HOW-TO: Rewire fog lights to come on with parking lights

F

flcruising

:
2008 Mazda5 Touring
This may be considered 'Option 1' for this modification. The pictures are self-explanatory. The goal was to be able to undo this for whatever reason (ie dealer visit), and to test the operation to make sure it works exactly the way it should.

Get yourself the following together:

1) 1/4" and 3/16" blade connectors in male and female.​
2) 4 pieces of wire (6" - 10" in length)​
A) 16 AWG pair (speaker) wire - gets the 1/4" connectors
B) 22-24 AWG power/ground wires - gets the 3/16" connectors​
3) 10A mini ATM fuse​

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You can crimp the connectors on, I chose solder. Snip the corner off the 10A fuse and solder the other end of the power wire to one of it's legs. This simply activates the relay, so very little current passes through it. Pull the fog relay out of the Fuse Center under the hood and connect your wires to it like this:

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Now get back under your hood and connect it all up like this. Notice the orientation of the fuse. This ensures that the current you pass through the power wire comes from the fused side of the circuit. I used 10" wires, therefore there was some tucking/zip-tying to do. The relay now rests in the empty spot you see.

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Final Result. They now come on with the parking lights. Switch works the same as before and the high beams cut them off. I call this 'Option 1' because I think I may just clip off the power leg of the relay and change the source of it. This way there's only 1 wire and not 4. Plus I will have mine running as DRLs instead.

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oh HOT DAMN! ever since i did this to the protege, this is EXACTLY what i wanted to do with the wife's mazda5. thank you very much!
 
drls and parking lights

Thank you for the pics and info i will do it in my wifes protege 5. Tomorrow.(yippy)
 
This doesn't void the warranty. I've had my vehicle in for warranty work since this mod no problem. If what you did causes a problem, they may not cover that work.

Truth be told - I accidentally blew an engine fuse while testing things for this modification. I couldn't figure out why the vehicle wouldn't start, and overlooked this one fuse because I didn't take the time to test every one of 'em. So, I had the car towed to the nearest Mazda dealer and they found the problem. They didn't try to place blame of any sort. Fixed it and left. Even the Mazda Roadside Service tow was no charge.
 
Just a question coming from a Cdn version...

we have DRL's which use the highbeams (but with reduced power). Will this set-up affect the current operation of the DRLs? Either way I'm fine with it... as long as things still work.

After coming through the mountains from the Okangan, back to Vancouver last winter, got cought in one hell of a snowstorm at night with the wife and 2 month old twins = stressful situation..., flipping through my limited headlight options, DRLs and parking lights were the best option but still not optimal. So now, I really really really want to be able to use my fog lights as fog lights were originally intended to be used - - yellowed and with the headlights off!! (DRL's are ok because they're so dim and actually a bit of normal light still helps... too much and it's not good).

I've already covered the fogs with yellow film and blacked out the top 1/4 of the fog lights (they shine way to high)... if this works for Cdn M5's, I'll have the perfect set-up for crazy winter situations!
 
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Thanks... think I'll stick with the your reversible version... I think re-sale within Canada will be easier if I can switch it back. Cheers!
 
i just wanted to post and say i did this mod yesterday, and it took all of about 15 minutes. i can now operate the fogs with the parking lights, and they turn off with the high beams. works great. thanks!
 
Good write up. I am about to do this mod either tonight or this weekend. Just got done installing my Type 2 switchback LED (5000K white/Amber) for the front turns in my newly purchased 5. Also installed H7 HID low beams, H11 HID fogs, and 9005 HID high beams... all in 5000K... So now my whole front end is pure white, unless I turn on my turn signal, then a little bit of amber appears... all the HIDs and LEDs bought from v-leds.com

My wife loves it... now I just want to be able to use just the fog lights with parking light... plus be able to turn on the fogs a few seconds before low beams not to be overloading the battery every time I turn on the low beams with fog light switch already on...

Anyways, I'll have to post some pics/videos of my Mazda5 here soon once I actually take some, we just bought it a week or two ago (it's 2007...)

P.S. Type 2 switchback LED turns off the white portion temporarily while the turn signal is engaged, just like Audi eyelids do...
 
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