FAST RS

Today i got a new trim peace and it had the Fiht switch for the z-28's I tried to use my old fog lights but they were shot so i went to pep boys and got the ones that look like the z28 has. I have it hooked directly to th battery right now but i need to turn them off when i turn the car off is there a way i can run the power source off someting else So when i turn th car off the lights turn off... These lights kick *** . Any one wver noce how when they buy sometign for there car and pput it in the car goes faster well seems happyer . I tried to race a eclipse tongiht and he was all showin off and i put it in second he wouldt race me then i saw my EX and her b/f and he looked liekhe wanted to race me hehe buti herd her all say no dont race him.. But any ways how can i get the lights to turn off when the key ois off.

TomP

Sure, dude, use a relay. Pep Boys sells 'em in their electrical section, they call them 30 AMP SPDT automotive relays. Here's how you're gonna wire it!

Parts list: Roll of wire (should be thick enough to handle the current of the fog lights). TWO in-line fuse holders. One fuse (for fog lights, the lights should say what fuse they need). One fuse rated at 1 AMP for the "control" wire. One "male quick disconnect" crimp connector- you'll probably have to buy a box of 5 at Radio Shack (cheaper), or a box of 30 at Home Depot; you can't really buy just one.

If your fog lights aren't in the following loop, rewire them. Put all these wires in the engine compartment, and use a wire that's thick enough to handle the fog light current.

BATTERY-------fuse holder-------relay will go here-------fog #1-------fog #2-------ground screw to car chassis (don't attach to ground yet).

Cut the wire between the fuse & foglight. Take your relay, and connect terminal #87A to the fuse, and terminal #30 to the first fog light. Connect terminal #86 to a ground screw on the car chassis.

Mount the relay somewhere nearby.
Drill a hole through your firewall (or use an existing hole) so you can get one wire through there. [edit] Connect a lonnnng piece of wire to terminal #85 on the relay, and lead the wire thru the firewall. Protect the wire as it goes through the firewall, you don't want the metal cutting it in half. Lead the wire to near your fuse box. Connect the wire to your second in-line fuse holder (with 1 AMP fuse). Connect the other end of the in-line fuse-holder to a short (12 inch) piece of wire. At the end, crimp the "male quick-disconnect" on. Remove the fuse box cover. Find your accessory sockets... they're at the far end of the fuse box, and they're just square holes that don't take fuses. They will have writing with arrows pointing to them, for instance, "IGN" means ignition, and the two with arrows pointing to IGN mean that these terminals get power with the ignition turned on AND while the engine's cranking. Find the accessory one (just gets power when ignition = ON, and not cranking). Put the male quick-disconnect in there.

Now, when your car's turned on, the small wire through the firewall turns the relay on, and the relay handles the "big" current of the foglights. Want to get fancy? Put a switch in-line with that one wire "after" the fuse holder. Want to get really fancy? Unhook the quick-disconnect from the fuse box. Cut off the connector. Patch it into a wire that becomes "hot" when your lights are on. Then, when your lights come on, so does your foglights.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
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[This message has been edited by TomP (edited May 16, 2001).]

FAST RS

I allready have the lights installed and working. I have the actual fog ligh switch hooked up too. Bascily all i need to figure out is Insted of hooking the power wire to my battery is there another place i can wireit into so the fog lights can ONLY turn on when the key is in the ignition. Or did i miss something in your pos. But have the lights in and running. Just dont want to ahve to turn them off at night becasue i know im gonna forget one of these days

TomP

Yeah, that's what my post was about. You can't pull the fog light power from anywhere else but the battery- there's too much amperage needed.

The relay lets you use a low-amp circuit (fuse box) to control a high-amp circuit (fog lights). So your switch will now control the relay, and the relay will control the fog lights.


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
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FAST RS

Tom Idont wana **** you off but im soooooo lost lol could u explain it in idot terms.

Camaro_hunter_d

Well yet again Tomp you have no clue. FastRS take the wire you are running to your battery and run it through your fender to the interior of your car. run it under the lower dash under the stering column to the top of the fuse block(it will be alot easier to take the holding screw out to lower the block). Locate an accesory fuse spot. It will be empty in the fuse block. (there should be a fog light specific spot) run the wire to the cold side of that fuse slot. Then put a fuse in that spot. Then WHAMMO you have a safe fused power supply.
Don't worry about the switch it will still work fine.

[This message has been edited by Camaro_hunter_d (edited May 16, 2001).]

Camaro_hunter_d

Ok FAst RS heres the deal.
there is a slot in the fuse block marked PWR ACC, this means power accessories. This is the spot where you will need a circuit tester to find the "cold" side of the fuse to plug your power wire to your fog lights. Once you do this put in a 20-30 amp fuse in and you are good to go.

I don't have the imense GM parts books to find the diagram like tomp, but I did find it in my service manual...gee go fig a 12 buck book has info you can use?....

FAST RS

that makes sence there is allready a inline fse in the lights ad i ran them through my firewall not fun...

TomP

Camaro_hunter, as usual, you're a god-damned whiney little girl!

Overlck350, I'm sick of this crap! What the hell?!?!

Camaro_hunter, you should NOT run high-amp foglights out of the fuseblock inside the car! Pull your frickin' head out of your *** and PAY ATTENTION. Don't tell me I don't know my $hit when I don't, little jerk. YOU don't have the clue here.

Yeah, he can power the foglights out of the fuseblock, and it'll work, but it's NOT THE RIGHT WAY. You want to jury-rig your own car, that's fine, but don't screw up other people's rides in the process. A $6 relay and some wiring is the RIGHT way to do it.

F'in jerk.

[edit] FastRS, I'll draw up a .BMP (windows paintbrush) and e-mail it to you to show you what I mean.

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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
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[This message has been edited by TomP (edited May 17, 2001).]

FAST RS

thanks Tom P . All i want is to brake the connection somehow when the key isint in so the lights will turn off thats all i really want

Camaro_hunter_d

You say you should not run high amp things from the fuse block huh?...why is it then that is where the power comes from on the cars that are originally equiped with them?...answer me that.
He was looking fr a fused power source when the ignition was hot...thats the fuse to link into. PERIOD. If you want to get your panties in a wad over the coolant thing go for it I really do not care anymore.
As far as the other thing with the air box I posted what it dd for MY CAR. Thats what the person was asking about. It seems to me that you are the one being the whiney little girl.
Get over yourself. Cring to a moderator ...Please...

87RS402

Now children! Can't we all just get along?

Fast RS. What you need to do is take the wire that powers the switch, route that wire from the fuse box to the switch. Then use the wire to power the relay that is connected to the lights like tom said. If you do not wire the lights in that configuration what will happen is a nice BONFIRE! The wire will over heat from too much current draw and will short out causing a warm orange heat source known as fire. It's real simple and I'd be happy to explain more but I'm eating

TomP

I'm not bent over the coolant thing, little boy. I never even MENTIONED it in this message! Apparently you're the one still upset about it, and still trying to get the last word in on it.

Want to know why I'm ticked off? I'm ticked off because every time I post something, you've gotta jump on my back like a hungry flea. You say, "Well yet again Tomp you have no clue"! Give me a break & grow up. You're the one with your "panties in a wad"- Are you upset because I don't "talk" to you anymore? Puh-lease.

I'm ignoring you, yet you feel the need to jump on my butt for any DAMN thing I post! I REFUSE to continue in this flame war of yours. This is NOT what thirdgen.org's about. GROW UP.

HAHAHA, you are so WRONG! Ya know what? I checked my "immense GM parts book" last night- GM used a RELAY to control the fog lights. The relay ran off the headlight switch. The relay was mounted at the rear top of the driver's side fender. The foglights drew their power from a fuseable link located by the driver side of the battery. The factory foglights did NOT get their power from the fuse box, like you claim!


If you've got a difference of opinion on a way to do something, then fine, you go ahead and post it, I don't give a flying F-k about that. We're all here to share our opinions/ideas/knowledge. BUT: Next time, don't tell me "Well yet again Tomp you have no clue", when I'm right.

Sorry for all this, FastRS...

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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

Belker

You should use a relay (and yes GM factory wiring uses a relay). If you don't then you are risking a fire that could burn the car down. The relay should be on the engine side of the firewall and power should come from the battery or the factory distribution block. Use fuses and I suggest wire loom for added protection.

The question then is where do you get the +12V to turn on the relay. Under the steering colume is a bunch of wires. Use a multimeter to test them. One will only be hot with the ignition on, one with the parking lights on, one with the lowbeams on, one with highbeams on, ect. Pick the one you like and use it to activate the relay.

FAST RS

Now tha maks sence to me.