Fog Light Question

JHMEG

C_Breeze wrote:

[how's that ironic, ive never needed a mutlimeter to fit Hid's and they're not excatly the hardest thing in the world to fit , its one step more than a regular light bulb! - why are u so hung up on that?]

Unlike regular bulbs HIDs are potentially very dangerous with the high voltages invloved to get them started up. Nice to check everything out with a multimeter before giving them the ok.

daedalus2097

DRLs are fine and totally separate to fogs - a lot of newer cars seem to have these, essentially side lights mounted where fogs would normally go, and I'd have to say they're great, especially in shaded areas when the sun's out and that. Now, the multimeter can be used to check the voltages at any part of the circuit, so basically what you'd do is check the bulb holder for 12V - if present then it's a bulb not fitting correctly or something like that. Then you check the next step back (the relay) and see if it's getting 12V. If it's getting 12V but the bulb holder isn't, it's either the relay or the cable from the relay to the bulb. So on until you've found where the 12V chain finishes, and that's where your fault is.

daedalus2097

Incidentally, a multimeter is a nice way of checking bulbs too - switched to resistance (the Greek capital letter Omega or ) it can measure the resistance ofthe filament - a working bulb will be fairly close to 0, a blown bulb will be infinite. A cheap multimeter can be had for peanuts these days and is always a handy thing to have around cars, even just for checking bulbs, batteries, switches etc.

crosstownk

daedalus2097 wrote:

Incidentally, a multimeter is a nice way of checking bulbs too - switched to resistance (the Greek capital letter Omega or ) it can measure the resistance ofthe filament - a working bulb will be fairly close to 0, a blown bulb will be infinite.

That'll do the job - but a simpler way (especially for those not too familiar with electrics) is to just do a continuity check with a multimeter. Meter beeps = bulb OK; meter stays silent = bulb fooked. Also a simple way of checking wiring continuity too.

Alun

Not all multimeters have a continuity check .. mine doesn't.

crosstownk

Alun wrote:

Not all multimeters have a continuity check .. mine doesn't.

Fair point, Alun. I've been using the same multimeter for years and had forgotten that not all have it as a standard feature.

C_Breeze

sesswhat wrote:

Nevertheless, if they are working, they will work with the dipped headlights on so why not cover all possible scenarios?

No offence to OP by the way. You may check everything before posting here but the same can't be said for everyone.

Any success anyway?

No still no success. I chechked the bulbs , fuses and also checked the switch and it seems fine. Its really bugging me now. Need to get somebody to have a proper look at it with a multimeter thingy-ma-jig

C_Breeze

Hey, this is really bugging me now. I need to have it looked at .

Can anybody recommend an auto electrican around dublin or a garage that would be able to take a look????

JHMEG

How did you check the switch? Is it on a stalk or on the dash?

My money would be on the switch or on the relay, assuming there are no wires pulled out etc.

C_Breeze

JHMEG wrote:

How did you check the switch? Is it on a stalk or on the dash?

My money would be on the switch or on the relay, assuming there are no wires pulled out etc.

the switch is on the centre console so not on a stalk , i pulled it out and the wire seemed to be connected properly! hmmm dunno am baffled

JHMEG

C_Breeze wrote:

the switch is on the centre console so not on a stalk , i pulled it out and the wire seemed to be connected properly! hmmm dunno am baffled

Doesn't mean the switch is working!