Fog-light wiring ?

Blackened302 · Jan 14, 2006

my fog lights are not wired to the parking lights--i think they are wired to the headlights instead.

usually they are wired to the parking lights, so the parking lights must be on in order for the fogs to be on (sends power to the fog relay, yada yada yada). in my car, the HEADLIGHTS have to be on (which leads me to believe they're wired to the headlights). how/what wire do i look for to wire them up to my parking lights instead of the headlights? thanks!

HISSIN50 · Jan 14, 2006

Do you want them wired to parking lights directly, or would being able to have the fogs on anytime the key is on, be good enough (the latter is very easy)?

growler · Jan 15, 2006

Maybe this write up will help http://www.mustangworld.com/ourpics/fcar/fog2.htm

Blackened302 · Jan 15, 2006

yes, JT, i want them wired up to be dependent on the parking lights (as if from the factory), not the headlights. aside from wanting to be able to have them on with the parking lights during the evening (which looks killer!!) i want them to turn on w/ the alarm.

sorry, growler, but that write-up's not it. i've seen that, and the second version, before and that is not what i want at all.

i suppose i need to take the wire that is connected to the headlights (which is making the fogs dependent on them) and wire it up to the parking lights instead, thus making the fogs dependent on the parking lights. what color would i be looking for? where would i look? thanks.

HISSIN50 · Jan 15, 2006

Paul, I hear ya. You are right about how to do it. If your alarm brain is close to the center console area, you could tap into the parking light circuit there. Otherwise, I would grab it at the headlight switch itself (I cant recall the color - I just used my test light to isolate the wire. The parking light wire and the dimmer wire will both illuminate in the parking light position, but when you run the dimmer up and down, your test light will not dim when you have the parking light wire). Or grab it in the driver kick panel (it is brown, IIRC).

Those are the simplest ways I know of. Then just hook that up to the input on the fog light switch (that article tells you which wire is the haadlight source).

Good luck bud.

Blackened302 · Jan 15, 2006

thanks, JT, glad i could count on you... again! a true asset to this forum! a few ?'s, though:

1) the wire i need to tap into the parking light circuit with--it's currently connect to the headlamps (we've established that). now, WHERE do you suppose it is done so? right by the headlight itself?

2) if i can't find it, should i just remove it from the foglight switch and add a new write from the switch to the parking lamp circuit?

thanks!

HISSIN50 · Jan 15, 2006

Ram000 said:
thanks, JT, glad i could count on you... again! a true asset to this forum! a few ?'s, though:

1) the wire i need to tap into the parking light circuit with--it's currently connect to the headlamps (we've established that). now, WHERE do you suppose it is done so? right by the headlight itself?

2) if i can't find it, should i just remove it from the foglight switch and add a new write from the switch to the parking lamp circuit?

thanks!

I like option #2. That is how I would do. I am WAY too lazy to try and trace whereever that OEM headlight feed-wire goes (others might know). Running a wire from the driver kick area isnt bad. You could even route it all high. Go behind the instrument cluster, over behind the stereo, down next to the shifter (under its bezel), through the side of the ashtray area (I have a switch tray down there anyhow) and on down to the fog light switch. I have wires running that same path.

Good luck Paul!

donjohn · Jan 15, 2006

do you know why your setup isn't like stock?

I'd assume that whoever messed with it probably hooked up the fogs right where wire harness is behind the lights. check for a wire running to the fogs, shouldn't be too difficult i'd think...

95cobraguy · Jan 15, 2006

in stock form the fogs are supposed to come on with the headlights, not the parking lights. at least thats how it is in the cobra, i would imagine it should be the same for the gt.

HISSIN50 · Jan 15, 2006

95cobraguy said:
in stock form the fogs are supposed to come on with the headlights, not the parking lights. at least thats how it is in the cobra, i would imagine it should be the same for the gt.

That is what I thought too. In many places, it is illegal to have the fog lights on without having the headlights on too, so that is how they come wired at the factory.

Blackened302 · Jan 15, 2006

95cobraguy said:
in stock form the fogs are supposed to come on with the headlights, not the parking lights. at least thats how it is in the cobra, i would imagine it should be the same for the gt.

wow, that's weird. my family has a few expeditions/f-150's and the fogs are dependent on the parking lights, not heads. i had a few other cars where the fogs were also dependent on the parking lights--i figured someone messed with my set-up.

anyhow, gonna go try and mess with it in a while. thanks for the help, gents

95cobraguy · Jan 15, 2006

i know its a popular thing to do, to wire up the parks to come on when the fogs come on as well, so it shouldn't be hard to find a good how to on the exact method of doing it. let us know what u find. i just found an article on www.mustangworld.com, go to the how-to's on the main home page, and there is an aricle towards the bottom called fog light re-wire. i knew i remember seeing that article somewhere. theres actually 2 articles so u should find what u need.

Blackened302 · Jan 15, 2006

95cobraguy said:
i know its a popular thing to do, to wire up the parks to come on when the fogs come on as well, so it shouldn't be hard to find a good how to on the exact method of doing it. let us know what u find. i just found an article on www.mustangworld.com, go to the how-to's on the main home page, and there is an aricle towards the bottom called fog light re-wire. i knew i remember seeing that article somewhere. theres actually 2 articles so u should find what u need.

yeah, those are the articles i was refering to earlier--growler also posted those. i didn't get a chance to check it out today, but hopefully i'll have a few minutes tomorrow. thanks again, guys.

maypo59 · Jan 16, 2006

not really sure about legal issues. I have a '99 explorer and it came from the factory with fogs that come on with the parking lights, and my '95 GT did not. But they do now thanks to the article on MustangWorld.. One thing to note: none of the lights get power straight from a switch, they get it from a swtched relay.. what you want to do is find that relay for the fogs and send it a signal full time, allowing the switch in the console to turn on/off the fogs. Make sure this feed wire is not "always on" but only on with the igntion, or you could find your self with a dead battery.

HISSIN50 · Jan 16, 2006

maypo59 said:
not really sure about legal issues. I have a '99 explorer and it came from the factory with fogs that come on with the parking lights, and my '95 GT did not. But they do now thanks to the article on MustangWorld.. One thing to note: none of the lights get power straight from a switch, they get it from a swtched relay.. what you want to do is find that relay for the fogs and send it a signal full time, allowing the switch in the console to turn on/off the fogs. Make sure this feed wire is not "always on" but only on with the igntion, or you could find your self with a dead battery.

Huh? The relay for fogs should have battery power at the common terminal already. And the power for the positive relay coil comes from the switch, which is controlled via the headlights, parking lights, etc (the wire he is going to find a new home for). So there should be no need to do any rewiring at the relay.

maypo59 · Jan 17, 2006

HISSIN50 said:
Huh? The relay for fogs should have battery power at the common terminal already. And the power for the positive relay coil comes from the switch, which is controlled via the headlights, parking lights, etc (the wire he is going to find a new home for). So there should be no need to do any rewiring at the relay.

Thats what I said. The switch does not send power straight to the lights, the relay does. And sending an "on" signal to the relay will allow for the fogs to be on independent of the headlights. And be carefull of where you get that new signal, so they can't be left on with the key off.

HISSIN50 · Jan 17, 2006

maypo59 said:
Thats what I said. The switch does not send power straight to the lights, the relay does. And sending an "on" signal to the relay will allow for the fogs to be on independent of the headlights. And be carefull of where you get that new signal, so they can't be left on with the key off.

I gotcha. I thought you were saying to find the relay to swap wires around, when in fact one does not need to do anything to the relay (matter of fact, there is not much you can do with the relay).

Blackened302 · Jan 17, 2006

gees, guys, i'm sorry, but i can't seem to get this. i tried looking for the wire that goes to the headlights so i can instead connect it to the parking lamps, but couldn't find it.

i think what i'll do is re-wire the switch--cut the one that connects to the headlights and route a new wire to the parking lights. only thing is, i don't know which wire that is. would you guys mind taking a look at the wiring schem and telling me which wire to cut and replace so i can wire them up to the parking lights instead? thanks!

i tried looking for the wire that switches the relay in these articles, but couldn't make sense of it. here are the links, just in case:
http://mustangworld.com/ourpics/fcar/fog1.htm
http://mustangworld.com/ourpics/fcar/fog2.htm

HISSIN50 · Jan 17, 2006

Paul, with the fog light switch removed (so you can access the connector, like in the pictures on the links), with the headlights on, one wire will show 12 volts. This terminal will go dead if you turn the headlights off. That is the feed to the switch, and is what you are going to change.

ACtually testing it is better than going with any given color. I would tell ya what color mine was if I knew (I just used a test light to decide).

Good luck bud.

CManT1914 · Jan 17, 2006

The fogs are designed on our cars to operate with the headlights ONLY. So no park lights, and no high beams either.

If you want to run them to operate with your park lights, it's SIMPLE. Simply run a wire from one of the park lights power wire to the power terminal on the fog light switch. Should take under 5 minutes.

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