wire going into the wiper relay. THIS IS INCORRECT. your foglights will work the same way, except for when your windshield wipers are on, which will cause your foglights to go out!! Those of you that wired your fogs light this way may want to turn on your windshield wipers and see for themselves!!**

Here is the correct way. --

This was done on a 95 SE, so if anything on your car is different, you may need to do further research (as far as wire colors, relay locations etc.) however I'm not positive, as my car is the only one I've personally done this on. Do this mod at your own risk, as I'm not responsible for anything that you do wrong. Forgive my rambling, I'm not the best at write-ups. anyways people here it is...



STEP:

1. Disconnect the positive terminal of the battery (precationary, so that we don't screw up our electrical system.) The oem nut is 10mm.

2. Remove coolant resevoir next to relay box (passenger side) simply pull up on the resevoir, it should have a plastic rectangular shape sitting in a metal 'slot'. (similar to a battery/phone/camera etc sliding into a charger/holster/cradle)



3. Remove relay cover, by releasing the tabs on the sides.



4. Remove the two far left, and two far right relays. Simply push the tab and pull up on the fuse. (this is so that we can perform step 5.)



5. Remove the two screws holding the relay box to the fender. A Phillips Head screwdriver, or the same 10mm wrench from step 1 will do.

6. Pull loose the leg of the relay box (attached to the wheel-well part of the fender.) There is a tab, but you basically have to yank it loose.

7. Now separate the top half of the relay-box with the relays, from the bottom half of the relay box, which is where we will be working. You must release all of the tabs, on the left, top (motor facing) and right. The fender-facing tabs are the hardest to release, and require pulling up while pushing the tabs toward each other (these 2 should be done after the other tabs are free.)

8. If you've managed to get to this point, congrats, you have probably gotten pist at the little tabs, and are ready to work, here we go. No turning back now, your wiring will never be oem again. (This can be reversed, but WHY would you want to?) Anyways, the wires leading to the FR FOG LAMP relay (motor-facing-right, when the cover is on, refer to the relay cover if you are confused) You will need to find the trigger line for the fog lights (it should be green with a yellow stripe) Cut this wire. Tape off the wire leading down with electrical tape so that it doesn't short on anything. Strip back the wire going up into the relay. Now take 3-4 inches of thick insulated wire (at least as thick as the g/y foglight trigger, and 'connect' one end to the g/y stripe fog trigger going into the relay.

9. phew, now that you are no longer using the headlights (low beam) as a 'circuit' completer, you can find another wire to tap into for a trigger to complete the circuit (meaning give power to your foglights) For this, the best wire to tap would be one only on with ACC, or one turn from the key. in this mod, we will tap into the wiper relay. use the relay cover again as a reference to find the wiper relay. It should be the motor-facing middle relay (or the third from the left when closed) You will need to strip back the light green wire (NOT CUT) and connect the other end of your 3-4" wire to it. You may also use a wire tap, but I prefer a strong, twisted wire connection myself. Again, when you have a good connection, cover the wire VERY well. I used electrical tape

10. You have now completed the circuit using an accessory (the windshield wipers) Before we put everything back together, we need to test it out to make sure we did everything right. Replace the FR FOG LAMP relay, and reconnect the positive terminal of the battery. Now turn the key to ACC, and turn on your foglights. If you did everything correctly, they should work! Test them with your windshield wipers on, as well as corner lamps, low beams and high beams. all good? GREAT!! you've done everything correctly. no fogs? uh oh, something with your car is NOT the same as a 95 SE, OR you will have to go back and check your steps.

11. If the foglights worked, you can now put everything back together, and show off those fogs like a BMW, Camaro, etc... BY THEMSELVES!
Make sure to tighten that postive battery terminal, replace all relays, replace any screws that were undone, and check your engine bay for loose tools.

**NOTE: Some people mentioned tapping into the ORANGE wire going into the wiper relay. THIS IS INCORRECT. your foglights will work the same way, except for when your windshield wipers are on, which will cause your foglights to go out!! Those of you that wired your fogs light this way may want to turn on your windshield wipers and see for themselves!!**

 

I like that write up. . . i've been trying to do this for a while now and never had the time, tonight is the night. . . thanks

BTW: I have a 98 so i'll see if i mess anything up.

Sam

 

Wow, any pictures to go with this??

 

Check my site for a complete similar write up with pictures. i chose to use the parking lights for power since i saw no reason for the fogs to be on, but no parking lights.

After doing mine, my lowbeams were actually brighter while my parking lights showed no dimming from the extra electrical draw.

Do it anyway you like, as long as it gets the job done, and doesnt fry anything.

BTW, i prefer taps because they have metal slots open just enough to allow the insulation to get cut, not the wires. Want to be sure you have a connection? Twist the tap back and forth a few times to make sure the insulation is out of your way.

My dad still has the same wire taps from 15 years ago working in his Camaro, and he taught me how to use them.

To each his own.

 

I was too lazy to go buy taps. (stupid huh?) oh well, I did my entire custom stereo install with just electrical tape, and that shiet never fails me. Guess I'm just too annoyed by small connecting devices like butt connectors, wire taps, and terminals (too bad because they really are wonderful when you use them)

 

K, I added pictures, sorry not a lot, but didn't feel like taking it all apart again. Here's some more, enjoy!

 

Couldn't this also be used to make the headlights work the same way? So that they turn on/off as soon as the key is turned to ACC...

 

I suppose so.. but I don't know much about wiring and crap, and it hurts my little brain to think about this anymore, I'm just glad it's working, and I can use my windshield wipers, AND foglights in my rainy state (see the clouds?)

 

oh suppose you can't see the clouds.. all the white in the background isn't sun, it's clouds 3/4 of the year here we don't get to see the sun, just the wet attacking us.

 

Good job with the write up.....
If it makes your lowbeams brighter i think its well worth it.

 

You could, but you would get **** for power. The main idea would be to set up a relay that would kick on when you had power to the ACC wire, which in turn would allow the power to go to the standard headlight relay.

Kind of like a fail safe, you heads would only run when your key was on the ACC position

 

It would be good, generally. However I would rather keep them the way they are, because I often use my headlights w/out key (for lighting stuff up.) as you can see I have an optima yellow top and that sucker can drain for hours and still start up the first time.

 

just wanted to bump this up for anyone who doesn't have search seeking it. good write up.


i just used thelastboyscout's write up (thanks!) and it came out great so far. what i like about this is that if you leave the foglight switch on, when i'm leaving my car and hit the alarm, the clearance, side marker, and fogs blink!

this was a pretty easy mod, aside from opening the darn relay box when it was cold out, those tabs just seemed to not want to open. this is a must for any max driver with fogs!


all this done to a gxe without the c & c package (or any others for that matter). wired them all myself to seem like they came stock

 

Can 100 w bulbs be installed with the OEM wiring instead of 55 w bulbs? I don't think the 55s are bright enough.

 

I would think it would burn harnest/housing.

 

I bought my car used. How do I know if the previous owner did this mod or not?

 

i just did this today, very easy, and awesome i did it on a '97 same wiring

 

If you can turn your fogs on with the headlights OFF, some sort of wiring mod has been made to your lights. If not, they're factory wired.

 

There is a WAY easier way to do this. I simply jumped a wire from the proper tab on the fog light relay to the ABS motor relay. Essentially, when the ABS relay switches on, it now switches the fog light relay on as well. All it took was one little wire. And, just like with your setup, you can't leave the fogs on, because as soon as you get out of position II on the ignition, the relay for the ABS also switches off.

About the only modification required was to cut one wire and to add another.

 

yeah yeah you JERK ur just tryin to show off that u have ABS!! not all of us are that lucky haha good idea tho, same thing pretty much, and its the same thing u did, except we did it to the wiper. this thing took one little wire as well, and clipping one other, so its not really WAY easier to do it its the same

 

I HATE ABS....
but yeah good write up, maybe circle the spots where people need to focus on or something.

 

Awesome writeup. Don't know why I enver thought of this myself. I might redo mine to get rid of the ghettofied wire running through my engine bay...this is much cleaner.

Nice work...

 

I guess the length of your description just made it seem a lot more difficult then I remembered.

 

Kenji, those pictures are not working. Can you fix them?

 

it will look like this

 

There are two relays for ABS, one is "ABS motor" and i dont exactly remember what the other one is but its right next to it to the right. Which one did you use? Also, what wire from ABS relay did you use? Thanks

 

I can't remember, but if you can get me a diagram of the relay, I can tell you.

 

Will the fog lights always be on just when you turn the switch on?
I want to run a wire to my ABS motor relay but i don't know which wire to use, it looks something like this...

Anyone know how to wire it?

 

You need to jump a wire from the switch terminal of the ABS motor relay to the switch terminal of the FR fog lamp relay. Use a multitester to find it. That is unless you know what the colour codes stand for. In any case, I'd suggest the use of a multimeter to be sure. Heck, I figured out the wiring by looking at the backs of the relays. They have a little diagram on them if they are stock relays.

 

What about the pictures in the first post? Can anyone restore them?

 

MaxiSpeed97, do you have the corresponding information for the colour coding of the tabs? Or even just the picture that's cast into the plastic of the relay (if it's a stock relay).

Heck anyone can just snap open the case and take the pic and host/post.

 

i dont have the corresponding info and i took a look at the relays and they all have diagrams on them except the two. ABS activator and ABS motor, those two are little bit smaller and are greyish in color. On top of the other relays there are little diagrams like
1-3
2-5
4-
but i'm not 100% sure what i'm looking for in the diagram anyways

 

Ok I have a question. I know the correct terminal for the Fog light relay is the left most one (when standing at the passenger side fender looking towards the motor.) However, I can't find the proper pin for the ABS motor, i've tried all of them, and the only one that semi works turns my drivers side headlight on as well. Which one did you use?

Update: Well the ONLY way I can get the fog lights to turn also turns my drivers side headlight on. WTF am I doing wrong?

 

Nothing beats electrical tape...ghetto style

 

Anbody done this on a '99 with success? Is everything the same? I think I'm going to try Sin's ABS relay method one of these days.

 

I've been really busy with final exams lately, I'll do my best to help out with more instructions when I have some more time.

 

ya, if this should only take 5-10 min, then I should do it too but need pictures! And is this THE absolute best method?

 

Why don't you learn more about wiring, and the way your car is wired and figure out for yourself what is "THE absolute best method"?

 

Sin's method is fine. I just need to know which terminals because it seems like mine aren't playing nice with one another.

 

wish someone posted a write-up like this 4years ago when i did mine.

good job!

Ant