Wondering if anyone can help me. About 3 months ago I spliced the fog lights on my 87 YJ into the headlight system so that they would work when the headlights were turned on. I was having problems with the fog light switch blowing up since it was directly connected to the battery (yes I had an in line fuse, but it still seemed to be a problem). Everything went great til last week, when suddenly the headlights wouldn't come on. The parking lights all worked, the dash worked, the tail lights worked, but no headlights/fog lights. So I bought both the headlight switch and the dimmer switch (one thing I noticed after putting the fog lights in the same wire system as the headlights was that the dimmer no longer worked--when you engaged the dimmer, all lights went out: dash, headlights, tails, parking. So we didn't use the dimmer). First, I replaced the headlight switch, but to no avail, still no headlights. So I replaced the dimmer switch, and voila, the headlights come on. So I pat myself on the back, content that I AM smarter than that darn car! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Til this morning. 3 days after replacing the dimmer switch, I went out early to start the car, and there are no headlights! So the car is smarter than me. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/angry.gif" alt="" /> I checked the fuses under the dash, and they all seem to be okay. What am I missing? This should be a protected circuit, so I can't believe that it blew that quickly.

Any thoughts on what to check for?

The head light switch is only rated for running those headlights and maybe a little more. How big was the fuse that the fog lamps was burning? I bet you are just overloading the system. Also, fog lamps aren't that powerful most of the time. I would double check there are no shorts.

My advice is to NEVER wire anything into your headlight wiring!! What if you are are in a situation where the lights going out suddenly will KILL someone?
Do like the wiring diagram says on the fog lights and put them on a seperate fused switch! JUST like everybody elses. Do it correctly the first time and you will have no problems.
Big Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

That is what I needed to know. I have another related question now. Does everyone else directly wire their fog lights to the battery? Or is there a fuse/wire somewhere that I should be looking for so that I can tie it to that?

Thanks again for the help.

YES you need an inline fuse and it should be VERY close to the source!
Big Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

For 1 or 2 things, wiring directly to the battery won't hurt. If you plan on doing a lot of after market modifications that will require lots of power, consider getting a generic fuse box and running everything off of that.

He's probally got relay issues now.

Got an inline fuse and drew the power off of the battery instead of the headlights, and everything works like it should. Thanks again for the help. I now know not to tie other lights to the headlight switch.

Thanks again.

Just an offshoot experience so I guess it is slightly OT. I had learned this in a similar way. I was in HS and I had my baby, an 84 Cavalier F41 Conv. I tied in some pain ol' Walmart clear lens driving lights to the headlamp ckt. While driving through the mountains in WV at 3am I was in a fog, really tired and the interior of the car filled w/ smoke and the headlamps (and DL) cut off at 65mph going down the mountain. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/scared.gif" alt="" /> Turns out I melted the headlamp switch bigtime from the overheat. I pulled the harness through the hole where the HL switch belonged and I stripped the wires back w/ a dull knife. I still have the scar on my chin from that knife slipping in the dark. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shiner.gif" alt="" /> AHHH Memories, thanks for bringing that one back. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

so you learned that you should keep your knife sharp after that?????

I had a 69 chevy p/u with the floor mount dimmer switch that one night I pressed it to drop to low beams. Well the guy that put the switch in wasn't too bright and left a piece of wire exposed on the terminal. When I pushed the dimmer, the wire shorted and I lost low beams. I was in the middle of no where and all was ok till I blinded the oncoming car with my brights and of course, he was a state trooper. Luckily, didn't cost me anything more than replacing the hl switch and the dimmer.