Fog Lights

[redwolf624]

 I hope you're stating the power to control the relay is coming off an acc connection in the fuse box and not the power for the lights.   The power for the lights should be getting pulled direct from the battery to the relay to the lamps. 

 

The high beams are controlled (direct power no relay) by a switch mounted on the steering column about knee height(a pushrod from the yoke presses the switch, kinda like a monkey with a stick to eat ants).    I'd suggest (assuming your relays are under the hood)   you simply put a splice on one of the high beam positive wires and simply run it to the override relay.  

 

 

 

100th post!!!

i have no relays, just straight wires, my fog lights didn't come with a relay and i obviously don't know what a relay looks like for 86 (i don't even know what they look like now) but like i said, i got until may to get my fog lights right to shut off with the hi beams, i just gotta find the relay and a way to wire my lights into it to shut it off with the hi beams,

 

Redwolf

[Eagle]

i have no relays, just straight wires, my fog lights didn't come with a relay and i obviously don't know what a relay looks like for 86 (i don't even know what they look like now) but like i said, i got until may to get my fog lights right to shut off with the hi beams, i just gotta find the relay and a way to wire my lights into it to shut it off with the hi beams,

 

 

Redwolf

 

Skidoo gave you the wiring diagram. You need to BUY two (2) relays. The way to wire your lights is to wire them according to Ski's diagram.

 

And I don't care what you want to believe, if you have driving lights and you wire them like fog lights you will NOT be legal.

[yxmj]

Sorry I am late to the party

 

[Oyaji]

100th post!!!

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whoops! You posted while I was looking for a better.gif and failing. (by the way, that there is a mighty fine .gif)                               

[redwolf624]

 

i have no relays, just straight wires, my fog lights didn't come with a relay and i obviously don't know what a relay looks like for 86 (i don't even know what they look like now) but like i said, i got until may to get my fog lights right to shut off with the hi beams, i just gotta find the relay and a way to wire my lights into it to shut it off with the hi beams,

 

 

Redwolf

 

Skidoo gave you the wiring diagram. You need to BUY two (2) relays. The way to wire your lights is to wire them according to Ski's diagram.

 

And I don't care what you want to believe, if you have driving lights and you wire them like fog lights you will NOT be legal.

eagle i'm not gettin into that arguement again, like i said earlier, my state inspector with pass em as long as they go off with the hi beams, state trooper wants em off with the hi beams, end resoult is they have to go off with the hi beams, and i have to have a headlight relay somewhere on my truck which means i should have a hi beam relay right,

 

Redwolf

[HOrnbrod]

There is no headlight relay, no low beam relay, or no high beam relay in any factory MJ/XJ unless it's been modified. The headlights are turned OFF/ON directly through the dash switch, and transition from LO to HI beam is directly through the column stalk / multifunction switch. Period. Download a factory electrical manual and study it.

[redwolf624]

since yall all said there's no relays i took my boneheaded self out to the headlights, figured out which wire powered what and traced em, found out they were all plugged into what looks like a giant white relay, my lights are now wired in to the low beams, they shut off with the hi beams,

 

Redwolf

[yxmj]

Here is a relay with the instructions. they can be bought at any auto parts store (or pulled off an old vehicle)

 

[HOrnbrod]

since yall all said there's no relays i took my boneheaded self out to the headlights, figured out which wire powered what and traced em, found out they were all plugged into what looks like a giant white relay, my lights are now wired in to the low beams, they shut off with the hi beams,

 

Redwolf

 

And exactly where is this what looks like a giant white relay located?

[redwolf624]

 

since yall all said there's no relays i took my boneheaded self out to the headlights, figured out which wire powered what and traced em, found out they were all plugged into what looks like a giant white relay, my lights are now wired in to the low beams, they shut off with the hi beams,

 

Redwolf

 

And exactly where is this what looks like a giant white relay located?

under the dash above the break pedal,

 

Redwolf

[yxmj]

I think you are missing the point......I do not know what you have wired into......but the idea of the relay is to isolate the fog/driving lights on to there own circuit direct from the battery.

 

What ever you have tapped into was not designed to have another (4-8?) amp draw through it. You will probably overheat it and end up damaging the stock circuitry 

[HOrnbrod]

 

 

since yall all said there's no relays i took my boneheaded self out to the headlights, figured out which wire powered what and traced em, found out they were all plugged into what looks like a giant white relay, my lights are now wired in to the low beams, they shut off with the hi beams,

 

Redwolf

 

And exactly where is this what looks like a giant white relay located?

under the dash above the break pedal,

 

Redwolf

 

Look like the below? That's your high beam switch, not a relay.

 

[redwolf624]

I think you are missing the point......I do not know what you have wired into......but the idea of the relay is to isolate the fog/driving lights on to there own circuit direct from the battery.

 

What ever you have tapped into was not designed to have another (4-8?) amp draw through it. You will probably overheat it and end up damaging the stock circuitry 

10-15 amp actually and i doubt that since 1 i don't do much night drivin and 2 it's for a HEADLIGHT

 

 

 

 

since yall all said there's no relays i took my boneheaded self out to the headlights, figured out which wire powered what and traced em, found out they were all plugged into what looks like a giant white relay, my lights are now wired in to the low beams, they shut off with the hi beams,

 

Redwolf

 

And exactly where is this what looks like a giant white relay located?

under the dash above the break pedal,

 

Redwolf

 

Look like the below? That's your high beam switch, not a relay.

 

no not like that, i'll post a picture once photobucket on my phone works again in a few,

 

Redwolf

[Rockfrog]

I think I know what he's referring to. There are a couple relays under the dash ... don't know what they are for though. Let me go get my 88 XJ dash harness out as they are in that one as well. pictures to follow.

[redwolf624]

this is what i'm talkin bout, the white thing,

 

Image Not Found

 

Redwolf

[Rockfrog]

Ok so there are two relays in the wiring under the dash .... the horn relay which is white, and the intermittent wiper relay which is a standard 5 pin unit.

 

Horn relay

 

Intermittant wiper relay

 

Now remember that this is a 88 Xj harness but I've seen these same relays in my MJ ... placement would put them just above the fuse block

[Rockfrog]

If you are meaning this

 

then that is exactly the same parts as this

 

Just viewed from the pug end and has brown plastic instead of white

[Eagle]

since yall all said there's no relays i took my boneheaded self out to the headlights, figured out which wire powered what and traced em, found out they were all plugged into what looks like a giant white relay, my lights are now wired in to the low beams, they shut off with the hi beams,

 

Redwolf

 

So you didn't pay attention to what all of us have been telling you, and you didn't use a relay. I can tell you what's going to happen, because I did the same thing over 30 years ago with a full-size Cherokee. The headlight circuit doesn't have a fuse, there's a circuit breaker built into the switch. That switch and circuit breaker are designed to carry the amperage load of TWO headlights, plus the parking lights and taillights.

 

By addiing two driving lights to the circuit, you have now almost doubled the amperage that's being carried by the headlight circuit -- and thus by the circuit breaker in the switch. I'll give it about six to eight months, if you use the auxiliary lights very much, before you burn out the headlight switch and the circuit breaker starts tripping open while you're driving. I absolutely promise you that having your headlights suddenly shut off while you're cruising along on a strange road on a dark night is NOT an experience you want to repeat. However ... unless you have a way to shut off those auxiliary lights, the experience WILL repeat, because whenever you run the headlights and the auxiliary lights you WILL be overloading the circuit.

 

Why do you bother coming here and asking for advice, when people who know how this stuff works give you good advice and you proceed to ignore it? Many of us have been around for awhile, and we've already made the mistakes you haven't even thought about yet.

 

 

 

As to your inspector and legality -- if you run a stop sign and don't get a ticket, does that make it legal to run stop signs? I've given you the law, and explained it to you. It's up to you whether or not you want to be legal. Since it's no more difficult to do it right than it is to do it wrong, I just don't understand your insistance on doing it wrong.

 

But ... it's your life, and it'll be your ticket. At least you won't be able to blame it on The Comanche Club for telling you to do it wrong.

[Rockfrog]

I've had that happen on my old '92 YJ, added a set of fogs to the existing stock plugs, and thought "cool that was easy as pie".

 

Then about a week later I was out in the back country hit the fogs and 5mins later lost all my lights. turned off the fogs and headlights came back ... learned that lesson right quick..

[HOrnbrod]

If you are meaning this

 

then that is exactly the same parts as this

 

Just viewed from the pug end and has brown plastic instead of white

 

Jesus. I can't take any more.     Out of here..................

[Rockfrog]

was it me? do I smell funny?

[Oyaji]

was it me? do I smell funny?

.

LOL - no man, you are on track and have,  in a  commendable effort to help, only posted the pictures that RedWolf has either not recognized or ignored.   :wall:     Since he had posted a picture of the very same part  (from a different angle) originally only to have it ignored or not recognized, Hornbrod is just pointing out that his patience is exhausted - and I don't blame him one bit. Ya just got to laugh it off, or blow a gasket,  or run screaming from the thread, or SOMETHING to keep from busting  wide open.     :rotf:

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Any bets that this thread will run to 150 posts before the issue gets correctly resolved? (Oh, man, I love these smilies/emoticon options here!) :banana: .

[gogmorgo]

 

[Oyaji]

 

i have no relays, just straight wires, my fog lights didn't come with a relay and i obviously don't know what a relay looks like for 86 (i don't even know what they look like now) but like i said, i got until may to get my fog lights right to shut off with the hi beams, i just gotta find the relay and a way to wire my lights into it to shut it off with the hi beams,

 

 

Redwolf

 

Skidoo gave you the wiring diagram. You need to BUY two (2) relays. The way to wire your lights is to wire them according to Ski's diagram.

 

And I don't care what you want to believe, if you have driving lights and you wire them like fog lights you will NOT be legal.

.

Say - since the current draw required to trip the switch in the relay and keep it closed is small, is there really a need to use 2 relays? Seems there would be enough reserve capacity in the circuit to allow tapping into one of the low-beam wires behind a headlight and using it to energize the relay.

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What is the energizing current requirement for those automotive relays - not more than a quarter amp, right? I've always piggy-backed a relay to power another circuit just as I have described, by drawing minimal energizing power from the parent circuit itself.  Energizing a relay to energize another relay to power the auxiliary circuit seems unnecessary and wasteful to me, to be honest.  Would that maybe be to power a much larger relay  (with higher than a 0.25 amp engergizing demand) needed to supply a LOT of current for, say, more than 2 high-power lights? What am I missing?.                         

[skidoo_j]

 

 

i have no relays, just straight wires, my fog lights didn't come with a relay and i obviously don't know what a relay looks like for 86 (i don't even know what they look like now) but like i said, i got until may to get my fog lights right to shut off with the hi beams, i just gotta find the relay and a way to wire my lights into it to shut it off with the hi beams,

 

 

Redwolf

 

Skidoo gave you the wiring diagram. You need to BUY two (2) relays. The way to wire your lights is to wire them according to Ski's diagram.

 

And I don't care what you want to believe, if you have driving lights and you wire them like fog lights you will NOT be legal.

.

Say - since the current draw required to trip the switch in the relay and keep it closed is small, is there really a need to use 2 relays? Seems there would be enough reserve capacity in the circuit to allow tapping into one of the low-beam wires behind a headlight and using it to energize the relay.

.

What is the energizing current requirement for those automotive relays - not more than a quarter amp, right? I've always piggy-backed a relay to power another circuit just as I have described, by drawing minimal energizing power from the parent circuit itself.  Energizing a relay to energize another relay to power the auxiliary circuit seems unnecessary and wasteful to me, to be honest.  Would that maybe be to power a much larger relay needed to supply a LOT of current for more than 2 high-power lights? What am I missing?.                         

 

If what you're asking is if rather then using a second relay powered by the high beam circuit to turn off the fogs lights  vs   using the low beam circut to power the switch that controls the first relay then yes you could do that and eliminate one relay,   

 

the down side to powering it in this manner is you then could only use your fogs when your low beam circut is enabled.   

So no just fog option, or no back up lights if you have a fuse or circut go out on the factory lights.   I've had my headlight switch go out twice prior to isolating highs and lows to relays too, .