[Kalos Orisate]

The discussions on the "fog mod" don't make is clear whether doing the mod on Canadian SVT cars keeps DRL on not.

I want to be able to have the fog lights on with High Beam, but I want to keep the DRL functionally normally. Is this possible ?

[guilty]

You shouldnt have a problem.. the DRL relay and the foglight relay are seperate. The foglight mod only involves the foglight relay. The DRL part is optional, just a way to use the foglights as DRLs, for the people running HID headlights who've disabled their regular DRLs.

You should be able to just follow the usual foglight mod instructions, it's just pulling a relay and then putting a length of wire to connect two of the terminals.. or something like that.

[paolo]

The fog light mod works the same for US cars as it does for canadian, The fogs will come on w/ the high beams regardless of your daytime running lights, which can be disabled to mimic that of a US car by simply pulling a relay

[redsvtfocus]

I have that thing on mine..cause mine was an american..(not anymore...!) and I have the mod..but took the DRL off....dont want to waste my silverstars....
and yes...it works great...but I did the mod by opening the relay....its the cleanest way to do it and no one can tell you did it..no wires!!!! :ph34r: :ph34r:

[Kalos Orisate]

paolo,May 30 2004, 04:30 PM Wrote:The fog light mod works the same for US cars as it does for canadian,   The fogs will come on w/ the high beams regardless of your daytime running lights...

I notice the fog switch can be pulled "out" even in the intermediate (parking light) position. But the fog lights don't come on. Is there a way to use this switch position to have fog operating without either low beam or high beam ? Preferably I'd also like to cut out the DRL in really foggy conditions and just have fogs on.

[paolo]

yes the fogs will come on in park, and on positions with the jumper wire modification. I have this done on my car. Also, check out http://www.ofoc.ca/garage/drf/ for more info.

[Kalos Orisate]

paolo,Jun 1 2004, 08:28 PM Wrote:yes the fogs will come on in park, and on positions with the jumper wire modification. I have this done on my car.  Also, check out http://www.ofoc.ca/garage/drf/ for more info.

That's interesting. So, with your mod, is the sequence of lighting as follows ?:

1) Ignition on, light switch OFF: Only fogs are lit.

2) Ignition on, light switch in first (Park ) position, also switch pushed "IN": Only running lights (front + back) are ON. Fogs are OFF and "DRL" are OFF.

3) Ignition on, light switch in first (Park ) position, also switch pulled "OUT": Running lights are ON. Fogs are ON and "DRL" are OFF.

4) Ignition on, light switch in second (Low Beam) position, also switch pushed IN: Running lights are ON. Fogs are OFF and Low Beams are ON.

5) Ignition on, light switch in second (Low Beam) position, also switch pulled OUT: Running lights are ON. Fogs are ON and Low Beams are ON.

6) High Beam Stalk moved. As in "E", but Running Lights, High Beams + Fog are all ON.

[redsvtfocus]

too messy...I did the mod without wires...
and works this way..

with DRL....ign always on...head lights on..at 75%of power
no fogs
no park lights
ign on and 1 turn of the switch....head lights on at 75%
no fogs
park lights on
ign on ..1 turn of the switch and switch pulled out....heads at 75%,park
lights on, fogs on.
ign on...2 turns ..and pulled out all the lights at 100% on

I dont know the way to have your fogs as DRL's...it'll be sweet to have them like that..

without DRL...all you have is to turn the light switch one time and pull it and you get the fogs and parking lights only..and no head lights..if you turn it again..you'll have all the lights on...

my 2 cents

:ph34r:

[guilty]

Kalos: with the foglights wired as DRLs like what Paolo outlines, it works like this:

switch off: fogs on reduced power
switch parking: fogs reduced power, parking lights on
switch parking, pulled out: fogs full power, parking lights on
switch on: headlights full power, parking lights on, fogs OFF
switch on, pulled out: headlights on, parking lights on, fogs on full power.

Like what normally happens, when you turn the light switch to the full "on" position, the DRLs deactivate and full power to the headlights is run.

Note: Normally the fogs will turn off when you turn the high-beams on (if you have them on with the headlights on). With the foglight mod, the fogs will stay on with the highbeams.

I think that should clear it up.. I did this to my car since I'm running the HID headlights and didnt want to burn out the ballasts, but still wanted the DRL feature. And with the HIDs, I found that I never use the fogs anyway (it doesnt usually get foggy around here anyway though).

[redsvtfocus]

sorry....the mod I have its for the fogs only not fogs as DRL's.. :unsure: :unsure: :(

[Kalos]

paolo,Jun 1 2004, 03:28 PM Wrote:yes the fogs will come on in park, and on positions with the jumper wire modification. I have this done on my car.  Also, check out http://www.ofoc.ca/garage/drf/ for more info.

A couple of questions:

1) How did you know which wires to connect ? Is there a wiring diagram available ?

2) Is there really a powerght difference between DRL "reduced" Low Beam and ordinary Low Beam ? There is supposed to be a 90% vs 100% difference but this is hard to see for sure. I've tried to compare by looking at night but pulling on Low Beam activates side markers that add a bit of light, which confuses the issue.

3) What is the power consumption of DRL Low Beam vs Fog Lamp ? Does using fogs as DRL save a bit of power ?

[paolo]

I know which wires to connect because I traced the wires myself and tested them with a volt meter. If you have an understanding on how relays work, and which power wires go to which relay pins, then it makes it easier.

Yes there *IS* a difference between DRL and LOW BEAM. Unfortunately, the difference is soo small, that it may be hard to see/tell. Some people say its 90%, but If you test the voltage going into the DRL circuit, and the voltage going into the low beam with a Voltmeter, you will see there IS a difference. Its a small difference, but big enough of a voltage change to not be sufficient to ignite the HID lamps.

Fogs use 37 watts at full intensity, and Low beams are like 55watts at full intensity, so yeah it will probaly consume less power. I havent really calculated it, but to my understanding, it will probaly save power somewhere. I wouldnt consider it a big deal though.

[thenorm]

I know this is resurrecting an old post, but does anyone know or can figure out how to do this DRL mod but using the park/signal lights instead of the fogs?

[2001 ZTS]

thenorm,Nov 3 2004, 01:27 AM Wrote:I know this is resurrecting an old post, but does anyone know or can figure out how to do this DRL mod but using the park/signal lights instead of the fogs?

The easiest way is to disable the DRL's altogether and just get into the habit of turning on your parking lights.

If you mean front only running lights without rear running lights like a Chrysler then I think that is going to be pretty messy in an electrical sense. If you have European lights with a dedicated city light it may be possible?

[paolo]

actually, the City lights (hid and hella) are not bright enough to use as DRL, so you probaly want to use the park light as drl, but the only problem with the wiring, is finding out a way to stop the DRL from feeding power to the bulb when you signal. cus the drl will make the lamp always on, so if its signaling, it has to be brighter, or flash off, so you might need to put some kind of relay in there, plus if you turn on the headlights, this will have to be reversed, so it would operate normally, kinda weird but its not easy to do.

[thenorm]

but, when your headlights are on, the park lights are on as well and when you signal they flash brighter, theres more than one illumination level. so, i think it is possible, but i'm not an electrician and cant figure it out on my own

[Penwraith]

Isn't it a "no-no" to enable the fogs with the Hi-beams? ;) :blink:

[guilty]

Penwraith,Nov 3 2004, 12:28 AM Wrote:Isn't it a "no-no" to enable the fogs with the Hi-beams? ;) :blink:

Yeah really there's no reason to have the fogs on with the highbeams.. This mod enables you to do that, but it's not the original intention. Most people do the foglight mod so they can turn on the fogs with only the parking lights, not the headlights on.

If you do the DRL fog mod, the fogs turn off when you turn the headlight switch to 'on', so when the highbeams are on the fogs arent on unless you purposely turn them on.

[Kalos]

guilty,Nov 3 2004, 04:03 PM Wrote:

Quote:...there's no reason to have the fogs on with the highbeams

I disagree. If there is any use for the Focus fogs at all it is to illuminate to the side in high-speed freeway running. They're not much good for anything else (at least not the SVT fogs. Can't speak about other Focus fogs). Because of the stupid law against running fogs alone in foggy conditions, the low beams/DRL back dazzle swamps out any benefit from fogs in real fog conditions.

I plan to change the DRL from low beam to fogs. This will save maybe a couple of bucks each year in energy costs.

Question: Is there a resistor in series with the DRL circuit so that fogs as DRLs would be less bright than "ordinary" fogs ?

[guilty]

Kalos,Nov 3 2004, 10:25 AM Wrote:I disagree. If there is any use for the Focus fogs at all it is to illuminate to the side in high-speed freeway running.

You put your highbeams on when you're highway driving, you want to see far down the road. Foglights light up the ground and the immediate area in front of you..

When you're driving down the highway, you want your eyes to be adjusted to the dark so you can focus on objects further away, I read that the foglights being on messes with your pupils adjusting to the light input.

Quote:Question:  Is there a resistor in series with the DRL circuit so that fogs as DRLs would be less bright than "ordinary" fogs ?

With the fogs wired to the DRL circuit, they will be slightly dimmer than the full-on position when you have the switch turned off. The DRL circuit cuts a certain percentage of the power from the lights.

And as far as saving power/money buy using a lower wattage light for your DRL, I'd say the effects would be totally negligible.. You could save more money over a year by just adjusting your speed a couple times a week on the highway. The few thousands of a cent per kilometer you'd save disappear the first time you step on the gas pedal harder than necessary.