This is
one of the more bizarre "remove & replace" experiences that I have had
in a while. It started out that the Cherokee flunked inspection
because the fog lamps were not working. That seemed easy enough.
The bulbs were burned out. So I went to Wal*Mart and Advance Auto
to find the bulbs. This is the first installment of strange.
The generic H-3 55w bulb was very hard to find but the Silver Star were
abundant but four times the price! How ironic that a lamp that is
colored to give off a bluer light would command such a major price
difference. They're no brighter and even more ironic is that under
fog conditions blue light is the last thing that will help... I
managed to find the less expensive bulb but it was an ordeal.
Thinking
this would be a simple swap, I bounced home and set about taking the
covers off the lamps so I could swap the bulbs. Very funny.
The housing on the passenger side was so corroded the bulb, leads,
reflector and cavity looked more like the inside of a cargo ship bilge.
The parts were nothing but a corroded mass. I managed to get the
lead separated in one piece but the housing was rubbish - the reflector
was completely gone with no way to fix it. The driver's side
housing was far better and I was able to get the lamp out in one piece
without damaging the housing, reflector or leads.
At this
point I figured the least expensive route was to go get the passenger
side housing from the dealer. Very funny. The price for one
lamp at the dealer was $120. My
KC's aren't all that elaborate
and rugged but I got two for less money than this little housing.
So I declined to have my wallet raided and hopped over to Wal*Mart to see
what I could see.
I found a
set of lights that were just about the right size and I happily brought
them home to install. But as soon as I set them down next to the
OEM units a problem made itself apparent. The mounting bracket was
oriented differently and would not work properly. The lamps would
not be located inside the chin spoiler as they should. The Wal*Mart
units were value-priced and probably would not last long but with the
savings I could replace them four times before I reached the cost of ONE
OEM unit so I was OK with that. But since they don't fit, back
they go. Strike Two.
They came
pretty quickly and are fairly hard to tell from the OEM units though
there are some minor differences. I spent some time installing
them and then for the moment of truth. Nothing. The lamp
switch on the panel has a pilot light that should come on. It
didn't. And the fog lamps didn't come on either. Wow!
Are we having fun yet? Strike Three. But wait, there's
more...
More
surfing and I learn that the OEM fogs have several weak points and the
lamps are only one problem. The following are also concerns:
Basically
every component in the system is known for premature failure.
Great.... I checked the fuse box. Oh this is fun. The
fuse panel on the cowl inside the vehicle is not labeled. It
refers the user to the manual. The manual refers the user to the
fuse box cover. I guess the engineers and the documentation people
never worked out who was going to document the fuse layout. I
found a legend online and the fuse for the fogs is not in the interior
panel...
Power distribution center (under the
hood)
Looking at the PDC from the front of
the vehicle, the bottom right mini fuse is #16, the one above it is #17,
the top one in the column is #18.
Fuse #19 is to the left (of #16)
Fuse #26 power amplifier
|
26 |
Pwr Amp |
22 |
Fuel Pump Rel |
18 |
Coil
rail/injects |
|
25 |
Fog Lamp |
20 |
Comb flasher |
17 |
02 Downstr Rel |
|
23 |
Brake Lt Rel |
19 |
Hdlt sw & data
conn |
16 |
Underhood lt,
trans ctl mod, radio, int lts |
Now to the junction/fuse block
(inside kick panel)
|
1 |
Pwr Outlet |
15 |
pass pwr lk/wind
sw |
|
2 |
Cig Lighter |
16 |
cargo lamp/sw,
court lmp, rad, instr clust, underhd lmp, trans cont mod |
|
3 |
Lt Hdlmp |
17 |
radio |
|
4 |
Lt Hdlmp |
18 |
pwr mir sw,
drv pwr wind/lk sw, heat seat |
|
5 |
Rt Headlmp |
19 |
start motor
rel |
|
6 |
Dash Lts |
20 |
trailer harn
& turn relays |
|
7 |
lic lt & lt
side turn, park, mark, tail lt |
21 |
horn(s) |
|
8 |
Spare |
22 |
rr wipe sw &
mot |
|
9 |
compass,
sentry key, hdlt delay mod, instr clust |
23 |
rt sd
marker, turn, parking, tail lts |
|
10 |
trans rng
sens, duty cycle evap/purge sol, rad fan rel, a/c clut rel,
o2 sens up/downstr relays, back up lt switch |
24 |
Spare |
|
11 |
trans ctl
mod, pwrtrain ctl mod, auto shutdn rel, fuel pump relay |
25 |
shift lock
sol, a/c heat ctl, abs ctlr, abs ctl rel, blower mot rel,
blend door actuator |
|
12 |
inst
cluster, comb flasher |
26 |
airbag ctl
mod |
|
13 |
Spare |
27 |
airbag ctl
mod |
|
14 |
pwr mirror,
rear defogr & sw |
|
|
The relay and fuse are supposed to be located in the
Power Distribution Unit under the hood. I checked that and again,
the fuses are not labeled. But the relay was labeled so I swapped
it with the A/C clutch relay and still no lights. It's possible
that both relays are bad so that test isn't conclusive but does focus me
to the as of yet unidentified fuses and the panel switch.
So even
though the fuse check would be the first thing, I am going to get a new
switch and see if that helps.
What a
thrash! More as it happens...
12/25/06
The fog
lamp switch came in from the dealer. I took a minute to snap the
dash panel out, unscrew the switch panel and connect the wiring to the
switch without installing it (why bother if it isn't the problem?) and
to my pleasure, the fog lamps work! Problem solved - the switch
was bad too!
MOPAR
1-05080861AA
Interesting note on this - they had in stock the switch with the relay
on the connector. Big bucks and not needed. That is a part
for installing aftermarket lights in vehicles without the factory
installed relay and fuse. I saved a bunch of money (though the
switch was way too expensive even alone) by getting this part!
