Do I need a relay for my HID fogs?

[SuperSho92]

I have a 93 MTX and recently installed a set of Sylvania/Osram x1010 HID fog lights via utilizing the stock wiring harness/switch and am wondering - do I need to install a relay? Or does the factory harness already have a relay?

The lights work perfectly save for one use case. If I am driving the car and stop to get gas, when I restart, the inline fuse (behind the hood release) blows. Now if I turn the fogs off before stopping the car, restart the car, then turn the fogs back on - no problem.

I have done a few searches and many recommend a relay, but others state that the car already has a relay...

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[expy916]

Well yes, it does have a relay but you need a harness that has a relay.

I'll see if I can find the link.

 

[Ishodu]

Not sure how you hooked them up? Did you use the box that came with the lights? Or did you do something else? I have the same lights and rather than using the box and the crappy little remote I took there relay box apart and wired in my fog light wire for the switching wire for the relay. Something does not sound right with your setup at all.

 

[SuperSho92]

Not sure how you hooked them up? Did you use the box that came with the lights? Or did you do something else? I have the same lights and rather than using the box and the crappy little remote I took there relay box apart and wired in my fog light wire for the switching wire for the relay. Something does not sound right with your setup at all.

I wired them using the factory fog light harness due to the fact that I did not want to use the stupid wireless switches. I took apart the box/harness that came with it and noticed that there is a relay in the box, but could not figure out how to utilize it properly.

The way you set yours up is exactly how I want to set mine up, but am not sure what wire I need to tap into in the factory harness and how to mod the relay box that came with the unit.

Any pics or descriptions?

BTW - I love the 1010s - they are fantastic.

 

[Ishodu]

I can't help you on what i did when I wired them in as the car is stored away for the winter. I remember that the colors of the wires were not what you would expect. The black was hot and blue was ground or something weird. The lights are the best I have seen so far. The best way to use them is to remove the shields then cut them so that only the front of the bulb is covered rather than cupping over the whole bulb. This cuts the glare off for on comming traffic and gives the full output of the light to the reflector.

 

[Ishodu]

It still wont be hard to get a std relay and wire it up for the lights. And will work just great.

 

[SuperSho92]

Thanks Ishodu. And the shields were modified before I installed them

Did you run a wire through the firewall and to the stock switch or did you tap into the switch wire in the engine compartment?

 

[Ishodu]

I taped into the switch in the engine compartment.

 

[SuperSho92]

I taped into the switch in the engine compartment.

Thx Ishodu.

Anybody - any idea where I can tap into the switch wire in the engine compartment?

 

[Ishodu]

Just use the stock fog light feed wire to fire the relay. Then take supply power from the battery.

 

[SuperSho92]

Just use the stock fog light feed wire to fire the relay. Then take supply power from the battery.

Perfect - thanks for all of the help!

 

[fdogg96]

Do any of your have installation pics? Particularly with the wiring?

And how would I go about this with a SLO? I believe the SLO has an extra auxiliary harness or something.