Factory fog light switch conversion (multi switch to dash toggle)

[Sierra Cam]

Greetings all!
I have a '02 wrangler sport with factory fog lights that have never worked since I purchased it some 2 years ago. when i investigated, I found the fuse to be missing so plugged one of the correct value in, and to my pleasant surprise, they came on!
problem was, I couldn't shut them off!
After a bit of research I found out that the multi switch on the steering column that controls them has a weak spot and is a common failure point for the fogs and the best cure is to simply replace it.
But, I'm a cheap skate and also like to keep things simple, so don't want to replace a perfectly fine turn signal switch just for something as mundane as fog lights which is where my question comes in.
I have an empty slot on the dash next to my rear window wiper and defogger switches and would prefer to wire in a "factory like" fog light switch.
i'm pretty good with wiring but can't find a complete enough wiring diagram for either the multi switch or the attached harness to bypass the defective switch with my new one.
I know this isn't really "keeping it simple", but the end result will be for me!

Has anyone had any experience with this? And if so, which wires coming from the multi switch would be the appropriate ones to redirect to my new switch?
Thanks in advance!

 

[Zorba]

I'm looking at this same situation, "From the other side" so to speak. I'm installing factory fogs, its pre-wired for them - BUT needs the multi-switch to be replaced with the fog lite version. I too am too cheap - I "think" the wire I want is pin 14 on the multi switch connector - MAYBE re-routing that to a switch is all that's needed. Either switching +12 or ground to this line may or may not do what I want. More experimentation/investigation is needed....

There's not a lot of comprehensible information about this - and the guys who create car wiring and what passes for schematics of same are all on crack!

 

[billiebob]

Just bypass the entire multi function switch and run a fog light relay off the battery. Or find a blank spot in the underhood fuse/relay box thing. Or find the relay and reroute the wires, but don't bother touching anything in the dash.

 

[Zorba]

Just bypass the entire multi function switch and run a fog light relay off the battery. Or find a blank spot in the underhood fuse/relay box thing. Or find the relay and reroute the wires, but don't bother touching anything in the dash.

This is my plan B - tap at the factory fog lite relay under the hood.

 

[TJRick]

Greetings all!
I have a '02 wrangler sport with factory fog lights that have never worked since I purchased it some 2 years ago. when i investigated, I found the fuse to be missing so plugged one of the correct value in, and to my pleasant surprise, they came on!
problem was, I couldn't shut them off!
After a bit of research I found out that the multi switch on the steering column that controls them has a weak spot and is a common failure point for the fogs and the best cure is to simply replace it.
But, I'm a cheap skate and also like to keep things simple, so don't want to replace a perfectly fine turn signal switch just for something as mundane as fog lights which is where my question comes in.
I have an empty slot on the dash next to my rear window wiper and defogger switches and would prefer to wire in a "factory like" fog light switch.
i'm pretty good with wiring but can't find a complete enough wiring diagram for either the multi switch or the attached harness to bypass the defective switch with my new one.
I know this isn't really "keeping it simple", but the end result will be for me!

Has anyone had any experience with this? And if so, which wires coming from the multi switch would be the appropriate ones to redirect to my new switch?
Thanks in advance!

I don't know if you know this already or not, but the early model TJ didn't have that flimsy multi-function switch/stalk. Instead, it had a simple push/pull headlight knob on the dash and the fog lights were activated by a rocker switch located in the center stack.

 

[gbirk]

I installed a toggle switch for the fog lights, by cutting the power wire after the multi-switch and hooking it to a new relay and switch in the center console. I thought I was pretty smart when I did it and read the wiring diagram very carefully. I had LED headlights when I did it, and did not notice until about 3 months later when I switched back to traditional headlights that the power wire I cut and used for the fog light relay behind the new switch also provided power to the high beams. So, now I have functional fog lights, but no high beams, and I am too lazy to open everything back up and fix it. The harness going to my multi-switch is very burned out, so when I get around to replacing it I will also fix the high beams. morel of the story is, you have to be very careful about how you do it or you may disable something you want. If I did it again I would do as the others said and fix it from the under hood relay and not the multi-switch.

Edit to add:
Attached is the wiring diagram I used for my 2002 sport.
I believe I cut the white with orange wire in the main bundle under the steering column and redirected it to the new switch and relay. A splice into it would have been a better option, but I did not want to back feed power to the multi-switch. Looking at this again now, Red with orange should be powering the high beams, so maybe my rewire was not the issue and I just have a multi-switch with lots of problems.

 

[T A]

What TJ Rick said. 97-99 rocker switch panel will move it to the dash.

 

[gbirk]

What TJ Rick said. 97-99 rocker switch panel will move it to the dash.

You would still have to rewire because on the newer models the fog light power goes to the multi-switch. There is nothing to hook the 97-99 switch to in the console.

 

[VI_TJ]

I just did the diy fix on the factory fog light switch. Lots of info here on how to fix it. It costs next to nothing.

 

[Zorba]

I installed a toggle switch for the fog lights, by cutting the power wire after the multi-switch and hooking it to a new relay and switch in the center console. I thought I was pretty smart when I did it and read the wiring diagram very carefully. I had LED headlights when I did it, and did not notice until about 3 months later when I switched back to traditional headlights that the power wire I cut and used for the fog light relay behind the new switch also provided power to the high beams. So, now I have functional fog lights, but no high beams, and I am too lazy to open everything back up and fix it. The harness going to my multi-switch is very burned out, so when I get around to replacing it I will also fix the high beams. morel of the story is, you have to be very careful about how you do it or you may disable something you want. If I did it again I would do as the others said and fix it from the under hood relay and not the multi-switch.

Edit to add:
Attached is the wiring diagram I used for my 2002 sport.
I believe I cut the white with orange wire in the main bundle under the steering column and redirected it to the new switch and relay. A splice into it would have been a better option, but I did not want to back feed power to the multi-switch. Looking at this again now, Red with orange should be powering the high beams, so maybe my rewire was not the issue and I just have a multi-switch with lots of problems.
View attachment 162512

That is the same place I was contemplating - thank you for this. Seeing that diagram, I'm a bit confused. I'm a retired electronics technician/engineer - why are car schematics so darn hard to figure out?

 

[Sierra Cam]

Yes, I do know the earlier models had the switch on the dash... found a supplier on ebay that sells OEM clones of those switches and have one on order ($18)... should be here later this week.
Also found some tables showing the functionality of the multi switch with what's connected and what's not depending on the function selected, along with pin numbers and wire colors for both the plug and socket on the wiring harness itself.
Unfortunately, these are for a 2005 wrangler and not a 2002 like I have, so I'm not sure if everything's the same for these two year/models or not. So far what I've seemed to notice in my research is that the wire colors don't seem to be consistent year over year...
That being said, I've worked with wiring/diagrams/electrical systems most of my adult life. I'm planning on diving into this as soon as my switch arrives and will give everyone interested a full report of what I find (including diagrams) and if I am able to make it work without too much trouble.

Stay tuned!

 

[Sierra Cam]

I don't know if you know this already or not, but the early model TJ didn't have that flimsy multi-function switch/stalk. Instead, it had a simple push/pull headlight knob on the dash and the fog lights were activated by a rocker switch located in the center stack.

View attachment 162494

yes, am aware of the older configuration... that's what I want to revert to and get away from that lousey multifunction switch! Those are nothing but electrician's nightmares!

 

[Sierra Cam]

I installed a toggle switch for the fog lights, by cutting the power wire after the multi-switch and hooking it to a new relay and switch in the center console. I thought I was pretty smart when I did it and read the wiring diagram very carefully. I had LED headlights when I did it, and did not notice until about 3 months later when I switched back to traditional headlights that the power wire I cut and used for the fog light relay behind the new switch also provided power to the high beams. So, now I have functional fog lights, but no high beams, and I am too lazy to open everything back up and fix it. The harness going to my multi-switch is very burned out, so when I get around to replacing it I will also fix the high beams. morel of the story is, you have to be very careful about how you do it or you may disable something you want. If I did it again I would do as the others said and fix it from the under hood relay and not the multi-switch.

Edit to add:
Attached is the wiring diagram I used for my 2002 sport.
I believe I cut the white with orange wire in the main bundle under the steering column and redirected it to the new switch and relay. A splice into it would have been a better option, but I did not want to back feed power to the multi-switch. Looking at this again now, Red with orange should be powering the high beams, so maybe my rewire was not the issue and I just have a multi-switch with lots of problems.
View attachment 162512

it depends on which power wire you cut... according to what I have, there are at least four separate independently fused 12V supply wires going into that plug! Each feed a different system. The info I have is that pin's 13 & 14 (PK/LG & WT/OR) are only used for the fogs, with pin #13 being the fused supply for the fogs only. Supposedly, if one were to cut both those wires and install a switch between the two, everything will work as it should without losing anything else. That's what I'm looking at doing...

 

[Zorba]

it depends on which power wire you cut... according to what I have, there are at least four separate independently fused 12V supply wires going into that plug! Each feed a different system. The info I have is that pin's 13 & 14 (PK/LG & WT/OR) are only used for the fogs, with pin #13 being the fused supply for the fogs only. Supposedly, if one were to cut both those wires and install a switch between the two, everything will work as it should without losing anything else. That's what I'm looking at doing...

Ok, somebody correct me if I'm wrong...

From the above comment, plus the above circuit diagram, it looks like the full load of the fogs goes through the MFS (or its substitute). The relay pictured above is only the "high beam fog light interrupt". Or is there yet another relay involved with the fog lites?

 

[gbirk]

it depends on which power wire you cut... according to what I have, there are at least four separate independently fused 12V supply wires going into that plug! Each feed a different system. The info I have is that pin's 13 & 14 (PK/LG & WT/OR) are only used for the fogs, with pin #13 being the fused supply for the fogs only. Supposedly, if one were to cut both those wires and install a switch between the two, everything will work as it should without losing anything else. That's what I'm looking at doing...

I believe the PK/LG is power into the MFS, and the WT/OR is power out of the MFS to the fogs. I pulled power for the fogs from the fuse block behind the glovebox, used a relay and new switch in the center console, fed it to the cut WT/OR wire under the column going out to the fog lights. So the PK/LG wire is still connected to my MFS, I just interrupted the WT/OR after the MFS going to the fogs and fed it new power out of the new switch. I did not was to cut the PK/LG to the MFS because I believe it was powering other stuff in the MFS like maybe the high beams.

 

[gbirk]

Ok, somebody correct me if I'm wrong...

From the above comment, plus the above circuit diagram, it looks like the full load of the fogs goes through the MFS (or its substitute). The relay pictured above is only the "high beam fog light interrupt". Or is there yet another relay involved with the fog lites?

Yes the PK/LG wire brings the full load into the MFS and out through the WT/OR wire. The Fog lamp relay just keeps the fos from working if the high beams are on. Interrupting the WT/OR cable like I did allows the fogs to work with the high beams, and keeps the fog light indicator in the dash working as well.

 

[Sierra Cam]

Ok, somebody correct me if I'm wrong...

From the above comment, plus the above circuit diagram, it looks like the full load of the fogs goes through the MFS (or its substitute). The relay pictured above is only the "high beam fog light interrupt". Or is there yet another relay involved with the fog lites?

Well, after I wrote that reply, I came to the same conclusion you did so am thinking my solution is for another year/model?
I've also seen comments with regards to changing out the MFS, to "make sure and move the attached relay too"... so I'm thinking the actual fog relay is integrated into the MFS?? if so, it's yet another example of idiotic automotive engineering! Geeze!

 

[Zorba]

Yea - I'm thinking perhaps a relay contact to connect 13/14 - Guess I'll have to just try connecting those two and see what happens. Doesn't make sense that they'd carry the load through the switch, but with automotive wiring, ANYTHING is possible.

 

[gbirk]

Yea - I'm thinking perhaps a relay contact to connect 13/14 - Guess I'll have to just try connecting those two and see what happens. Doesn't make sense that they'd carry the load through the switch, but with automotive wiring, ANYTHING is possible.

They did. Pull the harness out of the switch and jump 13/14. Fogs will light up. I did not believe the diagram (or figured I read it wrong) when I started this project so I pulled the connector out of the MFS and started testing with a meter. If I remember correctly power comes in on 13 (PK/LG) and out to the fogs on 14 (WT/OR) and out to the high beams 17 (RD/OR). I think this may be one reason that the fogs were shut off with the high beams. It would overload 13 (PK/LG) to power both at the same time.

 

[Zorba]

They did. Pull the harness out of the switch and jump 13/14. Fogs will light up. I did not believe the diagram (or figured I read it wrong) when I started this project so I pulled the connector out of the MFS and started testing with a meter. If I remember correctly power comes in on 13 (PK/LG) and out to the fogs on 14 (WT/OR) and out to the high beams 17 (RD/OR). I think this may be one reason that the fogs were shut off with the high beams. It would overload 13 (PK/LG) to power both at the same time.

This sounds like a plan. I do know that fogs must shut off with high beams in Commiefornia at least. Or at least that used to be the case - dunno about other states, etc...