Fog Lamp Mod 2001 (1999-2001?) Explorer - Ford Explorer Ranger Enthusiasts "Serious Explorations"®

edlmann · 10-13-2002, 09:23 PM

After some exploration, I’ve figured out how to modify the foglamp circuit for a 2001 Explorer so that the foglamps stay on with the high beams. This mod is actually much easier, IMHO, than for the earlier models.

First, I located the relay box. It’s mounted to the same plate that holds the bottom of the airbox. I got into it, and here’s what I found:

1. There are sockets for a total of six relays, two large (the size of a conventional Bosch relay) and four smaller relays, in a 1 2 1 2 configuration. The six sockets were arranged like this, with socket 1 being toward the front of the vehicle:

1
2 3
4
5 6

On my Explorer, socket 1 was empty from the factory.

2. The small type relays in sockets 2 and 3 control the foglamps. Why two relays? One to turn on the foglamps when the parking lamps go on, the second to turn off the foglamps when the high beams come on.

3. By checking the wiring on the back of the relay sockets, I came to the conclusion that relay 2 as shown above turned off the foglamps. Why? It was wired so that power flowed when the relay was _NOT_ energized.

4. The small relays, Ford part number F57B-14B192-AA, SPST relays. There are 5 pins on the relay, laid out as follows:

------- 3

------- 5

| | |
| | |
2 4 1

Pins 3 and 5 are .25" wide; pins 1, 2, and 4 are smaller, about .187".

The corresponding sockets are not numbered at all that I can detect.

5. Relay 2 is wired so that power flows from pin 3 to pin 4 when the relay is not energized. Only when the relay is energized is the power cut off. Power goes from pin 4 of relay 2 to the control circuit side, pin 1, of relay 3. In other words, run a jumper from the furthest away wide socket to the center narrow socket of relay 2, and the foglamps don't go off when the high beams come on.

6. To make the foglamps stay on when the high beams come on, I removed relay 2 and ran a jumper wire from pin 3 to pin 4. Just as simple as that.

7. I made a jumper from 16 ga. wire with a male spade connector on each end. For the wide connector I used 3M from Wal-Mart. For the narrow connector I used Radio Shack #64-3134. I didn't measure, but the assembled length of the whole thing was about 2" to 2.25". Jumpered pin 3 to pin 4 and it works like a charm.

The whole procedure took about 20 minutes to actually do, but would have been 5 minutes or so shorter, less the following: When wrestling with the airbox, (a) It came loose suddenly, (b) My head banged into the hood, (c) The drop light fell, breaking the bulb, and (d) I had to find a new bulb for the drop light.

This worked on my 2001. I suspect it will work on any 1999 to 2001 Explorer where the foglamps already come on with the parking lights, and it may be useful for the 2002s and later.

BTW, the wiring to the fog lamps is badly undersized and the pins on the bulbs are badly undersized also. My bulbs are the, I think, 9145s, that have an H-1 bulb grafted onto an adapter. No way I'm going to go over wattage with this dinky wiring.

--
FWIW; AFAIK; IMHO; YMMV; yadda, yadda, yadda.

Regards, Ed Mann mailto:edlmann@earthlink.net

99explorer5.0 · 10-13-2002, 09:36 PM

Thanks for the info. I have always wanted to do this but i never wanted to mess with it to screw something up. Maybe i will try this tomorrow.

99Mounty · 10-14-2002, 02:17 PM

edlmann --

i'm going to try this in a few min as soon as the printer starts working.

if it works, you are AWESOME! i've been trying to figure this out for ever!!!

good job!!! congrats congrats congrats!!!!!

99Mounty · 10-14-2002, 02:40 PM

7. I made a jumper from 16 ga. wire with a male spade connector on each end. For the wide connector I used 3M from Wal-Mart. For the narrow connector I used Radio Shack #64-3134.

Do you possibly have more info on the wide connector you used ? (is it just any 3m wide connector from walmart?)

thanks.

edlmann · 10-14-2002, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 99Mounty
7. I made a jumper from 16 ga. wire with a male spade connector on each end. For the wide connector I used 3M from Wal-Mart. For the narrow connector I used Radio Shack #64-3134.

Do you possibly have more info on the wide connector you used ? (is it just any 3m wide connector from walmart?)

thanks.

Just a standard 1/4" male spade type disconnect. Available anywhere - hardware, Wal-Mart, auto store, etc. The tricky part is the narrow connector. That's why I listed the part number.

Tarron · 10-15-2002, 08:07 PM

Ok 99Mounty did it work? If so I want to do it to my 99. Thanks.

99Mounty · 10-16-2002, 04:08 PM

tarron, i haven't had time to try it yet.

i will soon ... hopefully this week sometime.

has anyone else tried yet?

*Xplodor* · 10-16-2002, 04:22 PM

I want to do this, does anyone have pictures for the imagination impaired like me. =) I need all the help I can get.

99Mounty · 10-24-2002, 04:58 PM

Guys, I've done edlmann's procedure and it worked !!!

It's AWESOME!!! edlmann, you deserve a trophy for figuring it out!!

I'm so happy ... now I can drive around w/ my HIDs AND fogs at the same time! Sweeeet!

I'll take pics and post them at a later time.

One comment:

edlmann's relay layout was like this:

1
2 3
4
5 6

On edlmann's 99 Explorer, socket 1 was empty from the factory.

For my 99 Mountaineer, socket 4 was empty. But that didn't matter. Socket 2 is socket 2.

Anyways, I'm happy. Strange how such tiny things in life can put a smile on your face.

Tarron · 10-24-2002, 05:29 PM

Thanks for letting us 99ers know that it works on our year too. I'll do mine tomorrow (ah....make that this weekend) and take pictures while I do it.

And yes your right, sometimes even the smallest improvements in life can make me happy.

Tarron · 10-26-2002, 06:27 PM

I went out a few minutes ago to start doing this mod but decided to check how the foglights worked before I made any changes. To my surprise they stay on when I turned the headlights on.

Guess my relay is defective so doesn't activate to turn off the fog lights when the headlights come on. I've only used the fog lights once since I purchased my X and had to switch to the parking lights to be able to see as the fog (low clouds in the mountains) was so thick. I sure do love easy projects.
Now it's

time.

**Alec** · 10-26-2002, 06:31 PM

Tarron, the fog lights will turn off when you turn the high beams on.

Tarron · 10-26-2002, 08:00 PM

Oops, I didn't check that. Just went out in the garage and sure enough they go out with the high beams on. Good thing I still have the jumper I made as it will only take 5 minutes to install it.

*Xplodor* · 10-28-2002, 04:57 PM

Anyone have picts please!!!!!

Tarron · 10-28-2002, 09:37 PM

Finished the modification this afternoon so here are the pictures. First the relay box with the top off and relay spot 1 empty.

Here is the stuff that you will need to make the jumper.

And finally here is the jumper installed.

A better way to do this would be to "find" an old relay someplace and then just cut off the two small outside blades. That would take away the power from the relay so it wouldn't energize to turn off the fog lights and would still look like a stock setup. I may have to look for a relay the next time I'm at the junkyard.

edlmann · 10-29-2002, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tarron
Finished the modification this afternoon so here are the pictures.

None of the pictures came through.

edlmann · 10-29-2002, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tarron
Finished the modification this afternoon so here are the pictures.

I couldn't see the pictures on the board, but I'll try to post the URLs again:

http://users.adelphia.net/~tarron/headlight_relays.jpg

http://users.adelphia.net/~tarron/stuff_required.jpg

http://users.adelphia.net/~tarron/jumper_installed.jpg

Tarron · 10-29-2002, 03:45 PM

Bummer, they were working last night. I just went in to the post and everything looks good.

Just checked the post after saving the changes and I can see the pictures so hope you can too.

edlmann · 10-29-2002, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Tarron
Bummer, they were working last night. I just went in to the post and everything looks good.

Just checked the post after saving the changes and I can see the pictures so hope you can too.

They worked for me later, but took a long time to load. My browser thought the page was fully loaded, but it continued to load.

Anyway, they're there now.

Good pittures, BTW. They illustrate the point exactly.

As far as cutting the prongs off of a relay, that would work. Don't know that it's necessary as this mod is pretty easily reversed.

rokke17 · 10-31-2002, 12:14 AM

YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!!!
Thanks much for figuring this out, so that I didnt have to spend an hour or 2 trying.

Thanks again
Chris

10-13-2002, 09:23 PM	#1
edlmann Wannabe Elite Explorer '01 XLT Join Date: Feb 2001 Posts: 166 Vehicle Specs	Fog Lamp Mod 2001 (1999-2001?) Explorer After some exploration, I’ve figured out how to modify the foglamp circuit for a 2001 Explorer so that the foglamps stay on with the high beams. This mod is actually much easier, IMHO, than for the earlier models. First, I located the relay box. It’s mounted to the same plate that holds the bottom of the airbox. I got into it, and here’s what I found: 1. There are sockets for a total of six relays, two large (the size of a conventional Bosch relay) and four smaller relays, in a 1 2 1 2 configuration. The six sockets were arranged like this, with socket 1 being toward the front of the vehicle: 1 2 3 4 5 6 On my Explorer, socket 1 was empty from the factory. 2. The small type relays in sockets 2 and 3 control the foglamps. Why two relays? One to turn on the foglamps when the parking lamps go on, the second to turn off the foglamps when the high beams come on. 3. By checking the wiring on the back of the relay sockets, I came to the conclusion that relay 2 as shown above turned off the foglamps. Why? It was wired so that power flowed when the relay was _NOT_ energized. 4. The small relays, Ford part number F57B-14B192-AA, SPST relays. There are 5 pins on the relay, laid out as follows: ------- 3 ------- 5 \| \| \| \| \| \| 2 4 1 Pins 3 and 5 are .25" wide; pins 1, 2, and 4 are smaller, about .187". The corresponding sockets are not numbered at all that I can detect. 5. Relay 2 is wired so that power flows from pin 3 to pin 4 when the relay is not energized. Only when the relay is energized is the power cut off. Power goes from pin 4 of relay 2 to the control circuit side, pin 1, of relay 3. In other words, run a jumper from the furthest away wide socket to the center narrow socket of relay 2, and the foglamps don't go off when the high beams come on. 6. To make the foglamps stay on when the high beams come on, I removed relay 2 and ran a jumper wire from pin 3 to pin 4. Just as simple as that. 7. I made a jumper from 16 ga. wire with a male spade connector on each end. For the wide connector I used 3M from Wal-Mart. For the narrow connector I used Radio Shack #64-3134. I didn't measure, but the assembled length of the whole thing was about 2" to 2.25". Jumpered pin 3 to pin 4 and it works like a charm. The whole procedure took about 20 minutes to actually do, but would have been 5 minutes or so shorter, less the following: When wrestling with the airbox, (a) It came loose suddenly, (b) My head banged into the hood, (c) The drop light fell, breaking the bulb, and (d) I had to find a new bulb for the drop light. This worked on my 2001. I suspect it will work on any 1999 to 2001 Explorer where the foglamps already come on with the parking lights, and it may be useful for the 2002s and later. BTW, the wiring to the fog lamps is badly undersized and the pins on the bulbs are badly undersized also. My bulbs are the, I think, 9145s, that have an H-1 bulb grafted onto an adapter. No way I'm going to go over wattage with this dinky wiring. -- FWIW; AFAIK; IMHO; YMMV; yadda, yadda, yadda. Regards, Ed Mann mailto:edlmann@earthlink.net

10-13-2002, 09:36 PM	#2
99explorer5.0 Wannabe Elite Explorer RI '99 XLT 5.0L Join Date: Oct 2000 Posts: 1,136 Vehicle Specs	Thanks for the info. I have always wanted to do this but i never wanted to mess with it to screw something up. Maybe i will try this tomorrow. __________________ 99 EXPLORER XLT 5.0L AWD, KKM, Gibson Stainless Cat-Back, Sony MDX-C6500X Mini Disk, Sony 10 Disk CD Changer Rockford Fosgate BD1000.1, 15" Eclipse Aluminum 1000watt Sub, SilverStar Headlamps and Fogs 2002 Mustang GT 5 Speed with a few goodies

10-14-2002, 02:17 PM	#3
99Mounty Wannabe Elite Explorer Chicago, IL 99 Mountaineer Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 146 Vehicle Specs	edlmann -- i'm going to try this in a few min as soon as the printer starts working. if it works, you are AWESOME! i've been trying to figure this out for ever!!! good job!!! congrats congrats congrats!!!!! __________________ '99 Mountaineer

10-14-2002, 02:40 PM	#4
99Mounty Wannabe Elite Explorer Chicago, IL 99 Mountaineer Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 146 Vehicle Specs	7. I made a jumper from 16 ga. wire with a male spade connector on each end. For the wide connector I used 3M from Wal-Mart. For the narrow connector I used Radio Shack #64-3134. Do you possibly have more info on the wide connector you used ? (is it just any 3m wide connector from walmart?) thanks. __________________ '99 Mountaineer

10-16-2002, 04:08 PM	#7
99Mounty Wannabe Elite Explorer Chicago, IL 99 Mountaineer Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 146 Vehicle Specs	tarron, i haven't had time to try it yet. i will soon ... hopefully this week sometime. has anyone else tried yet? __________________ '99 Mountaineer

10-15-2002, 08:07 PM	#6
Tarron Wannabe Elite Explorer Colorado Springs, CO & Ft Garland, CO 99 Sport 4X4 Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 138 Vehicle Specs	Ok 99Mounty did it work? If so I want to do it to my 99. Thanks. __________________ 1999 Sport 4X4 - 4.0L SOHC, 5-speed automatic, 4.10 gears, K&N Gen II FIPK, Gabriel VST shocks, Warrior shackles, Warrior U-bolt skid plates, Sylvania Silverstars, Garmin GPSmap 60CS with TOPO map and Vista GPS with Roads & Recreation map. I may not know where I'm going but I always know where I am.

10-16-2002, 04:22 PM	#8
Xplodor Elite Explorer Riverside, Ca '01 XLT 4x4 Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 824 Vehicle Specs	I want to do this, does anyone have pictures for the imagination impaired like me. =) I need all the help I can get. __________________ Ron Shah (Xplodor01@aol.com) 4Play Offroad - Riverside, CA 01' XLT 4x4: Cust Exhaust, 4" SuperLift, 1.5" TT/Warrior, 3" Body Lift, 33" Xterrains, 4.56s, Detroit Locker, On-Board Air 96' Mustang (NOS Stage II)

10-24-2002, 04:58 PM	#9
99Mounty Wannabe Elite Explorer Chicago, IL 99 Mountaineer Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 146 Vehicle Specs	Guys, I've done edlmann's procedure and it worked !!! It's AWESOME!!! edlmann, you deserve a trophy for figuring it out!! I'm so happy ... now I can drive around w/ my HIDs AND fogs at the same time! Sweeeet! I'll take pics and post them at a later time. One comment: edlmann's relay layout was like this: 1 2 3 4 5 6 On edlmann's 99 Explorer, socket 1 was empty from the factory. For my 99 Mountaineer, socket 4 was empty. But that didn't matter. Socket 2 is socket 2. Anyways, I'm happy. Strange how such tiny things in life can put a smile on your face. __________________ '99 Mountaineer

10-24-2002, 05:29 PM	#10
Tarron Wannabe Elite Explorer Colorado Springs, CO & Ft Garland, CO 99 Sport 4X4 Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 138 Vehicle Specs	Thanks for letting us 99ers know that it works on our year too. I'll do mine tomorrow (ah....make that this weekend) and take pictures while I do it. And yes your right, sometimes even the smallest improvements in life can make me happy. __________________ 1999 Sport 4X4 - 4.0L SOHC, 5-speed automatic, 4.10 gears, K&N Gen II FIPK, Gabriel VST shocks, Warrior shackles, Warrior U-bolt skid plates, Sylvania Silverstars, Garmin GPSmap 60CS with TOPO map and Vista GPS with Roads & Recreation map. I may not know where I'm going but I always know where I am. Last edited by Tarron; 10-25-2002 at 09:05 PM.

10-26-2002, 06:27 PM	#11
Tarron Wannabe Elite Explorer Colorado Springs, CO & Ft Garland, CO 99 Sport 4X4 Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 138 Vehicle Specs	Lucky break I went out a few minutes ago to start doing this mod but decided to check how the foglights worked before I made any changes. To my surprise they stay on when I turned the headlights on. Guess my relay is defective so doesn't activate to turn off the fog lights when the headlights come on. I've only used the fog lights once since I purchased my X and had to switch to the parking lights to be able to see as the fog (low clouds in the mountains) was so thick. I sure do love easy projects. Now it's time. __________________ 1999 Sport 4X4 - 4.0L SOHC, 5-speed automatic, 4.10 gears, K&N Gen II FIPK, Gabriel VST shocks, Warrior shackles, Warrior U-bolt skid plates, Sylvania Silverstars, Garmin GPSmap 60CS with TOPO map and Vista GPS with Roads & Recreation map. I may not know where I'm going but I always know where I am.

10-26-2002, 06:31 PM	#12
Alec Mod Emeritus Houston, Texas 2008 JK Join Date: Apr 2000 Posts: 16,061 Vehicle Specs	Tarron, the fog lights will turn off when you turn the high beams on. __________________ Alec "Dr. Candlepower" Rosenbaum Daily: 2008 JK Gone: EE "Splat", 2003 VW GTI VR6, 85 Bronco project

10-26-2002, 08:00 PM	#13
Tarron Wannabe Elite Explorer Colorado Springs, CO & Ft Garland, CO 99 Sport 4X4 Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 138 Vehicle Specs	Thanks Alec Oops, I didn't check that. Just went out in the garage and sure enough they go out with the high beams on. Good thing I still have the jumper I made as it will only take 5 minutes to install it. __________________ 1999 Sport 4X4 - 4.0L SOHC, 5-speed automatic, 4.10 gears, K&N Gen II FIPK, Gabriel VST shocks, Warrior shackles, Warrior U-bolt skid plates, Sylvania Silverstars, Garmin GPSmap 60CS with TOPO map and Vista GPS with Roads & Recreation map. I may not know where I'm going but I always know where I am.

10-28-2002, 04:57 PM	#14
Xplodor Elite Explorer Riverside, Ca '01 XLT 4x4 Join Date: Jul 2001 Posts: 824 Vehicle Specs	Anyone have picts please!!!!! __________________ Ron Shah (Xplodor01@aol.com) 4Play Offroad - Riverside, CA 01' XLT 4x4: Cust Exhaust, 4" SuperLift, 1.5" TT/Warrior, 3" Body Lift, 33" Xterrains, 4.56s, Detroit Locker, On-Board Air 96' Mustang (NOS Stage II)

10-28-2002, 09:37 PM	#15
Tarron Wannabe Elite Explorer Colorado Springs, CO & Ft Garland, CO 99 Sport 4X4 Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 138 Vehicle Specs	Finished the modification this afternoon so here are the pictures. First the relay box with the top off and relay spot 1 empty. Here is the stuff that you will need to make the jumper. And finally here is the jumper installed. A better way to do this would be to "find" an old relay someplace and then just cut off the two small outside blades. That would take away the power from the relay so it wouldn't energize to turn off the fog lights and would still look like a stock setup. I may have to look for a relay the next time I'm at the junkyard. __________________ 1999 Sport 4X4 - 4.0L SOHC, 5-speed automatic, 4.10 gears, K&N Gen II FIPK, Gabriel VST shocks, Warrior shackles, Warrior U-bolt skid plates, Sylvania Silverstars, Garmin GPSmap 60CS with TOPO map and Vista GPS with Roads & Recreation map. I may not know where I'm going but I always know where I am. Last edited by Tarron; 10-29-2002 at 03:47 PM.

10-29-2002, 03:45 PM	#18
Tarron Wannabe Elite Explorer Colorado Springs, CO & Ft Garland, CO 99 Sport 4X4 Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 138 Vehicle Specs	Bummer, they were working last night. I just went in to the post and everything looks good. Just checked the post after saving the changes and I can see the pictures so hope you can too. __________________ 1999 Sport 4X4 - 4.0L SOHC, 5-speed automatic, 4.10 gears, K&N Gen II FIPK, Gabriel VST shocks, Warrior shackles, Warrior U-bolt skid plates, Sylvania Silverstars, Garmin GPSmap 60CS with TOPO map and Vista GPS with Roads & Recreation map. I may not know where I'm going but I always know where I am. Last edited by Tarron; 10-29-2002 at 03:50 PM.

10-31-2002, 12:14 AM	#20
rokke17 Wannabe Elite Explorer Minn/Mich 99 XLT 4 Door 4X4 Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 586 Vehicle Specs	YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME!!! Thanks much for figuring this out, so that I didnt have to spend an hour or 2 trying. Thanks again Chris __________________ '99 XLT 4 door-> 4X4 Mostly stock