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General Information => General => Topic started by: rabbitman on February 22, 2011, 10:54:31 pm

Title: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: rabbitman on February 22, 2011, 10:54:31 pm
Ok so the euro golf came stock with city and fog lights, neither was functional when i got it. The drivers side had a city light plug and the pass side had fog light wires that dead ended with no plug.

I hooked up the city lights and they come on when the headlight switch is on the first and second click even when the headlights are on. Is this the correct operation?

Messing with the fog light switch, at first it had three positions just like the headlight switch and then suddenly it won't go to what was the OFF position but the rest works.

So was it really supposed to have 3 positions? If so what do they do?
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: rabbitman on February 22, 2011, 11:54:12 pm
I tore apart the fog light switch and it does indeed have 3 positions, but a small green lense for the switch illuminator came loose inside and jammed it. I will have it fixed post haste ;D
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: mystery3 on February 23, 2011, 12:41:12 am
The city lights are just like marker lights they should be on in both "on" positions of the switch.
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: rabbitman on February 23, 2011, 12:43:54 am
The city lights are just like marker lights they should be on in both "on" positions of the switch.

Ok thanks.

Any idea what the 3 positions on the fog light switch are for?
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: mystery3 on February 23, 2011, 01:40:40 am
I've never had a vw with fogs. When you figure it out post it here, I'm planning on retrofitting a set to my truck.
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: GEE-BEE on February 23, 2011, 10:45:53 am
I have city light on my South African front end, they are my markers ( amber )
mine are hella E series

I plan on getting dual turn/marker for the bumpers in my next shipment
and have ben thinking of getting the newer style citi fenders with the side markers also

GB
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: 8v-of-fury on February 23, 2011, 07:57:10 pm
I can't imagine why the fogs would need a three post... On and Off would suffice I would think.

Draw their power from the same spot the citi lights come from, and then have the ability to turn them on and off seperately of the citi light circuit. Obviously it will need to be wired in with a relay, as too much power through the switch will fry it in short order.
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: rabbitman on February 23, 2011, 08:36:36 pm
I can't imagine why the fogs would need a three post... On and Off would suffice I would think.

Draw their power from the same spot the citi lights come from, and then have the ability to turn them on and off seperately of the citi light circuit. Obviously it will need to be wired in with a relay, as too much power through the switch will fry it in short order.

Yeah, looking at this I can't find any fog light wiring and there isn't a fog light relay either.....dunno why there's a switch. I'll keep studying it ;D
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: 8v-of-fury on February 23, 2011, 08:56:20 pm
Just wire it up yourself, the time spent looking for stock wires can be used to upgrade it and install your own ;)

Run them off a relay right next to the battery, so big amp power going battery/relay/lights. Then use your dash mounted fog switch to excite (turn on) the relay and make the lights come on. Wire the switch to get its power from the headlight switch on the circuit that controls the parking lamps.
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: rabbitman on February 23, 2011, 09:40:53 pm
I saw an audi once that had one extra bright light in the rear to make it be more visible, I can't remember if it had fog lights. I wonder if that's what this switch is for, first click is for fogs and the second click for the rear light.......

I'm not going to try to buy the fog light harness but I figured if it was there I would use it.

I've wired in a few sets of driving lights before and I did it so that the high beams triggered the relay to turn them on and I also put in a dash mounted switch to disable the relay giving the driver mostly full control over 'em.
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: 8v-of-fury on February 23, 2011, 09:55:32 pm
Your golden, lol.

I too would like some high power light out back.. With some 10g running back there to power it.. nothing like seeing with daylight when your backing up in the dark ;)
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: rabbitman on February 23, 2011, 09:58:38 pm
Your golden, lol.

I too would like some high power light out back.. With some 10g running back there to power it.. nothing like seeing with daylight when your backing up in the dark ;)

I'm gonna get some LED backup lights, not sure if they'll be brighter than regular bulbs but the reverse light switch will last forever.......and I won't have to relay it ;D.

I like adding neat stuff like extra lighting but these things have enough wires without me adding more.
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: Vincent Waldon on February 23, 2011, 09:59:35 pm
I saw an audi once that had one extra bright light in the rear to make it be more visible, I can't remember if it had fog lights. I wonder if that's what this switch is for, first click is for fogs and the second click for the rear light..


Yup... you got it... it's called "rear fogs" and is all the rage on the Autobahn.   ;)
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: rabbitman on February 23, 2011, 10:02:19 pm
Yup... you got it... it's called "rear fogs" and is all the rage on the Autobahn.   ;)

Rat's, I guess I have to move to germany then haha.
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: Fredrikkk on February 24, 2011, 04:44:37 am
There is an original t-connector behind the expansion tank that you can use. The fog has three levels: off, on front and on front and rear. You would need a new relay in the fuse box, and then just run your wires to a relay in the engine bay as specified above here. I'm about to do this to my diesel :)
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: rabbitman on February 24, 2011, 04:23:31 pm
There is an original t-connector behind the expansion tank that you can use. The fog has three levels: off, on front and on front and rear. You would need a new relay in the fuse box, and then just run your wires to a relay in the engine bay as specified above here. I'm about to do this to my diesel :)

Thanks man, I'm slowly figuring it out but any pointers I can get will speed up the process. Strange thing is I found that little plug under the tank and it has power to it without a relay, a whopping 10.4V ::)

Is the rear fogs already wired in? The car doesn't have euro tail lights anymore either, the North American taillights have 4 bulbs. Is that the same as euro or do they have a dedicated rear fog bulb?
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: Fredrikkk on February 25, 2011, 04:01:40 am
I can't speak for American cars, but I would imagine the rear fogs are wired in already, and my car has a dedicated fog light bulb. And really? 10.4V? Hm... And you haven't any relays in spot #10 for the big relays? That's a little strange..  8)
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: rabbitman on February 26, 2011, 04:13:59 pm
I can't speak for American cars, but I would imagine the rear fogs are wired in already, and my car has a dedicated fog light bulb. And really? 10.4V? Hm... And you haven't any relays in spot #10 for the big relays? That's a little strange..  8)

This is a european spec golf, somehow ended up in the states 8). There's no relay in #10, instead there's a plug there with one gry/wht wire coming out the front, looks factory. I pulled the plug and put a relay in and the voltage at the plug under the tank went up to about 12v.

You probably have 5 bulbs on that side then, someone swapped this car over to US taillights so each bulb twists in separately and there are only 4 per side.

Thanks for your help, it's nice to have someone that knows more about non-US cars.

I'll try to get hold of a camera and take pics of the fuse panel.
Title: Pictures!!!!
Post by: rabbitman on February 26, 2011, 06:58:33 pm
I don't know where that wire goes, there's one the same colors going to the fog switch but it looks smaller.
(http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg218/rabbitdude82/P2260154.jpg)

Here's the taillights:
(http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg218/rabbitdude82/P2260153.jpg)

A nightmare.
(http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg218/rabbitdude82/P2260158.jpg)
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: Fredrikkk on March 01, 2011, 04:36:03 am
Okay so the jumper in relay #10 can just be pulled out. You need a new relay, it's VW 53 I think. You can also just get a regular closed relay for lights. The grey wire does nothing AFAIK. Let me know how things go :)
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: bajacalal on March 01, 2011, 11:49:39 pm
I too would like some high power light out back.. With some 10g running back there to power it.. nothing like seeing with daylight when your backing up in the dark ;)

I have noticed that the Oldsmobile Aurora (which isn't a common car in the first place and I'm not sure if it's found on all years) has a license plate bracket that contains two very bright, clear reverse lights. This part is the same size as a European license plate and has holes to mount a North American plate (I think they did this on purpose) so it will fit nicely on the back of our cars. The only issue is that you would have to cut the sheet metal for clearance of the two lamps.
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: macka on March 05, 2011, 08:43:05 am
I'm popping out my little VW symbol on the rear of my jetta and rigging up a clear led flush mount light for extra lighting. The toyota has a difused beam tractor work light for backing up.
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: DCC on March 05, 2011, 03:38:47 pm
This is a european spec golf, somehow ended up in the states 8). There's no relay in #10, instead there's a plug there with one gry/wht wire coming out the front, looks factory. I pulled the plug and put a relay in and the voltage at the plug under the tank went up to about 12v.

I'm late, as always. I'll jump in, just for the record: all euro spec golfs had a single rear fog light (I don't remember if left or right), and they were fitted with all the wiring to mount front fogs: a black plug with 2 pins located near the expansion vase, close to the firewall

The rear lights aren't euro spec, though. They were probably swapped when the car got to USA, but it shouldn't be complicated to make a bulb work, you already have the wiring.
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: rabbitman on March 06, 2011, 03:33:36 am
I'm late, as always. I'll jump in, just for the record: all euro spec golfs had a single rear fog light (I don't remember if left or right), and they were fitted with all the wiring to mount front fogs: a black plug with 2 pins located near the expansion vase, close to the firewall

The rear lights aren't euro spec, though. They were probably swapped when the car got to USA, but it shouldn't be complicated to make a bulb work, you already have the wiring.

Thanks, any info is much appreciated :).
I looked for rear fog wiring and couldn't find any, whoever switched it to US taillights failed to do a very stellar rewire so they could very well be mixed in with the other wires.

I do have a two wire plug under the expansion tank and I bought a relay.......I don't have the harness from the plug to the fog lights though.

I also bought some little fog lights to use for better visibility since the city lights aren't very bright and I  don't wanna waste electricity running the extra-high wattage headlights when it's not dark........
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: DCC on March 06, 2011, 09:37:03 am
I looked for rear fog wiring and couldn't find any, whoever switched it to US taillights failed to do a very stellar rewire so they could very well be mixed in with the other wires.

I do have a two wire plug under the expansion tank and I bought a relay.......I don't have the harness from the plug to the fog lights though.

I think you should check which wires of the taillight connector aren't actually going anywhere. Perhaps you can run a wire directly from the connector to the bulb. I have the wiring schemas somewhere, I'll check what color that rear fog light cable is.

As for the front wiring, I made all the wiring myself, and used a couple fastons to connect it to the plug. All the wiring goes inside the bumper, that way I can remove the front bumper easily, I just unplug the harness and it comes altogether.
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: macka on March 13, 2011, 11:56:06 am
This is a european spec golf, somehow ended up in the states 8). There's no relay in #10, instead there's a plug there with one gry/wht wire coming out the front, looks factory. I pulled the plug and put a relay in and the voltage at the plug under the tank went up to about 12v.

I'm late, as always. I'll jump in, just for the record: all euro spec golfs had a single rear fog light (I don't remember if left or right), and they were fitted with all the wiring to mount front fogs: a black plug with 2 pins located near the expansion vase, close to the firewall

The rear lights aren't euro spec, though. They were probably swapped when the car got to USA, but it shouldn't be complicated to make a bulb work, you already have the wiring.

the rear fogs are on the driver side
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: rabbitman on March 15, 2011, 12:17:38 am
Just did some more looking around.

In the first picture you can see the plug in the #10 relay location with one gry/wht wire coming out the front, I found the other end back by the drivers side taillight ;D. But that leaves lot's of questions though, it looks like this car never had factory front fogs but it did have a rear fog, yet it has the switch for both. Seems rather strange to have a switch that doesn't do anything on the first click.

Just went back and check and, unlike what I said earlier, without the relay there is NO VOLTAGE at the plug under the coolant tank. I don't know why I thought there was :-[.

With the relay everything works good except I'll have to figure out another way to power a rear fog since I had to pull it's plug to put in the 53 relay.
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: rabbitman on March 15, 2011, 10:38:27 pm
Anyone know what the two black plugs under the coolant tank are for? One is two prong and the other is single. Just curious.
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: DCC on March 17, 2011, 04:11:28 pm
In the first picture you can see the plug in the #10 relay location with one gry/wht wire coming out the front, I found the other end back by the drivers side taillight ;D. But that leaves lot's of questions though, it looks like this car never had factory front fogs but it did have a rear fog, yet it has the switch for both. Seems rather strange to have a switch that doesn't do anything on the first click.

I know it seems odd, but it's like that: a switch with 2 positions and just the rear light works. Blame ze germans.  :)

With the relay everything works good except I'll have to figure out another way to power a rear fog since I had to pull it's plug to put in the 53 relay.

You'll have to plug that grey cable to the relay.

I found the wiring schemas, but they belong to US spec cars. Your car's wiring looks like it has been tampered with. If you give me 2-3 days, I'll try to snap a few pictures of the fusebox. I didn't do anything to my car. Just plug in the front lights to the T connector under the coolant tank.
Title: Re: Hooking up city lights and fog lights
Post by: Fredrikkk on March 18, 2011, 07:00:52 pm
Who uses the rear fog light anyways though?  :P It needs to be reallllllly foggy before it's useful. Just run the wires to the front ones; they're the ones that matter :)