Rear Fog lights not working

[Dayo56]

My 98 XLt is due Mot and can't get rear fogs working.

Neither side is working, have checked bulbs (OK), switch lights up when you press it and located relay under dash that seems to work and swapped it with the one above as it is the same relay and still nothing.

Is there an inline fuse or another relay as I can't seem to find anything.

I can't see a fuse listed in handbook that relates to rear fogs?

Any help would be very helpfull

Steve

 

[mikeh44]

are you talking about the two rear white lights on the rear if you are they are backup lights not fog lights

 

[Dayo56]

are you talking about the two rear white lights on the rear if you are they are backup lights not fog lights

No these are 2 Red rectangular shaped Fog Lights fitted into the rear bumper of car - its a UK car

 

[martybaker]

Fog lights are red in the UK? And you really need fog lights over there just to back up?

 

[TheJackal]

Outside of the US vehicles have a "rear fog light" to increase visibility in heavy fog or other adverse conditions. It doesn't have anything to do with backing up.

They are red lights that are attached to the rear bumper.

Unfortunately that was not even an option here, so must of us have no information on them.

 

[my98nnj]

Some older Jaguars, Volvos and Mercedes over here have those. Usually it's only the drivers side rear tail that has the fog light in it.

 

[gijoecam]

Fog lights are red in the UK? And you really need fog lights over there just to back up?

Outside of the US vehicles have a "rear fog light" to increase visibility in heavy fog or other adverse conditions. It doesn't have anything to do with backing up.

They are red lights that are attached to the rear bumper.

Unfortunately that was not even an option here, so must of us have no information on them.

Ditto... Some of the high-end European vehicles here in the states have them.... And they drive me nuts! There's nothing worse than some jack-hole who doesn't realize that they are blinding the people behind them with the intensely bright red lights on their Volvo, BMW, or Mercedes.

And yes, since it's not an option here in the states, you'll probably need to find someone over there with a schematic for a euro-spec vehicle. You'll need to chase the power starting from the fuse panel and go from there.

Good luck!

 

[Lechuga]

Dayo, did you find the fix? If so what was it? I have the same problem. TIA

 

[scdix50]

Locate some of the wiring just before the back side of light unit. One wire should be a common ground and the other will be the hot/input wire. Push a sewing needle into each wire and check with multimeter. I am sure you would have already checked the inside the socket. Can you get a reading on the meter using a local ground point. If you can, you may have to attach a local grounding wire for one or both lights. If you do not have a reading on the meter at the lights, then you will have to follow the wiring to the front.

 

[Lechuga]

Thanks scdix, I was hoping for a blown fuse... Is this the same as for the power socket in the boot of the car? It looks like a very narrow cigarette lighter but I get no current

 

[scdix50]

I did some reading today about rear fog lights. This is what I understand, Low headlights must be switched (ON) to turn on front fog lamps, front fog lamps must be switched (ON) to switch (ON) rear fog lamp. Now you should have an indicator light glowing on the dash showing that the front fog lamps are (ON). Now iF you switch (ON) the rear fog lamp there should be an indicator light glowing on the dash. If you do, then you have power at least to the switch......So if all that stuff is working, then check the socket at the lamp. I you have a round socket, the outside will be the ground (-) and the center contact will be the hot (+). If you have a long flat socket then there will be two contacts, one on each side of the connector. If you do not have power at these contacts, follow the instructions I posted earlier. Let me know how your are doing at this point

 

[Lechuga]

FIXED! One dud bulb (looks ok, but it's not), and one bad contact (which required cleaning the contacts and bending them a bit). Thanks for your help scdix! Merry Xmas