Fog lights again.. 2 quick question.

I know from being a pilot that there are no stupid questions and the
obvious ain't necessarily so... I am a newbie as far as working on my
2000 goes..

Looking at page 18 of the 2000 MX5 wiring schematic, it looks to me
that the fog lights are connected to the headlight relay.. Is it
possible the relay would
have a problem that manifests itself just by the fog lights not
working?

My high and low beams are fine and the fogs have brand new bulbs in
them. Other than
that I guess there has to be some other common wire fault for both
fogs not to work? The interior fuse is fine.

Is this a logical asumption?

Thanks again.

On 2007-03-29, zenmartini > wrote:

> I know from being a pilot that there are no stupid questions
> and the obvious ain't necessarily so... I am a newbie as far
> as working on my 2000 goes..
>
> Looking at page 18 of the 2000 MX5 wiring schematic, it looks
> to me that the fog lights are connected to the headlight
> relay.. Is it possible the relay would have a problem that
> manifests itself just by the fog lights not working?
>
> My high and low beams are fine and the fogs have brand new
> bulbs in them. Other than that I guess there has to be some
> other common wire fault for both fogs not to work? The
> interior fuse is fine.
>
> Is this a logical asumption?

On a slightly tangential topic, how difficult is it to rewire
the fog lights on an NB so that they can be turned on w/o the
headlights? Preferably in a way such that they can only be on
when the ignition is on?

--
Grant Edwards grante Yow! I think my career
at is ruined!
visi.com

"zenmartini" > wrote:

> Looking at page 18 of the 2000 MX5 wiring schematic, it looks to
> me that the fog lights are connected to the headlight relay.. Is
> it possible the relay would have a problem that manifests itself
> just by the fog lights not working?

Yes.

Grant Edwards > wrote:

> On a slightly tangential topic, how difficult is it to rewire
> the fog lights on an NB so that they can be turned on w/o the
> headlights? Preferably in a way such that they can only be on
> when the ignition is on?

Very simple, remove the wire from the low beams to the fog light relay
and replace it with a wire to an ignition lead.

It's possibly illegal, new cars come with the fog lights wired to the
low beams to comply with rules in various jurisdictions and with
federal laws so check the regs where you are.

On 2007-03-29, XS11E > wrote:
> Grant Edwards > wrote:
>
>> On a slightly tangential topic, how difficult is it to rewire
>> the fog lights on an NB so that they can be turned on w/o the
>> headlights? Preferably in a way such that they can only be on
>> when the ignition is on?
>
> Very simple, remove the wire from the low beams to the fog
> light relay and replace it with a wire to an ignition lead.
>
> It's possibly illegal,

Yes, I believe it is.

> new cars come with the fog lights wired to the low beams to
> comply with rules in various jurisdictions and with federal
> laws so check the regs where you are.

Yup, but wiring foglights that way also makes them 100% usless.

Fog lights are indended for use when the backscatter from even
the lowbeams is a problem. Requiring that the lowbeams be on
defeats the purpose of foglights.

I'm asking because when I pull in/out of my garage/driveway, my
lowbeams shine directly into the neighbor's bedroom windows
from about 8ft away. The parking lights don't really provide
enough light to navigate past various obsticles, so I'd like to
be able to use just the foglights in situations like that.

Who knows, with the lowbeams off, the foglights might actually
be useful in fog too...

--
Grant Edwards grante Yow! What I want to find
at out is -- do parrots know
visi.com much about Astro-Turf?

On Mar 29, 9:03 am, "zenmartini" > wrote:
> I know from being a pilot that there are no stupid questions and the
> obvious ain't necessarily so... I am a newbie as far as working on my
> 2000 goes..
>
> Looking at page 18 of the 2000 MX5 wiring schematic, it looks to me
> that the fog lights are connected to the headlight relay.. Is it
> possible the relay would
> have a problem that manifests itself just by the fog lights not
> working?
>
> My high and low beams are fine and the fogs have brand new bulbs in
> them. Other than
> that I guess there has to be some other common wire fault for both
> fogs not to work? The interior fuse is fine.
>
> Is this a logical asumption?
>
> Thanks again.

Since I am still somewhat confused about the whole relay issue.. as in
where is it..

I took a look and I figured out that the image I just shot and that
is linked to below must be the
fog light relay on my 2000. If someone could take a look at it and
just confirm that for me I would greatly appreciate it.
This was OEM as far as I know.

http://www.jkf194.com/fog.htm

As far as bypassing the relay, I litteraly have been driving back and
forth to NJ from Florida every 10 days or so
and I don't want to have to talk to anymore policemen at anytime ever
in my life again.

I've searched for a replacment on-line and haven't found it using the
whole part number.

If you feel like it, my image site (from my trips up and down the east
coast) is

http://www.jkf194.com

In article >,
Grant Edwards > wrote:

> Who knows, with the lowbeams off, the foglights might actually
> be useful in fog too...

Dunno about the Miata foglights, but the standard ones on my Mazda3 are
worthless bling. They aren't powerful enough to illuminate the road 50
feet ahead, even if it were possible to aim them that high. Sometimes I
discover they've gotten turned on by accident, and the only way to tell
from inside the car is by looking at the switch. At least I didn't have
to pay extra for them.

On Mar 29, 4:26 pm, Lanny Chambers > wrote:
> In article >,
> Grant Edwards > wrote:
>
> > Who knows, with the lowbeams off, the foglights might actually
> > be useful in fog too...
>
> Dunno about the Miata foglights, but the standard ones on my Mazda3 are
> worthless bling. They aren't powerful enough to illuminate the road 50
> feet ahead, even if it were possible to aim them that high. Sometimes I
> discover they've gotten turned on by accident, and the only way to tell
> from inside the car is by looking at the switch. At least I didn't have
> to pay extra for them.

Well having finally got mine working today, I concur. I carry a
Maglite in the trunk that is brighter. BUT the exercise for
me was to finally start working on the car myself.. to find the info
and solve the problem... and in the end anyone with
half a brain could have figured it out in about 10 minutes... which
also has me wondering why the local guy who up until now
has been changing my oil and doing the minor stuff that I will now
do.. why he just didn't swap out the fog light relay instead
of charging me for 2 hours diagnostic that resulted in the lights
still now working.