DIY: Wire oem fog lights to ignition
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Rep Power: 787 DIY: Wire oem fog lights to ignition
Normally, the switch for true oem fog lights will only work with headlights in low beam mode. After doing this diy, the switch will work whenever the key is in the accessory position regardless of which lights are on. Note this diy is for the sedan switch. For the coupe, you'll have to test which wire gets power with the headlights on but not when they're off.
Tools needed:
Wire cutter
electrical tape
tap splices (2)
short 12-14 gauge wire
pliars
step 1. Remove the center piece that holds the fog light switch. You can pry it off from the sides with a screwdriver or stick your finger in the socket and try to pull it out
step 2. Unplug the harness from the switch and examine the back of it. You should see about 5 wires coming from them. One is ground, another is for the dash light, and another is the headlight remote turn on. I used a test light (194 light bulb) to see when voltage passed through each power wire. I narrowed this down to the blue wire as the one which becomes live when the headlights are turned on.
step 3. CUT the blue wire and splice the end coming from the switch to one side of your small piece of wire. Splice the other end of your wire to the positive green/yellow wire coming to the socket plug. The blue wire coming from the fog light switch should now be directly connected to the green/yellow power wire of the 12v socket.
step 4. Tape everything up and plug the harness back into the switch.
step 5. Put the key to the accessory position and make sure the switch turns on the fog lights at all times.
ALTERNATELY, you can connect the blue wire from the switch straight to the battery and have the switch turn the fogs on even without the key. Being the lazy guy I am, it didn't seem like fun to run a wire all the way to the battery when I had power right in front of me.
Now enjoy your 5 minutes of work Remember in some states it's illegal to drive with only fog lights on, but cops don't really care.
Tools needed:
Wire cutter
electrical tape
tap splices (2)
short 12-14 gauge wire
pliars
step 1. Remove the center piece that holds the fog light switch. You can pry it off from the sides with a screwdriver or stick your finger in the socket and try to pull it out
step 2. Unplug the harness from the switch and examine the back of it. You should see about 5 wires coming from them. One is ground, another is for the dash light, and another is the headlight remote turn on. I used a test light (194 light bulb) to see when voltage passed through each power wire. I narrowed this down to the blue wire as the one which becomes live when the headlights are turned on.
step 3. CUT the blue wire and splice the end coming from the switch to one side of your small piece of wire. Splice the other end of your wire to the positive green/yellow wire coming to the socket plug. The blue wire coming from the fog light switch should now be directly connected to the green/yellow power wire of the 12v socket.
step 4. Tape everything up and plug the harness back into the switch.
step 5. Put the key to the accessory position and make sure the switch turns on the fog lights at all times.
ALTERNATELY, you can connect the blue wire from the switch straight to the battery and have the switch turn the fogs on even without the key. Being the lazy guy I am, it didn't seem like fun to run a wire all the way to the battery when I had power right in front of me.
Now enjoy your 5 minutes of work Remember in some states it's illegal to drive with only fog lights on, but cops don't really care.
Last edited by gearbox; 09-23-2005 at 08:04 AM.
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Rep Power: 787 Thanks. I know it says this already, but it's very important that you CUT the blue wire. You only splice the end that comes from the switch. Do not just put a wire tap on the blue wire without cutting it. The idea is that before, the blue wire activates the switch when the headlights are on so the switch can then flip the relay and turn the lights on. After, you're just changing it so the socket plug sends the power.
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Rep Power: 787 well not really. When the ignition is on, the SWITCH is functional. You still need to press it for the fogs to come on, unless you leave it in the ON position.
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Rep Power: 0 Same wire for the coupes!! I did this a couple days ago and it works fine. I have been looking for a DIY that was this simple for the OEM fogs forever!!
Thank you gearbox!!
Thank you gearbox!!
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Rep Power: 0 Re: DIY: Wire oem fog lights to ignition
hey i recently bought oem fogs for my 95 si coupe, ive figured out all of the wires for them except the one thats red and says ignition? its like taht little metal clip wit the rubber around it that connects to another one? sorry i dont noe the specific term for it lol but i dont know where the ignition wire goes, thanks
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Rep Power: 787 Re: DIY: Wire oem fog lights to ignition
i would think it goes to the ignition power wire, which is under the steering column. prolly so that the fogs only get power when the car is on. but im not sure which color wire it would be...usually its red but i dont know for sure. its something you would need to test by checking each wire to see which one gets power when the car is in ON position.
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Rep Power: 260 Re: DIY: Wire oem fog lights to ignition
Just go to the photo gallery or type civic fog lights into google; a lot of people have them its not hard to find pics.
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Rep Power: 787 Re: DIY: Wire oem fog lights to ignition
pics for the diy or pics of fogs in general? there really isnt much i can post other than the back of the fog switch. its best if you test the wire yourself and figure out which one gets power when the lo beams are on. ive since rerouted my trigger wire to the red/blk dash light wire near the gauges so the fog switch works in park light mode or lo beam mode (but not in acc position). this way i know the fogs are off when i turn the park lights off. when i had them on acc, sometimes i would forget the switch on and end up driving around during the day with the fogs turned on and not realizing it.
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Re: DIY: Wire oem fog lights to ignition
hey i have a question i have an 02 civic sedan ex with no fog lights installed yet! i wanted to install it myself but i wasnt sure how complicated it was??? also i wanted to make them hids as well is that complicated?
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Rep Power: 787 Re: DIY: Wire oem fog lights to ignition
eh yeah, the oem fogs are quite a hassle. there are harness plugs, relays, and wiring that needs to be routed all over. the fender liners need to come out, bumper needs to come out and cut up to fit the fog trims, and quite a bit of interior pieces need to come out. center console, under dash fuse panels and pocket, glove box, and possibly some carpet. there are lots of things to plug in the car, then routing wiring outside above the tires and to the engine compartment areas around the headlights. i recently uninstalled my fogs since i only use the housings as a park light, and it was a real challenge getting everything removed. just follow the info on www.handaaccessories.com and you should be okay. the oem wiring is not thick enough to support hid. idk, if i were to do it again, i would never use the oem wiring. its needlessly overcomplicated. all you need is a simple relay harness, something like this you can make yourself. i did this for my lo beam hids, but you can do the same for fogs too. the way these are wired, they will turn on with the lo beams and stay on with the hi beams. you can attach the trigger wire to any power source you want tho, like park lights or a switch. use 14 gauge wiring and it will be just fine for hids. most of the stuff like the relay and holder can be bought from www.partsexpress.com and the rest from auto store. its much simpler and only requires a battery and ground connection. if you do this for hids, the diagram is exactly what you want. if you are using halogen bulbs, you will need to ground each bulb's negative wire to the car body and connect the positives to the new harness.
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Re: DIY: Wire oem fog lights to ignition
Just wanted to add an addition to the schematic that gearbox posted. Here is a wiring diagram so you can add the OEM feature of the fog lights going off when you turn your high beams on. If you want the fog lights to work off of a toggle switch you can replace the red/yellow wire from H4 with a toggle to the battery.
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