Making my fog lights work with my headlights

[Mooch]

Hi Guys and girls,
I Have Vq Caprice and i hate how when i turn my fogs on my headlights turn off, i have taken out the switch and attacked the wires hoping for a fluke but no luck as most with cars a guess...
Also the relay in the engine bay is not hard to find but id prefer not to play with it.
My main problem is i still want the fogs to work on the stock switch and hopefully wont turn the mains off...

[STEALTHY™]

PM Markovr, he'll know if its possible, and how to do it if it is.

[kopper69]

It is possible, there is a slight modification that needs to be made. There was a how to a while ago around here. Hopefully someone can help you out, otherwise we need to go searching.

[ephect]

there will be a wire u need to cut between the fog light relay and the headlight relay.. should be under the bonnet. on VR-S it would be the brown/grey wire, VN-P VQ dont know what color, i'll have to double check but should join #87 on the low-beam light relay to #87a on the fog light relay.

easy way to test, replace the foglight relay with a 4pin relay instead of the 5pin, and it shouldnt turn the headlights off.
the 5th pin sends the feed to the lowbeam.

[vpete]

Just for your information (Qld) guys, it is illegal to run "Fog" lights with your headlights. They are there for fog use only and the reason they turn your headlights off is to shine under the fog and give you a better view of the road, that's why they are down low. It is a safety thing and i don't know how you would fare with your insurance company if you had an accident in the fog and they found the fog lights had been tampered with. When not in fog they are next to useless and only a "bling" thing anyway.

Not being a stick in the mud fella's just telling it like it is, you are all big boys and can make your own decisions on it.

This is an information post only, i'm not wanting to start a bun fight on the pro's and con's of fog lights (or driving lights as some like to call them) but they are another legal issue on their own!

[| evaN |]

^^^^ that guys right about fog lights but the thing is, most cars in australia aren't released with foglights, but released with driving lights. Driving lights dont have a cut off line but foglights do.

here are some blazer foglights. low with a distinct cutoff line.


now go out side and use your 'foglights', i doubt the pattern is like that.

[ephect]

on the VR-S the standard lights (calias, SS) are foglights, on the VY-Z there classed as driving lights. Technically you can replace the standard lights with aftermarket driving lights, (cut the 'cut off' wire) and they're legally driving lights. really it comes down to what you tell your insurance company, and if Mr Plod isnt in the mood!

[immortality]

you could always fit a small switch in that circuit to restore "factory" function when required

[vpete]

As i said guys there is another legal issue with driving/spot lights. They have to be a certain height from the ground if they are classed as driving/spot lights and that is in line with, and no lower than, the headlights. So if Mr Plod is in a picky mood he will ping ya for that one too! Also driving/spot lights are required to be hooked up to your high beam circuit only and have an in line switch!

So it doesn't matter how you look at it, all the cars getting around with the bling lights on are doing it illegally if you want to be picky about it.

The thing is, do you want to draw attention to yourself on the road? Not everyone has a stock legal car, even though we make sure our rides are the mechanically best and safest they can be. If Mr Plod suspects anything about your car he can pull you up for your bling lights as an excuse to go over it with a fine tooth comb, and they do it, and they love their job! I prefer the sleepers myself but thats a personal thing!

Me?....I try and behave myself in town. .........Pete!

[immortality]

there are some poeple there that need to get their heads out of there asses. what a stupid law. i'm sure i've read articles that state that driving in normal daylight with driving lights on decreases accident rates. same goes for the rear lights.

[commsirac]

What are we talking about here? High intensity rear lights to stop people running into preceding vehicle or front fog lamps that are designed not to bounce the beam back into the drivers face in fog. There have to be laws about how bright the lamps on the back of a car actually are......you just cant turn a spot lamp on the car behind you, I believe high intensity rear lamps exceed the requirements unless its foggy.

Yes, cant really understand why you would need to run the headlamps with the fog lamps, but since it is important to you, this is what you could do:

Find the wire that actually goes to the foglamps , splice into that and use the signal from that to trigger a relay which has its output connected to the output side of the low beam headlight relay. You could try and trigger the inputs of the headlight relay, but there is always the possible of a loop or feedback effects that may interfere with something else. You could have a switch on the trigger to use for those rwc inspections.

[STEALTHY™]

Well most people drive in a forward direction, so were talking front lights.


I always drive with my factory spotties on, and have seen time and time again people hesitate, and end up waiting for me to drive past. In my other car, they just pull out.

Whilst people can't drive, i'll drive with them on, legal or not.