Have any of you modified your wiring to make your fog lights stay on with high beams?

238LS

238LS

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Hey guys, just curious if any of you have modified your factory fog light circuit so you have the option of leaving your fog lights turned on with the high beam headlights? It’s the season where the deer are all over the sides of the highways at night, you see about 20 deer for every car you meet around where I live in Montana lol. Just wanting to get a little extra light if I can. Those fogs really light up the sides of the highway pretty well.
 
To the best of my knowledge, it can't be done since the high/lows go through the turn signal switch, and (technically) not the headlight switch.

Also... I think it would put a heavy draw on the alternator having fogs and high beams on at the same time.

Do you have halogen headlights or HID?

If you can find some complete HID asemblies in good condition, they are much brighter and should be "plug and play".
 
That makes sense. I do have HID headlights. They work pretty well. The led fog light and headlight bulbs helped quite a bit also.
 
04_Sport_LS said:
To the best of my knowledge, it can't be done since the high/lows go through the turn signal switch, and (technically) not the headlight switch.

...
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Actually, the fog lights are powered through a mechanical relay in the underhood fuse box. The relay is controlled by the FEM. I don't think there is any current consumption problem. They are programmed to be off when the high beams are on because North America has a law against having more than four light beams from the front of the car at the same time.
 
Can you turn them on in forscan like you can on newer vehicles?
 
joegr said:
North America has a law against having more than four light beams from the front of the car at the same time.
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You've got to be kidding me. That would still only be 4 lights even if a fog light bypass could be done. :rolleyes:

I thought it was alternator load related.
 
04_Sport_LS said:
You've got to be kidding me. That would still only be 4 lights even if a fog light bypass could be done. :rolleyes:

I thought it was alternator load related.
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I think your count is off.
Two low beams + two high beams (2nd gen leaves the low beams on with the high) = 4. + 2 fogs = 6.
 
IMG_20231020_111117792_HDR.jpg

Highs and lows on... no fogs.
 
How is that a mod? Highs and lows at the same time? People usually mod it so the highs and fogs are on at the same time. Haven't seen my car in over a year so I'm not sure how they were, thought only highs or lows were on but I could be wrong, but I've got the xenon's as well, but every other vehicle I've had was lows and fogs, then highs and no fogs.
 
According to what was said above, everything is normal on my car. I just "tweaked" the headlight switch a little, so the fogs came on without having to pull the the switch out. I just rotate it full right.

I can do fogs and parks only too (if that's normal.
 
It's been a while... so I can't tell you exactly how I did it. I do remember opening up the headlight switch, and breaking off a tab inside.

We've had this conversation before, a couple years ago... if not longer.:)
 
Ya I think I remember something about it now. I think I just leave my switch in auto pulled out for fogs on, that's what I do in my truck anyway, like I said, been so long since I've seen my car I forget, haha
 
04_Sport_LS said:
I can also do fogs and parks (marker lights) only... for "dusk" driving... if that's a thing.
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My opinion is that parking lights should only be used when parked. If you need any light at all, then you need to turn your headlights on.
One of my other big lighting peeves is the people that turn their hazard lights on when it is raining. Follow the law, turn your headlights on instead.
 
joegr said:
My opinion is that parking lights should only be used when parked. If you need any light at all, then you need to turn your headlights on.
One of my other big lighting peeves is the people that turn their hazard lights on when it is raining. Follow the law, turn your headlights on instead.
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That may be true, but I have been I downpours so heavy that the hazards show up better than the tails. That doesn't happen too often

And yes... headlights on during rain... always.
 
Re: forscan. At least on my gen 1, forscan could only change a very limited number of things. They were all modifiable in the V8's message center anyway. Pretty disappointing considering I first toyed with a 2nd gen fusion that had a couple hundred modifiable lines with a dozen changes tailored to my liking. I don't have a solution for you otherwise. I looked some time ago and didn't find any easy solutions in the wiring, although I don't remember the details. It might be easiest to add a switch (ignition-on I'd prefer) to send power straight to the fog relay. You'd have to check the polarity of the switched signal as this car loves negative-switched circuits
joegr said:
North America has a law against having more than four light beams from the front of the car at the same time.
Click to expand...
I can't promise the law is for this reason, but generally you don't want the short-distance wide-beam of a fog light increasing the overall light in your eyes, reducing your night vision through pupil constriction, while using the far-throwing high beams. Typical fog lights don't help you over 40mph because by time it lights something, its too late - if you wouldn't drive with just your fogs at the given speed, they don't have enough throw to help. Meanwhile, low beams should be more than adequate on their own below 40mph or so. It drives me insane seeing people using high beams to assault a flat 25mph residential area with streetlights. HOWEVER, headlight fanatics do acknowledge high+fog operation as "bambi mode" which is useful for hilly, curvy driving with a lot of deer/wildlife in the area where a floodlight would be best. Please understand its not useful on the highway
04_Sport_LS said:
You've got to be kidding me. That would still only be 4 lights even if a fog light bypass could be done. :rolleyes:

I thought it was alternator load related.
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OP wants the fogs to stay on regardless of the highs. Seems like the bypass you're talking about is just getting the fogs to come on without pulling the switch out, based on your pictures. If OP made their request work and was driving with the lows and fogs, turning on the highs would only add to the lights: lows, highs, fogs = 6
joegr said:
One of my other big lighting peeves is the people that turn their hazard lights on when it is raining. Follow the law, turn your headlights on instead.
Click to expand...
and I swear it's always a gray car. At least DRLs are required now, although DRLs combined with illuminated dashes seems to have increased the number of cars driving at night without headlights.
04_Sport_LS said:
That may be true, but I have been I downpours so heavy that the hazards show up better than the tails. That doesn't happen too often

And yes... headlights on during rain... always.
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I wish we'd adapt and understand rear fog lights here. I tend to see Audi SUVs these days with their rear fogs unknowingly powered and just about never in fog/mist conditions. VW and Volvo wagons used to be the common [mis]users. They're the ones that look like funny brake lights - sometimes one on the driver side, sometimes a pair. They're brake-brightness without defeating the actual brake or turn signal light functions.
 
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