Front fog lights

[BobHUK]

Hello,

I just bought a 2006 Outback mk4 in the UK. For the first couple of days the front fog lights worked as expected, but then on the third day they didn't work. Being new to Scoobies, I don't know which relay is the correct one for the front fogs. but I've managed to identify the fuses and they are all working correctly. So what I need to know now is where is the front foglight's relay? Is it one of the ones in the box in the engine bay, or is it one of the ones next to the fuses in the cabin, near the driver's knee? Whichever one it is, can someone help me by pointing out the correct one so that I can at least test it, and if it's dead, then replace it?

Many thanks,

 

 

 

[Greenmamba]

You know that in order for the fogs to work, at least the park lights need to be on as well?

[BobHUK]

Yes. On my last car (Kia Sorento Mk1) I left the side lights on the whole time so that I could have the front fogs on. I used them as daytime running lights. I was hoping to do the same thing with the Outback, so I turned on the sidelights, then turned on the front fogs. They worked perfectly for a couple of days, but then I was showing the lights to my daughter as she's interested in the car, and when I tried to turn on the rear fog, the switch band rotated back to the front fog position immediately, and the front fogs went out at that time.

Since then I've tried to get them to work again, but no joy. So as they both went out together I'm assuming it's a fuse or relay problem, or perhaps a switch problem? Anyway, until I can find out which relay is the one for the front fogs, I can't check to see if it's the relay that's gone. I've had all the fuses out one by one and cleaned the contacts before replacing them, but all of them were working correctly, and no sign of any of them being blown.

So now I think it's either a relay that's gone or the switch has broken, and I need to identify which is the front fog relay so that I can eliminate it as the possible cause before I go spending money on another indicator stalk.

 

 

[BobHUK]

By the way GreenMamba, how is Canterbury? I lived there from 1974 - 1979, and spent 3 years at the uni as a mature student, before moving to London to seek my fortune. I still miss Canterbury. I lived most of my time up on St Thomas's Hill, in no. 27, which at the time was a student house. It was a converted old pub called the 'City of Canterbury' and is almost opposite the university access road. It's a B+B now, and my wife and I spent a pleasant weekend there once when I went down to a class reunion at the uni. There were normally around 12 - 14 of us in residence at any one time, and while I was there it was a very musical household. Two members of a folk group called Fiddler's Dram lived there. The group changed their name after a while and became the Whitstable Oyster Co, Ceilidh Band, which they later shortened to the Oyster Band. Look them up, they're all more or less retired now, but they still do odd gigs here and there and Alan Prosser, the guitarist of the band, still lives in Wincheap with his family.

[Greenmamba]

15 minutes ago, BobHUK said:

Yes. On my last car (Kia Sorento Mk1) I left the side lights on the whole time so that I could have the front fogs on. I used them as daytime running lights. I was hoping to do the same thing with the Outback, so I turned on the sidelights, then turned on the front fogs. They worked perfectly for a couple of days, but then I was showing the lights to my daughter as she's interested in the car, and when I tried to turn on the rear fog, the switch band rotated back to the front fog position immediately, and the front fogs went out at that time.

Since then I've tried to get them to work again, but no joy. So as they both went out together I'm assuming it's a fuse or relay problem, or perhaps a switch problem? Anyway, until I can find out which relay is the one for the front fogs, I can't check to see if it's the relay that's gone. I've had all the fuses out one by one and cleaned the contacts before replacing them, but all of them were working correctly, and no sign of any of them being blown.

So now I think it's either a relay that's gone or the switch has broken, and I need to identify which is the front fog relay so that I can eliminate it as the possible cause before I go spending money on another indicator stalk.

 

 

CT is ok but we've only been down this way for around 9 months so maybe too early for a quality opinion except the traffic is worse than I've ever known and everywhere are roadworks narrowing lanes to widen payments and cycle lanes, apart from one-ways and pedestrianised routes.

On the fogs question, saying the front fogs haven't worked since you tried the rears, random thought is to check the tailgate/hatch wiring looms inside the rubber boots between the body and the hatch. Near the right hand hinge especially. Habitual opening and closing the tailgate causes the wires to fray or break, shorting stuff out. Maybe??????

You've checked both fuse panels, assume?

[BobHUK]

GreenMamba, I've checked every fuse in the engine compartment box, but only the F fogs fuse in the smaller fuse box in the cabin. All the fuses I checked were in pretty good condition, but I cleaned up the connectors anyway before reinserting them.

As to the tailgate thing. Thanks, I'll check that in the morning. I hadn't thought of that at all, despite reading that the wires into the tailgate can snap occasionally. If I find any damage I'll replace the sections of wire first and then try it all again, to see if there are still any shorts. However, I still need to know which relay is the one for the front fogs, and so far I've not been able to identify which one it is, or where it's located, so if you know where I should look then please let me know.

Many thanks,