2005 HCH - Fog Lamps
 

I recently purchased the 05 HCH and have been pretty happy with it. I went from owning a 03 Explorer to a car so it has been quite an adjustment.

I wanted to save a little money and wanted to get most if not all the factory options. I went through http://www.handa-accessories.com and http://www.cheaphondaparts.com.

I had no issues in installing any of the options aside from learning how to be patient.
The one that did cause a little fustration was the fog lamps (http://www.cheaphondaparts.com/shop/instructions/civic04/aii25449.pdf). When it came to install the one pin connector of the switch harness into the 16 pin vehicle connector, a blue wire was already in its place. The security pin, which i installed earlier went into an empty slot on the 16 pin connector. I decided to strip the blue wire and then wrap the red/white wire around it and sealing it with electrical tape. Not perfect but after 9 hours of work I was ready to be done and when i felt up to it, I would go back and try to solder it.

Put the car back together(at least 15 to 20 pieces) and was glad it actually started. All the systems were fully operational. I tested the fog lamps which are only suppose to turn on when the main headlamps are on. I proceed to turn the main headlights on and failed to turn the fog lamp switch off. I then heard a humming sound coming out of the foglamp relay switch and the fog lamps were still on. I removed the key with the fog lamp switch still and and the fog lamps remained on along with the humming sound. I pushed the fog lamp button and it went away and the lights turned off.

I was wondering if anyone one with the foglamps installed at the dealership if they expirenced this problem or if any good electricians were out there. I double checked and I made sure that the red/white when into the 16 pin connect top row(indention) 2 from the right (or 3 slot in 4 ). Any one have any similiar expirences? Any help is apreciated.

John

Re: 2005 HCH - Fog Lamps
 

Do you still get the humming sound when you turn on the fog lamps? Try turning down or up the gauge cluster brightness.

I have an 03 and installed foglights and I think I had the humming when I turned up the cluster illumination. I think I rewired the switch to take care of it. That humming is probably the relay not getting the right voltage.

Re: 2005 HCH - Fog Lamps
 

The funny thing is it goes away when the main headlamps are turned on. It is only when the parking lamps or no lamps (aside from fog) that it makes that humming sound. That is what my friends also don't understand. The sound goes away when the main headlamps are on. I will try the level of brightness though. No harm in trying. I used the factory ones to avoid issues like this but hehe, i guess nothing is 100%. Do you remember what you did to rewire them? In what manner? I was also thinking that it might be a voltage issue but why would they remain on. According to honda they should be off when the headlamps are turned off.

Re: 2005 HCH - Fog Lamps
 

If you have your headlamp wire connected to your illumination wire and those two wires wired to the switch then when the headlamps are on you are going to get a straight 12V. With the head lamps off you will be drawing only from the illumination wire which could be below 12V. Thats my guess anyway.

Re: 2005 HCH - Fog Lamps
 

*bump*

Re: 2005 HCH - Fog Lamps
 

So, what was the result? Did the noise go away when you turned up the illumination of the cluster?

Re: 2005 HCH - Fog Lamps
 

I ended up trying it and it still did it. Something I did notice while expirementing was that the lights actually do turn off when I turn off the headlamps and turn the car off but as soon as I open the car door it, they turn back on. How weird is that.

Re: 2005 HCH - Fog Lamps
 

Hi Neoboy,
There should be a relay that supplies 12v at high current to the headlights when the headlamp switch is on (in the engine compartment). (High current does not flow through the headlight switch on the steering column). You should connect your fog lamp hot lead switch to this relay terminal. Then, make sure that you have solid ground connections from EACH fog lamp to the car's chassis using 12 or 14 ga wire. The ground connection is critical because you may be getting unwanted current/ground loops through other circuits. Also, make sure the headlamp relay can withstand the extra current flow from the fog lamps or it will fail prematurely. If they are 50 watt lamps, the added current will be about 8-10 amps at 12v. (Best) You may want to add another relay (in the engine compartment) that is controlled by the fog lamp switch to actuate the fog lamps. It's not a good idea to have high current flowing through a small switch inside the passenger cabin. Could cause a fire. I can e-mail you a simple schematic if you like.

Re: 2005 HCH - Fog Lamps
 

Hi Ralph_Dog. Thanks for replying. The advice you gave sounds very appropriate for third party or after market fog lamps but these are the factory designed fog lamps. I folllowed the instructions (http://www.handa-accessories.com/civic/05fogs.pdf). I had a friend who installed fog lamps on his truck and they caught fire due to low quality wiring in aftermarket/ third party lamps. Well the wiring did, luckly we noticed and unplugged the battery and the problem was resolved quickly.

The lamps run without a problem when the main head lamps are on. I drove the car this past saturday on a roadtrip with them on the entire trip, basically 3 hours of driving round trip plus city driving. The only time that buzzing sound occurs is when the main lamps are off and the fog lamp button remains on.

I guess my questions are has anyone in the group had them factory installed and expirenced this? Is the undervoltage a potential problem when the mainlamps are off, aside from them possible draining the auxillary battery.

tbaleno had this problem in his previous civic, but this seems to be the result of something else. I am trying to see if I perhaps wired it to the wrong place in the 16 pin connector.