Welcome to the North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club Monday March 18, 2024
Home Forums Images WikiNASIOC Products Store Modifications Upgrade Garage
NASIOC
Go Back   NASIOC > NASIOC Technical > Electrical & Lighting

Welcome to NASIOC - The world's largest online community for Subaru enthusiasts!
Welcome to the NASIOC.com Subaru forum.

You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our community, free of charge, you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is free, fast and simple, so please join our community today!

If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us.







* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads. 
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 01-26-2003, 12:21 PM   #1
WRX Bamboo Steamer
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 8239
Join Date: Jul 2001
Talking Fog light to Driving light mod

I replaced my fog lights with driving lights and wanted them to turn on only when the original fog light switch and the high beams where on. I was able to do this simply by cutting and splicing a few wires, no relays, diodes and anything else was needed. Here is how I did it:

First, remove the gauge pod for the speedometer. You need to tap a couple of wires off the back of it. Once you get the gauges out, look for the largest green connector. You need to tap the red wire on the edge of that connector. The connection is the switched negative for the high beams. Use a black wire to tap into it. Next find the blue wire with a stripe right next to it. Tap this wire with a red wire. You will need to connect this splice to two seperate parts so you may want to use two wires for this tap. This tap provides positive voltage when the headlights are on.

Now you need to modify the wires going to the foglight switch. First, cut the red wire with the green stripe. Tape off the end going to the car as you will not need it. Now connect the red wire that you attached to the speedometer plug. This supplies the switch light indicator with a positive voltage when the lights are on.

Next, cut the yellow wire with the blue stripe going to the fog light switch. Tape off the end going to the car as you will not be using it. Attached the black wire that you attached to the speedometer plug. This wire supplies the negative to the foglight relay only when the high beams are on.

Finally, you need to modify the wiring on the foglight relay. This is similar to the normal fog light mod. Cut the Red wire with the green stripe going to the relay. Tape off the end going to the car as you do not need it. Now connect the other red wire that you atached to the speedometer plug. Again, this wire provides positive voltage only when the lights are on.

That's it! Now, when you have the high beams on and the foglight switch on, the foglight indicator will light and the driving lights will light along with your normal highbeams. Turn the switch or the highbeams off and the driving lights shut off as well. It also works with the flash feature.

I hope someone finds this useful.
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.
WRX Bamboo Steamer is offline   Reply With Quote
Sponsored Links
* Registered users of the site do not see these ads.
Old 01-26-2003, 01:56 PM   #2
avk
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 17252
Join Date: Apr 2002
Chapter/Region: Tri-State
Location: NJ
Vehicle:
'06 WX8
59E

Default

Looks like you tapped into the wire for the high beam indicator light which is fine for feeding the relay. The switched ground wires can also be found under the dashboard so it may not be necessary to remove the cluster.
avk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-17-2003, 07:04 PM   #3
Snowphun
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 1800
Join Date: Jul 2000
Chapter/Region: NESIC
Location: Central CT
Default

Interesting, I was wrestiling with this issue last year and finally gave up. I'll give it a go this week, thanks!

avk: Got any specific locations? I'd still need to get behind the cluster to get to the high beam indicator wire, right?

Thanks,
Paul
Snowphun is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-17-2003, 10:16 PM   #4
avk
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 17252
Join Date: Apr 2002
Chapter/Region: Tri-State
Location: NJ
Vehicle:
'06 WX8
59E

Default

Paul: the high beam indicator is wired in parallel with the headlights, so the same switched ground can be found in the footwell. It's a thick red wire, at least gauge 14, in the bundle that goes through the firewall. The low-beam yellow/blue ground wire is in the same bundle. That might help locate it. Also, the ground connection is in fact all that has to be changed.

Last edited by avk; 02-17-2003 at 10:30 PM.
avk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-17-2003, 10:38 PM   #5
Snowphun
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 1800
Join Date: Jul 2000
Chapter/Region: NESIC
Location: Central CT
Default

Avk, thanks for your help, but I'm pretty dense when it comes to wiring. You mention just one wire should need modding to make this change; can you list out with a little more detail what a smuck like me would need to do? Would this change be made right at the fog light switch?

Thanks, this has been bugging me for over a year!
Paul
Snowphun is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-18-2003, 12:02 AM   #6
rory-wrx
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 26303
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Niwot, Colorado
Vehicle:
2003 WRB GGA w/ 5MT
I can see clearly now...

Default

Why dig into your dash when you can do the same thing with wires under the hood? Here is the basic approach:

1) Perform the "Fog Light Mod" (see scoobymods.com) so that your fogs are on whenever ANY other lights are on.

2) Disconnect the fog lights, remove, and replace with the driving lights. Don't reconnect the power from the stock fog lights.

2) Use a vampire clip to 'steal' the signal from the switched ground wire entering one of the headlights. Feed this wire to the ground side trigger of a relay. Run the switched power from one of the fog light connectors to the positive trigger of the same relay. Feed power to the relay from the battery or alternator positive (use an in-line fuse). Connect the power output of the relay to supply to both driving lights.

3) Run the ground wires from both driving lights back to the battery neg. terminal.

The relay will only activate (& turn on the driving lights) when both the fog light switch is on and the high beams are on. All the wires you need are in the front of the engine compartment --- no need to take apart your dash.
rory-wrx is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-18-2003, 12:39 AM   #7
avk
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 17252
Join Date: Apr 2002
Chapter/Region: Tri-State
Location: NJ
Vehicle:
'06 WX8
59E

Default

Paul: What the switch does is connect the fog relay coil to the low-beam ground. The other end of the coil gets +12V whenever the headlights are on. I can't tell exactly how to reach the wires on a WRX, but you'd likely have to remove the underdash panel and maybe the kick panel (for me, that would be easier than extra wiring). You'd need to trace the yellow/blue wire from the switch, cut it and connect the end left at the switch to the high-beam ground. You only need to change the ground connection for the coil. On 1st gen. Imprezas, the wire harness to look for has a big white 8-blade connector along the way.

Last edited by avk; 02-18-2003 at 07:33 PM.
avk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-22-2003, 06:10 PM   #8
Snowphun
Scooby Guru
 
Member#: 1800
Join Date: Jul 2000
Chapter/Region: NESIC
Location: Central CT
Default

THanks for the help guys. I did this Bamboo's way on Thursday with no problems. I've already been behind the dash cluster so I knew taking it out was easy.

This is why we needed the electrical and lighting forum!! Thanks!

Paul
Snowphun is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-22-2003, 07:26 PM   #9
avk
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 17252
Join Date: Apr 2002
Chapter/Region: Tri-State
Location: NJ
Vehicle:
'06 WX8
59E

Default

Great that it worked out. I meant that the red/green wire didn't have to be cut, but there's no harm in it.
avk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-22-2003, 11:08 PM   #10
WRX Bamboo Steamer
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 8239
Join Date: Jul 2001
Default

I'm pretty sure the Red/Green wire does need to be cut. With the high beam switched on, the wire is grounded which would prevent the driving light relay from activating.
WRX Bamboo Steamer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-23-2003, 03:56 AM   #11
avk
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 17252
Join Date: Apr 2002
Chapter/Region: Tri-State
Location: NJ
Vehicle:
'06 WX8
59E

Default

The red/green wire has 12V whenever the headlights are on, high or low. The fog switch is on the ground side of the relay coil.

Last edited by avk; 02-23-2003 at 04:37 AM.
avk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-23-2003, 07:06 AM   #12
WRX Bamboo Steamer
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 8239
Join Date: Jul 2001
Default

Hmmm, not on my car (2002 WRX).
WRX Bamboo Steamer is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-23-2003, 10:55 AM   #13
avk
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 17252
Join Date: Apr 2002
Chapter/Region: Tri-State
Location: NJ
Vehicle:
'06 WX8
59E

Default

The schematic when I saw it looked the same as for other Impreza/Legacy models, apart from only one or two wire colors. The yellow/blue is switched ground for the low beams, that's what makes the stock setup work the way it does. With the "regular" mod to run the fogs w/o the headlights, the relay positive feed does have to be rewired.

Last edited by avk; 02-23-2003 at 11:09 AM.
avk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-23-2003, 11:39 AM   #14
SonicWRX
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 24464
Join Date: Sep 2002
Chapter/Region: MWSOC
Location: Cincinnasti
Vehicle:
2007 WRX STi (SWP)
Surgeline Tuned

Default

So what color is the high beam switched ground and where can it be located?

Edit after tearing into the dash with a multimeter and test light:

The WRX must be different as the Red/Green wire definitely loses 12V power when the headlamps are switched to high beam. Here are the schematics I've been using to try and figure this thing out...





Mitch

Last edited by SonicWRX; 02-23-2003 at 12:33 PM.
SonicWRX is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-23-2003, 10:31 PM   #15
avk
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 17252
Join Date: Apr 2002
Chapter/Region: Tri-State
Location: NJ
Vehicle:
'06 WX8
59E

Default

Bamboo is right. I assumed the red/green couldn't be anything but the common positive for the high and low beams, as long as the headlights are still switched on the negative side. In fact, the red/green *is* the switched negative for the high beams, and has 12V through the high-beam filaments when not grounded, that is when the low beams are on. In fact, the fog relay with its switch is connected between the switched grounds for high and low beams. So the simplest way to do the mod would be just to reverse the diode at B112, although finding it is another matter.
avk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-23-2003, 10:46 PM   #16
SonicWRX
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 24464
Join Date: Sep 2002
Chapter/Region: MWSOC
Location: Cincinnasti
Vehicle:
2007 WRX STi (SWP)
Surgeline Tuned

Default

Wow, talk about timing! I just walked in from finishing up the job. I did Bamboo's mod (thanks!) and it works just fine. I must say it was quite a pain in the a$$ just to access two little wires. The wiring manual actually shows where that diode is on the wiring harness, but locating it would be a neat trick.

Those PIAAs really do a great job of lighting the way!

Mitch
SonicWRX is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-24-2003, 11:02 AM   #17
wingtipz
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 26697
Join Date: Oct 2002
Chapter/Region: NWIC
Location: Portland, OR
Vehicle:
1999 2.0T-RS
Aspen White

Default

Does the fact that the red/green wire carries 12v before the high beams are on negate this method to have the driving lights on with the high beams only:

Quote:
Originally posted by rory-wrx
Why dig into your dash when you can do the same thing with wires under the hood? Here is the basic approach:

1) Perform the "Fog Light Mod" (see scoobymods.com) so that your fogs are on whenever ANY other lights are on.

2) Disconnect the fog lights, remove, and replace with the driving lights. Don't reconnect the power from the stock fog lights.

2) Use a vampire clip to 'steal' the signal from the switched ground wire entering one of the headlights. Feed this wire to the ground side trigger of a relay. Run the switched power from one of the fog light connectors to the positive trigger of the same relay. Feed power to the relay from the battery or alternator positive (use an in-line fuse). Connect the power output of the relay to supply to both driving lights.

3) Run the ground wires from both driving lights back to the battery neg. terminal.

The relay will only activate (& turn on the driving lights) when both the fog light switch is on and the high beams are on. All the wires you need are in the front of the engine compartment --- no need to take apart your dash.
Or are we talking about two methods to reach the same end here. Bamboo's method seems complicated for such a simple task. The only thing I would add to Rory's method would be a diode at the relay.
wingtipz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-25-2003, 03:10 PM   #18
rory-wrx
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 26303
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Niwot, Colorado
Vehicle:
2003 WRB GGA w/ 5MT
I can see clearly now...

Default

Quote:
Originally posted by wingtipz
The only thing I would add to Rory's method would be a diode at the relay.
Where? Between the high beam switched ground and the relay or..? Also, what is the purpose of the diode?

Thanks.
rory-wrx is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-27-2003, 01:26 AM   #19
rory-wrx
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 26303
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Niwot, Colorado
Vehicle:
2003 WRB GGA w/ 5MT
I can see clearly now...

Default

Still wondering about that diode...
rory-wrx is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-27-2003, 10:01 AM   #20
wingtipz
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 26697
Join Date: Oct 2002
Chapter/Region: NWIC
Location: Portland, OR
Vehicle:
1999 2.0T-RS
Aspen White

Default

It just makes sure the current can flow only one direction.
wingtipz is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-27-2003, 10:37 AM   #21
rory-wrx
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 26303
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Niwot, Colorado
Vehicle:
2003 WRB GGA w/ 5MT
I can see clearly now...

Default

Quote:
Originally posted by wingtipz
It just makes sure the current can flow only one direction.
Yes, but which direction? I've seen relays with internal diodes across the 85 & 87 terminals (in fact I'm using that type). Is this the diode that is suggested or...?

Here is my driving light control set-up:
The switched ground from the high beam is connected to the 85 terminal of the relay. The switched power from the fog light circuit (w/ fog-light mod) is connected to the relay's 86 terminal.

When the high beams are on the relay's 85 terminal 'sees' ground and the foglight switch on the dash turns the driving lights on and off. With the fog light switch in the 'on' position, current will flow from the 86 to the 85 terminals and will activate the relay.

When the high beams are off, the relay's 85 terminal 'sees' the ground side of the high beam filament which will be close to 12V. If the fog light switch is set to the 'off' position, the relay's 86 terminal will be an open circuit --- thus, no current flow between the 85 and 86 terminal and the relay will not activate. If the fog light switch is closed, the relay's 86 terminal will be at about 12V --- since both the 85 and 86 terminals are at 12V, the relay will not activate.

Is there something that I am missing here?
rory-wrx is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-19-2008, 10:34 PM   #22
wagonbeater
Scooby Newbie
 
Member#: 169949
Join Date: Jan 2008
Default Drivng light addition to fog

With the two wires which you splice into thr back of the guage cluster, Will the blue/white wire only read +12 when the high beem is on? I have a seperate pair of driving lights and realy which needs a +12 when the hight beams are engaged. I have a factory fog light switch to send the current through.
wagonbeater is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 02-19-2008, 11:41 PM   #23
jdubya301
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 139076
Join Date: Jan 2007
Chapter/Region: MAIC
Location: Scranton PA
Vehicle:
2002 stg2 wagon
03 suzuki sv650s

Default

o man, thanks for figuring this out!
jdubya301 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-02-2008, 11:41 PM   #24
jdubya301
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 139076
Join Date: Jan 2007
Chapter/Region: MAIC
Location: Scranton PA
Vehicle:
2002 stg2 wagon
03 suzuki sv650s

Default

ok, does anyone think this will work??

my goal is to be able to have the ff1000s to on with the highbeams AND the parking lights. (so basically off when the lowbeams are on.

i used rory's method of using the switched 12v from the drivers side fog connector.

i used the second relay's pin 87a so that when the coil is activated by the lowbeams being on, the ff1000s will turn off.

heres a diagram i just drew up. can someone tell me if this will work?? or is my wiring logic completely wacked???
jdubya301 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Fog lights and Driving light mod please ImprezaTs Electrical & Lighting 2 02-19-2003 07:09 PM
Replace Fog Lights with Driving Lights? DavidPorter Interior & Exterior Modification 4 01-04-2003 11:19 PM
Fog lights or driving lights cardin555 Interior & Exterior Modification 3 04-24-2002 12:55 AM
Rally Performance Fog to Driving light conversion. Branwell Car Part Reviews 11 12-20-2001 02:57 PM

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 11:16 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.0
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Copyright ©1999 - 2019, North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club, Inc.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission
Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.