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Jordan
Dodge Dakota
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9/20/2008
18:12:54
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 Subject: Super Frustrating! 00 Lights
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Message:
I need a wiring guy out there to explain to me how the fog light system works on the 2000 dodge for the fog lights. I have spent over a month fabbing my new front bumper and it turned out great! (Good with metal, bad with wires) I put on the last coat of paint last night and today embarked on what I thought would be the final and easy part of the whole project, the lights. I got my KC Highlights installed and they turned out great, then I cut off the factory connectors for the fog lights and went to wire them up to my new fogs and the lights turned on...wierd I thought considering the fog switch was off so I got out the DVOM and low and behold both wires recieve 12v when the switch is in the off postion, then when switching to the on position one wire loses power. That screwed me up completley considering I'm used to having two wires, a ground and a power and the power is the only side that ever has voltage and thats when the switch is in the on position. So now I'm super frustrated because I just want to get this done. Is there any replacement relays out there or something that will let this work right? I was trying to keep the installation clean by just using factory wiring but now I'm afaid it won't work. Has anyone ever successfully wired replacement lights up to there fog light switch? Thanks for your help.
Jordan.
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Jimmy9190
Dodge Dakota
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9/20/2008
21:47:25
|  RE: Super Frustrating! 00 Lights
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Message:
According to my Haynes book for the 2000 Dakota that is how the factory fog lamps switch on and off. The fog light relay supplies ground to the fog lamps, they should have constant 12 volt power on the light blue wire at the fog lamp locations. The light blue/black wire is the wire that is switching ground from the relay.
This tells me the wiring in the truck is probably OK. I would take the KC's out and open them up and make sure the ground side of the wiring inside each lamp is not somehow contacting the metal housing of the lamp. Since the bumper you fabbed up for your truck is metal, if the housing on the KC lights is grounded, it will cause the lights to come on like that when you use the OE fog light wires.
It's simple enough to fix if this is the problem. Either figure a way to isolate the ground side of the wiring on the KC's in their housings or use a relay. Get a Bosch 30 amp relay at the parts store and wire it like this:
Terminal 86 and 87 12 volts + from the battery positive post.
Terminal 85 to the light blue/black wire from the factory fog lamp location. Should only need one to the relay.
Terminal 30 connect to the positive wire on both the KC's.
Be sure to install a fuse with the same amperage rating as that of the KC's within 6 inches of the connection at the positive battery post. This will keep the positive wires from being a direct short to ground if there is a wiring problem, so it won't cause a fire. You can get fuse holders and ring terminals at any parts store.
Ground the ground wires on the KC's to a good chassis ground.
This configuration will allow the factory headlight switch to still control the KC's, same as it did with the OE fog lamps. But it *might* be easier to isolate the grounds inside the KC's. Either way, the KC's will still turn off when you turn on the high beams.
A lot of circuits in Dakota's are wired this way with constant positive voltage at the circuit and ground controlling the operation of the circuit.
I would guess this is the problem with your truck and the way to fix it. Let us know how it turns out.
Jimmy
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Gregg
Dodge Dakota
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9/21/2008
12:06:42
| RE: Super Frustrating! 00 Lights
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Message:
When the switch is OFF, the GROUND is removed from the circuit. The entire thing then "floats" at 12V, that's why you see 12V on both wires. When you switch ON, now there's a ground path and the lights come on.
It's the GROUND that's switched, not the 12V. Dodge wires their stuff this way all over your truck.
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Jordan
Dodge Dakota
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9/21/2008
21:24:12
| RE: Super Frustrating! 00 Lights
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Message:
Yeah thanks alot guys for your response I ended up figuring it out last night after staring at my truck for a few hours...on the stock bumper the lights were mounted by a plastic bracket to the plastic bumper and hence there was no external ground, however when I instal my new lights to the new metal fabbed bumper that 12v constant power grounds through the bumper and the lights stay on. Frustrating... but I just ran a whole new harness for the lights so I'm passed it, thanks again for your help.
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