I broke something!! HELP w/ lights

[KaBoom]

Ok, I was trying to rewire the lights in my 1995 XLT today and something happened. I found the power distribution box under the hood and went about cutting and rewiring the wires so i can turn the fog lights on whenever i want. I must have ground something wrong or passed a wrong wire to another but it didn't work.

Now even worse, i patched all the wires back together and i can't even get it back to factory! The headlights and parking lights work (whew), but not the fog lights, also the fog light switch doesn't light up when pressed!

I can only assume it's 3 or 4 things:

1: soldering & patching of the wires, i checked and double checked and don't think thats the problem. And yes i matched the correct colors together.

2: relay, it makes that clicking noise when i press the fog light button meaning it's switching....but....fog lights are off.

3. fog light button - it's making the relay click BUT the light behind the button isn't lighting up! and the fog lights are off

4. fog lights - i checked the bulbs and they look good.....but they don't light up

now i'm pissed because i tried to do something but failed and the fact that the X is worse off than before doesn't help. i don't want to bring this into the dealer, because i know i can fix it.

could someone offer suggestions or experience on troubleshooting, and prehasp places to get a new fog light switch/relay if thats the problem?

thanks everyone

 

[X24]

Did you extend the right end of the fog light wire? I dont remember for sure but I think you have to tape off the end that comes out of the box and extend the end that isnt coming out of the box. Did you try extending that into the fuse panel that is inside the car? To check quick, just extend it to the battery, but make sure there is a fuse in the line close to the battery. Good luck.

 

[KaBoom]

98FordX24,

Ok, you got me confused. I tried several different things when rewiring. When testing i used all the wires BEFORE they went into the relay. I tried tying these off to each other (i.e. 12V, headlight, fog swtich...etc) with no luck. After it got dark and cold out, I soldered them back together (color to color) and closed the P.D. box and tested all the lights to make sure they worked. Every light worked, EXCEPT the fogs. The fog light button doesn't work either
Not sure where i went wrong.
I didn't mess around with the fuse box, checked however to make sure the 15A fuse is still good.

 

[X24]

You should look in the performance lighting forum. try to get a hold of mattadams or bill kemp. They helped me out a lot.

This might not be right but this is how i think it works:

P.D. ___A___ / ____B____ Switch

You need to extend B to another power source. If you extended A then that might have caused problems. Again, I dont really know what I'm talking about, but that is my only advice... sorry.

 

[Bill Kemp]

Sounds to me like you fried the switch or blew a fuse.
After wrecking two switches I gave up on that idea and used the PIAA switches and wiring.
On the lighting board there is a description of how to change the fogs relay position.
Good luck...

 

[KaBoom]

bill kemp,

yeah i checked the fuse and it's looks good, don't think it's blown.

however, the wiring is back to normal (soldering after messing around with it) but the fog light switch doesn't light up anymore or the fog lights. but the relay clicks... does that mean the relay is good or the switch is good?
so you're guessing it's the fog switch?

where can i get a new switch? any recommendations?

thanks

 

[Bill Kemp]

Switch is dealer item..About $10....Cant remember price.
Maby I want to forget, not sure.
Like I said I gave up after the second fried switch.

 

[KaBoom]

ok, here's an update:

i finally got a switch from FORD ($24), can't believe that price on an item like that.

anyway, took the dash apart and removed the backing from the switch. plugged the new switch in before i rip out the old one. tried the fogs again and it STILL DOESN'T WORK!!!

i'm about to go ape sh*t , because i'm out of ideas. could it be the relay? i had my friend at the auto store try to get me one, apparently they are rare items that no one really keeps in stock because they are hard to break.... if the fuse isn't blown and my wiring is ok... what else could it be?

i think tomorrow i'm going to check on my soldering skills on the cut wires, maybe i missing something there....

anyone have any suggestions?

thanks in advance