HOW TO: Fog Light Mod. Run Foglights Separate From Headlights. Use as DRL's.

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bmlawless
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REZN wrote:why are mines so wierd lookin? what do i do?
I see what's going on. The blue relays are the factory relays. I pulled mine and set them aside. I bought the Radio Shack relays and used those instead.


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Qxxx4
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are those 5pin? could we see a pic from up top facing the pins? I wired my circuit up to AJRK's 01 q and it was an exact match. Those relays are actually easier to modify, you can solder directly to the pin. the older q's had plastic around the pin area, so you had to crack it open.

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REZN
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not 5. it only has 4 pinsand easier?? explain.

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Qxxx4
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4 pins is right. Easier because the gold pins are surrounded by plastic on our relays, yours are completely open...hard to explain

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REZN
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so should i just solder it on to like where the pin begins?

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slickroger
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I have a 2001 pathfinder not sure if that is the year you have but this is how my relay box looks and how it looked after the mod.



I popped the relay off and placed it in the empty space next to the connector/socket it was in. i made three wires with connectors.



then i connected the wires as if it were plugged into the socket with the exception of the wire with the yellow connector which i ran from the cigarette lighter. this is the power source i chose to give the fogs power with the keys in the ignition.



Check here for bigger pics my previous posthttp://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=359752


Modified by slickroger at 9:45 PM 7/30/2009

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REZN
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slickroger you gotta help me out with this. i feel like a complete idiot because i just dont get it..and yeah mines is an 01 and it looks exactly the same as yours

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slickroger
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mine isnt setup like that because it kept killing my battery ill try to do it again today or as soon as i can get to it with more pics for you.


sandman614
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would you say this causes a lot more battery usage since it is drawing power much more often?

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bmlawless
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slickroger wrote:mine isnt setup like that because it kept killing my battery ill try to do it again today or as soon as i can get to it with more pics for you.
The way I outlined it will not drain your battery. I specifically tapped the A/C relay because it only has power when the ignition is on.

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grassmaster
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thanks man.... it worked perfect and only cost $20 including the solder pen... i like being able to keep the stock relays... great how to.

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REZN
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yeah well it blew my ac fuse. i need more details on this

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JonathanPrem
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Off topic question. Is there a way to take off day time running lights off.

slownslurious
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Regarding just keeping the fogs on with the high beams, do you need to supply a constant ground to the foglight switch or the foglight relay?

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slickroger
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slownslurious wrote:Regarding just keeping the fogs on with the high beams, do you need to supply a constant ground to the foglight switch or the foglight relay?
Ground the switch


Modified by slickroger at 7:07 PM 9/24/2009

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Pwnin O'Brien
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JonathanPrem wrote:Off topic question. Is there a way to take off day time running lights off.
The only time the daytime running lamps are off (and the regular headlamp switch is off) is when you start the vehicle with the parking brake engaged. So, the only way to trick the system into keeping the daytime running lamps off during normal vehicle operation, would be to ground the parking brake wire at the daytime running lamps control unit.
Modified by Pwnin O'Brien at 4:29 PM 2/9/2010

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Towncivilian
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Just to make sure: after doing this mod, the fog light switch still controls the on/off state of the fog lamps, but it's simply independent of all other headlight controls, correct?

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bmlawless
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Towncivilian wrote:Just to make sure: after doing this mod, the fog light switch still controls the on/off state of the fog lamps, but it's simply independent of all other headlight controls, correct?
Correct.

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Mischi
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I was looking at the schematic and was wondering if I could just move the wire from pin 1 of the fog lamp relay and connect it with the wire going to pin 1 of the A/C relay. I wouldn't have to make any jumpers or get new relays. Thoughts?

In the schematic the wire going to pin 1 has a color code of R/L, what color is that?

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Towncivilian
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Does the gauge of the wire matter? Radio Shack doesn't have any 16GA general hookup wire, only speaker wire. Will 18GA wire suffice?

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Pwnin O'Brien
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Towncivilian wrote:Does the gauge of the wire matter? Radio Shack doesn't have any 16GA general hookup wire, only speaker wire. Will 18GA wire suffice?
Try to go up in gauge, not down. I would suggest trying a 14 or 12 if they don't have 16. It's thicker and it may be a little more difficult to hook up, but it's cheap insurance. However, if it's not a current-carrying wire then it shouldn't really matter.

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Pwnin O'Brien
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Mischi wrote:I was looking at the schematic and was wondering if I could just move the wire from pin 1 of the fog lamp relay and connect it with the wire going to pin 1 of the A/C relay. I wouldn't have to make any jumpers or get new relays. Thoughts?

In the schematic the wire going to pin 1 has a color code of R/L, what color is that?
Well, the relay method in the tutorial is really the easiest way to do the bypass without having to remove the fuse box and cut into the harness. If you're willing to actually go through the trouble of splicing the wires under the fuse box then your best bet would be to just run a dedicated 12V fused line back to the battery.

R/L is Red/Blue

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Mischi
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If I run a dedicated to the battery won't the fog lights stay on when the car is off?

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Pwnin O'Brien
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Mischi wrote:If I run a dedicated to the battery won't the fog lights stay on when the car is off?
Yes, I wasn't even thinking about that.

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Towncivilian
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So, in my infinite wisdom, I bought a couple relays from Rat Shack and did the soldering before checking to see if the relays actually fit my car. As evidenced in earlier posts, they don't fit in my '01 Pathy. slickroger says he made some adapters with connectors to hook up the Radio Shack relays. Is there a tutorial on how to make those, or are they available pre-made anywhere? I know I could mod the factory relays, but I don't want to be without a spare if something goes wrong and be without fog lamps, or worse, A/C (in Florida!) until I obtain replacements.

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Towncivilian
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Does anybody have a guide on doing this mod with the blue factory relays of a 2001 Pathfinder? How do I open them up, and what pin(s) do I remove and solder to?

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fueler
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Towncivilian wrote:Does anybody have a guide on doing this mod with the blue factory relays of a 2001 Pathfinder? How do I open them up, and what pin(s) do I remove and solder to?

http://www.4x4parts.com/ubbthreads/show ... ber=112527

relays are easy to open up, just two plastic tabs.

i used the radio shack relay... its cheap ($5) compared to the blue nissan relay ($30) even tho its the same thing, but you wont feel so bad if you mess up for some reason....

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Towncivilian
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fueler wrote:
Towncivilian wrote:Does anybody have a guide on doing this mod with the blue factory relays of a 2001 Pathfinder? How do I open them up, and what pin(s) do I remove and solder to?

http://www.4x4parts.com/ubbthreads/show ... ber=112527

relays are easy to open up, just two plastic tabs.

i used the radio shack relay... its cheap ($5) compared to the blue nissan relay ($30) even tho its the same thing, but you wont feel so bad if you mess up for some reason....
Since I've already done the soldering for the rat shack relays I'll just buy some spade connectors and make some wiring and see if it works out. Thanks.

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sc2nr
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Does anyone know where online you can order the four pin relays? I tried 2 places locally and 1 of them was RT they both had the 5 pin relays but no 4 pin. anyone?

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Towncivilian
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I performed this mod and the fog lights function independently now, but they still shut off when using brights. I used the factory relays and connected 12v from the A/C relay to the following pin on the factory fog relay as slickroger did (see the yellow quick disconnect):

Image
(slickroger's picture)

Do I need to ground those two wires in the headlight switch for fog lights to remain on with brights on? I can't tell what to do from slickroger's picture above, it's too overexposed. Anybody have specifics?

Also, it's no longer possible to turn on fog lights with no key in the ignition (for example, with no key in the ignition you can turn the headlight switch to any position and the lights will stay on until you turn them off, but now the fog lights do not light using the switch). But that's just an unintended side effect, no big deal.


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