soloracer951

Guys,

I have to get my car inspected by this Wednesday to meet regulations for Canada or they will tell me to ship it south. I have everything done except the daytime running lights. I bought a cheap set of fog lights and want to set them up to turn on as soon as the car is turned "ON". I have everything wired up so that if I touch the power wire to the + side of the battery the fog lights turn on so I know they are working. The problem is that I can't find a switched power supply anywhere to supply power to them when the key is turned. I've gone to the fuse box under the dash and tried the fuses for the cigarette lighter, fuel pump and power windows. So far nothing has worked. All I get is some funny clicking but no lights. There is an inline 15A fuse on the line to the driving lights but I can't see that as being a problem. Why are they not turning on when I wire them to the fuse box? What do I have to do? It was suggested I get a relay but I don't understand what difference that will make. I still have to find a power switched power supply so what good will a relay do? What do you guys suggest? If you know of a switch power line that I can tap into let me know - pictures would be a definate bonus.

soloracer951

Nobody knows?

DamonB

As for your lights not coming on that is you not finding the correct spot to tap into.

The relay is a MUST. By just wiring the foglights directly to the fusebox you're asking that circuit in the box to supply power not only for what it was designed for but also a big current draw item like foglights! This will leave you with dim foglights, blow fuses or possibly cook wiring.

The correct way to wire the foglights is with a relay. You connect the lights and battery power to a relay. Then you wire the relay coil to a circuit that is energized when the key is on. The coil will pull no juice at all so you can tap it where it's most convenient. The lights will actually pull power through their own dedicated wiring and won't overtax any other electrical circuits.

If none of this makes sense I would get help from somebody local pronto.

soloracer951

Thanks for the info Damon.

So here is what I must do:

1) Buy a relay
2) hook one line to full power source (any power source)
3) hook one line to a switched power source (to turn the relay "on")
4) hook one line to the power feed for the driving lights
5) hook one line to a ground source.

So the question remains though, what would you use for the switched power source? The full power source could be something as simple as the positive terminal on the battery correct? Would you use one of the fuses in the fuse box for a "switched" or "remote on" supply? Which one?

saxyman990

As far as a switched source goes, one of the easiest places I've found is in the interior fuse box by the drivers kick panel. There are a few unused connectors in there, and a couple of them can be used for 12v source.

-Rob

soloracer951

That is where I was hooking up the foglights direct and didn't get them to light up at all - possibly not enough current to power the lights? I think I will try the cig lighter fuse hooked up to the relay and see what happens.

Sgtblue

iTrader: (16)

Look just above the fuse box lid under the driver's side dash. There should be two small unused spade sockets. I think they're both female but I'm at work right now and can't check for sure. The one on the right is switched power.

BTW, my car is a 93, just in case that makes a difference.

recon fd

http://robrobinette.com/drl.htm

Thata the best way to do it. Good luck

soloracer951

recon: Awsome find! I actually bought the DRL controller but was going to take it back because it says not to be used with pop up head lights. I have to get this done tonight as my deadline for certification is coming up REALLY fast. Thanks guys for your help.

soloracer951

ARRRRRGGGHHH! So I used my DRL kit that I bought and installed it as described in the robrobinette instructions. I turned the car on and it worked! However, I turned the car off and the lights stayed on. Turns out there is an additional YELLOW wire in my kit that is not mentioned in the robrobinette instructions. According to the instructions that come with the kit this wire is supposed to be connected to the Park Lights. I quickly ground this wire and the lights go off. I turn the car on again and the lights go on and once again they won't go off. I ground the yellow wire and this time I blow the fuse. WTF? Where would I find a wire to the park lights?

jeffrored92

I sketched a quick diagram of how you could wire yours up. The switched 12V source will activate the relay whenever the ignition is on. This draws only a small amount of current so pretty much any switched 12V source will do (ie: cigarette lighter)

When the relay is activated by your switched 12V source, it closes the circuit and provides 12V to the fog lights directly from the battery (through an inline fuse which you should put in there for safety. I used a 15 amp fuse)

Use relatively heavy gauge wire between battery and relay, relay and fog lights, fog lights and ground, as these wires see around 8 amps if each fog light is rated at 50W. Ground the fog lights to the chassis.

You can use relatively light gauge wire from your switched 12V to the relay, and from the relay to ground. These wires will see stuff all current.

Note that in the picture there is a switch between the relay and ground. This is so you can turn on/off the fog lights. If you want yours to always be on, then you can leave this switch out. But I'd put one in anyway, as it's very easy and very handy. If it's not quite legal, then just hide the switch somewhere under the dash. You can leave the switch "ON" if you need to.

Also, this will make your fog lights come on when the igntion is on, not just when the engine is running.

I can't add any comments on the kit thing you're using. Hopefully this will help you either do the job again, or figure out the problems you've got

jeffrored92

Nuts, I probably should have read rob robinettes write up before I posted, looks like my info probably isn't relevant..........never mind.....

Sorry I can't be any more help!

BOTTLEFED

iTrader: (1)

I have actually done this on my car except I wired it into the small clear parking lights in the stock turn siganls. They are plenty bright enough for driving lights and look cool too.
However, the fog lights you are talking about will work just fine in this setup as well. I'll go take a few pics and post a writeup in the next few hours. It should solve your problem

BOTTLEFED

iTrader: (1)

OK,
When I did this I wanted to keep it as simple as possible. I was already doing a mod so that I could switch on one of the rad. fans manually. So I needed a power source that worked only when the car was ON.
One of the 4 wires going to each fan is switched on when the ign. is in the ON position; from what I remember it was yellow w/ white stripe (just use a test light to find it). Splice into it and run it to your relay then all the other wiring is the same as said in previous posts.

Here are some pics of my setup...

this pic shows the relay as I attached it to the bottom of the fuse box

BOTTLEFED

iTrader: (1)

this pic shows the white wire that is switched on by the relay going to the green power wire for the front clear parking lights
if you run fog lights then run this wire to the power (usually red wire) of both of your lights
(sorry it looks so messy but I just got my car painted)

BOTTLEFED

iTrader: (1)

this pics shows the fused wire from the batt. that goes to the relay

hope these will give you some direction to start with

Nova7

iTrader: (5)

If it's not too late, the easiest thing to do--i did it to a Chrysler i imported--is to go to Canadian Tire and by a DRL kit in the automotive section for $25. It connects to the battery, the light you want to come on, and a sensor line like the oil pressure that is on when the engine is on. It works great! I've been using it for 5 years. Lights come on when the ignition is on and go off a few seconds after you turn the ignition off. Super easy!