fog light installation
Legend
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 9,112
Likes: 1
From: Spring, TX
RE: fog light installation
Here you go...
ORIGINAL: Damnit, Laverty
How-To: Wiring Aftermarket Driving lights into a non-fog car.
Matt Laverty, NWNeon.
Wiring driving lights into a non-fog car is remarkably simple. If your car didn't come with lights or wiring you'd be surprised how easy it is to come up with an installed set, that looks factory from inside the car.I wired a '98 Switch into a '99 car using a '96 pigtail with this method. As far as I can tell, no colors changed between 96/99.
You will Need:
Factory Fog/Defrost switch with a pigtail of wiring harness on the Fog plug. Trying to solder directly to the switch is enough of a pain that i'd rather not detail it here.
Your Aftermarket lights -or- Factory lights, with bulb plugs.
A length of 12/14ga Wire
Inline fuse (optional)
butt connectors
-or-
Soldering iron and shrink tubing.
1: Mount the foglights.
2: Run both negative bulb leads together and to ground as specified in the instructions with your kit. I extended the ground on my lights, spliced them together, and grounded them via a bolt through the core support.
3: Splice both positive driving light lines together.
4: Go into the car, and splice the following wires to each other between the Fog switch and the defrost switch. In the below diagram the first color is the insulation color, the second is the stripe on the wire.
4a:
Fog Defrost
BL/OR BL/GR
WH/OR BL/RD
4b: Splice Purple/White AND Orange on the fog side, then splice these 2 to Orange on the defrost side. This triple joint provides the switch with power, as well as power to the lights at the bumper.
4C: At this point, you should have one wire left on the Fog switch connector not running to anything. This wire gets spliced to a length of 12 or 14ga wire, and run to your positive foglight wiring up front. Just run the wire through the firewall grommet behind the driver's side shocktower, down the drivers inner fender and to the lights. For safety's sake, you might want to put an inline fuse on this length of wire. I have not, and have had no issues, but better safe than sorry.
5: At this point, everything should be either crimped, or preferably soldered and shrinktubed. The Factory switch acts as the relay and as the switch that came with your aftermarket setup, so you will need neither of those. Turn the car on, and test the switch. When pressed with the key on, the driving lights should come on up front.
6: Be aware that with this setup, driving lights are independent of the headlights, and can be switched on with the marker lights. They will turn off if you turn your interior dimmer all the way off as well, regardless of the switch position. I ran this setup from a factory switch to 2 PIAA 510's with 100w bulbs and have had no issues in four months and 6,000 miles but you undertake this modification at your own risk. Attach the standard disclaimer here. if something breaks i'm willing to help you fix it, but don't blame whatever happens on me- fair warning.
Best of luck, and enjoy being able to see!
How-To: Wiring Aftermarket Driving lights into a non-fog car.
Matt Laverty, NWNeon.
Wiring driving lights into a non-fog car is remarkably simple. If your car didn't come with lights or wiring you'd be surprised how easy it is to come up with an installed set, that looks factory from inside the car.I wired a '98 Switch into a '99 car using a '96 pigtail with this method. As far as I can tell, no colors changed between 96/99.
You will Need:
Factory Fog/Defrost switch with a pigtail of wiring harness on the Fog plug. Trying to solder directly to the switch is enough of a pain that i'd rather not detail it here.
Your Aftermarket lights -or- Factory lights, with bulb plugs.
A length of 12/14ga Wire
Inline fuse (optional)
butt connectors
-or-
Soldering iron and shrink tubing.
1: Mount the foglights.
2: Run both negative bulb leads together and to ground as specified in the instructions with your kit. I extended the ground on my lights, spliced them together, and grounded them via a bolt through the core support.
3: Splice both positive driving light lines together.
4: Go into the car, and splice the following wires to each other between the Fog switch and the defrost switch. In the below diagram the first color is the insulation color, the second is the stripe on the wire.
4a:
Fog Defrost
BL/OR BL/GR
WH/OR BL/RD
4b: Splice Purple/White AND Orange on the fog side, then splice these 2 to Orange on the defrost side. This triple joint provides the switch with power, as well as power to the lights at the bumper.
4C: At this point, you should have one wire left on the Fog switch connector not running to anything. This wire gets spliced to a length of 12 or 14ga wire, and run to your positive foglight wiring up front. Just run the wire through the firewall grommet behind the driver's side shocktower, down the drivers inner fender and to the lights. For safety's sake, you might want to put an inline fuse on this length of wire. I have not, and have had no issues, but better safe than sorry.
5: At this point, everything should be either crimped, or preferably soldered and shrinktubed. The Factory switch acts as the relay and as the switch that came with your aftermarket setup, so you will need neither of those. Turn the car on, and test the switch. When pressed with the key on, the driving lights should come on up front.
6: Be aware that with this setup, driving lights are independent of the headlights, and can be switched on with the marker lights. They will turn off if you turn your interior dimmer all the way off as well, regardless of the switch position. I ran this setup from a factory switch to 2 PIAA 510's with 100w bulbs and have had no issues in four months and 6,000 miles but you undertake this modification at your own risk. Attach the standard disclaimer here. if something breaks i'm willing to help you fix it, but don't blame whatever happens on me- fair warning.
Best of luck, and enjoy being able to see!
