Halfords rear fog light

[wibblywobbly]

Right, I need to get mine through its first MOT. I imported it myself so no dealer to do the donkey work for me. If it wasn't raining so damned hard today I would probably have sorted it by now, but....

First job is to fit the exquisitely finished Halfords rear fog light. I am looking for the sort of instructions that a retarded baboon could understand, so anything along the lines of 'Bolt the light to the bumper and fit a switch' won't quite cut the mustard!

I can fit the light to the bumper actually, but need some advice on what kind of switch, which wires to tap into, etc.

Thanks in anticipation for all you sparkies out there.

Cheers

Rob G

[surffreak]

what you should do is run it through a relay and it is quite easy to do.

have a look at this and see if it helps

http://www.yotatech.com/~corey/tech/...ghts/corey.htm

Corey is on about how to wire up front fogs or spots but it is the same for a single fog light on the back

[marky]

i think you need to have an illuminated switch for mot. cause of those people who drive round with fog lights on in the day and clear nights etc obviously dont know its on

[rich]

I think you'll find that the wiring instructions are inside the box of the fog light!

My advice would be to use a relay under the dash with the power taken from the tail light fuse. Sorry haven't got time ATM to write a full description.

Here's the wiring diagram to locate the wires.

http://www.afm15.dial.pipex.com/surf...orlighting.jpg

The wiring colour key is on this drawing. http://www.afm15.dial.pipex.com/surf...torpreheat.jpg

All of the wires that you need come from the fusebox in the drivers footwell.

Hope this helps

Rich.

[Phil H]

Rob,

As already mentioned You should always use a relay. There should be instructions in the lamp box and also on the relay and switch. The relay is simply a low power switch for a high power operation.

Take the cover off the steering column and use a meter to find the side light switched 12V (so you need the lights on to use the lamp.) Use a scotch-lock to take a feed to the relay terminal with the illuminated switch in line.

You should then take a feed from the battery to the relay (in line fuse advisable or use a relay with an on board fuse holder.)and then a switched live from the relay to the lamp. You will need earth (chassis) connections at the switch, relay and lamp.

If you need any more direction give me a shout but once you read the instructions it will all seem easy..

Phil

[bensonsnuts]

i think you need to have an illuminated switch for mot. cause of those people who drive round with fog lights on in the day and clear nights etc obviously dont know its on

As mentioned , you do need an illuminated switch for the mot. As the ones you buy aftermarket are unbearably naff you might want to consider a trip to the scrapyard , several models of Toyota used the same switchgear for a number of years , so you should find something that fits straight in to the blanks on your dash .

[Guest]

As mentioned , you do need an illuminated switch for the mot. As the ones you buy aftermarket are unbearably naff you might want to consider a trip to the scrapyard , several models of Toyota used the same switchgear for a number of years , so you should find something that fits straight in to the blanks on your dash .

If you can't get an illuminated switch just get a lamp from halfords - they sell ones that fit in a 16mm hole (i think it's that size). The rules are that you must have illumination of some kind to show that it is on. Also it should be wired to the side lamp circuit so that it cannot be on without sidelamps.

I have an unilluminated Toyota original switch and a separate lamp. My switches are illuminated by the interior dash lamps so I can see them but don't have a separate on/off illumination so I have a separate lamp in the dash wired in parallel to show when the fogs are on.

Cheers

[wibblywobbly]

Thanks guys

I reckon that by tomorrow evening I will have this light fitted. Thanks guys!

Rob G

[weardale_red]

Hi,

Sorry for the late post but I'm just catching up.

I was led to understand that rear foglights should only be activated when the headlights are on (dipped & full).

Front foglights can be on with sidelights but rear are activated by headlights.

Clive

[wibblywobbly]

Catching Up???

Ok, you have 12,000 posts to read by my reckoning.

According to the web sites that I discovered, the MOT requirement is that:

The rear fog light must not be a focused beam.
It must be red.
It must be within 'x' cms of the right hand edge, or central, and 'x' cms above ground level, but not exceeding 'x' cms above. In other words mount it on the rear bumper, pretty near the edge.
The switch must either be illuminated or it must have a warning light linked to it.
It must be impossible to switch the rear fog light on unless a minimum of the sidelights are on.

So, I found the live wire to the cigarette lighter light (as this only comes on when the sidelights are on). This circuit is a high drain, so will be capable of taking any load that the fog light imposes.

I then plumbed in the fog light wiring, dead easy.
Attach earth from fog light to chassis.
Attach live from fog light to switch.
Attach live from switch to cigarette lighter circuit.
Attach earth from switch to chassis.

The worst bit was routing the longest cable length under the central tunnel and carpets. Routing them down the outside edge of a car is bad news, if they fracture in an accident and short to the chassis, you have a potential fire hazard. Strange but true.

I hope that this helps someone!!

Cheers

Rob G

[pops]

have you concidered the reversing light/fog light mod.
on here somewhere. a search will find it!

[JimL]

The worst bit was routing the longest cable length under the central tunnel and carpets. Routing them down the outside edge of a car is bad news, if they fracture in an accident and short to the chassis, you have a potential fire hazard. Strange but true.

maybe so but theres already a tonne of wiring going down the passenger side under the grey strip

[weardale_red]

Rear foglight

Hi Rob G,

Point taken!

The only reason I say this is that on all the cars I have driven, and presently own, the rear foglight will not come on unless the dipped headlights are on.

They will NOT come on with sidelights alone.

Also with regard to cabling, the SVA requirments are different to MOT.

For instance when fitting an external rear foglight to the bumper, be sure the wires are covered with conduit between the light and the entry point to the body work. This will fail otherwise.



Clive