Rewiring fog lights independent of headlights - 98 Legacy OB

[Guest LegacyOutback98]

I would like to rewire the fog lights on my 98 Legacy Outback so that they are independent of the headlights (but still controlled by ignition switch). Would like to use them as DRL's. Any help would be appreciated!

[Guest Legacy777]

What sort of wiring experience do you have?

 

If you have a decent knowledge of wiring and know you're way around the car, it shouldn't be to bad.

 

If not, it'd be a little difficult explaining things.

[Guest LegacyOutback98]

Josh - I'm an electronics engineer, so have a very good understanding of wiring diagrams and systems, Have done some minor rewiring on other cars. I just found and downloaded the Legacy wiring diagram file from the Repair Manual page, so most likely I could now figure it out myself, but how-to from someone like yourself - who knows the car - would save me a LOT of time.

Thanks in advance!

 

Jerry

[Guest Legacy777]

Well in that case I can probably explain a way to do it, and you'll understand

 

I did a similar setup with my driving lights. I didn't follow the manufacture's install guide. I had originally hooked them straight up to a 12v constant source, so i could turn them on any time I want. Well, I've drained the battery several times by forgetting to turn them off. So I decided to rewire them. It took a little more creativity because I had already modified the circuit.

 

I originally had a simple toggle switch on the dash to turn them on. I also had a relay in parallel with that circuit that was tied to my alarm. Basically I can turn my driving lights on and off with my alarm remote. One thing I did find out, was that lighted switches wouldn't work with this setup because the current would go back through the lighted portion of the switch and short the circuit out. So I had to use a non-lighted switch. Looking back at things now, if I would have put a diode in-line to the ground spot of the switch, that might have worked.....not sure.

 

Anyway, I got tired of dead batteries, so I wanted to rig the lights up to shut off with the car. I chose to have them shut off with the accessories, rather then ignition, just my preference.

 

What I ended up doing was splicing into the 12v pos side of the wire going to the switch. I did this after the alarm relay point, but before the switch so my alarm could turn the lights on regardless of ignition position. What I ended up using at that splice point was a relay that was tied into the car's accessory circuit. So when the accessories got power, so did this relay which energized and then allowed power to flow to the switch, to turn on/off the lights.

 

This setup has worked beautifully. I still have alarm driving light toy, but I have some protection with the driving lights where I don't have to worry about turning them off, they go off automatically with the car.

 

I THINK you pretty much just need to find the wiring diagram for the car and see how they have things routed. Most likely they'll have a trigger lead tied somewhere into the headlight lead. You'd have to find that and then tap that into an ignition or accessory lead. That should allow you to turn the driving lights on and off whenever you want, but still have them turn off with the car, and you don't even need a relay.

[Guest LegacyOutback98]

Thanks for the info!

Should be an easy change -- once I find the wires

[Guest Legacy777]

welcome, and good luck.

[Guest rcoaster]

Looking at the wiring diagram from the Haynes Manual, It looks like there will be three wires to rewire. One is to bypass the right headlight relay with a constant power feed when the ingition switch is set to "ON". They are the black/yellow wires at both the fog light relay and the switch. Feed the power going into those two places, and tape off the other end. This will allow you to have the fog lights on regardless of the light switch, and will make sure the indicator that indicates that your fog lights are on will light.

 

The third wire is the yellow/blue wire coming out of the fog light switch. This wire is wired into the hi/flash-lo beam switch. By wiring the end coming out of the switch to ground and taping off the other end, your fog lights will stay on when your high beams are on or when you use the "flash-to-pass" feature.

 

I tried looking for where the fog light relay is located, but the Haynes manual doesn't indicate where it is located. The relay has 4 wires, a black/yellow wire, a white wire, a white/blue wire and a white/black wire.

 

Hope this information helps.

[kn33]

Looking at the wiring diagram from the Haynes Manual, It looks like there will be three wires to rewire. One is to bypass the right headlight relay with a constant power feed when the ingition switch is set to "ON". They are the black/yellow wires at both the fog light relay and the switch. Feed the power going into those two places, and tape off the other end. This will allow you to have the fog lights on regardless of the light switch, and will make sure the indicator that indicates that your fog lights are on will light.

 

The third wire is the yellow/blue wire coming out of the fog light switch. This wire is wired into the hi/flash-lo beam switch. By wiring the end coming out of the switch to ground and taping off the other end, your fog lights will stay on when your high beams are on or when you use the "flash-to-pass" feature.

 

I tried looking for where the fog light relay is located, but the Haynes manual doesn't indicate where it is located. The relay has 4 wires, a black/yellow wire, a white wire, a white/blue wire and a white/black wire.

 

Hope this information helps.

 

Finally found a description with the same colored wires as my 99 Forester. hope this works as I'll be doing it today.

 

relay is located under the hood in the main fuse box in front of the washer fluid bottle