Rewired Fogs to run without headlights on

A good number of people in this forum likes to modify/upgrade which makes their cars unique.....c'mon, it's just a fog light, I wonder who's being insecure at this point.

I just didn't like the fact that some rightous guy got on this thread and started bashing on people. Totally uncalled for. If you don't like what others are doing, just state that as on opinion, not go as far as insulting and name calling. Just common courtesy to everyone else in this community. Keep the nasty comments to yourself.
 
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Well said, 2008GT. The angry guy who turned this post negative has insecurity issues. I tried to respond originally with humor and further logic but I guess by then it was Republicans against Democrats/ Mac guys vs PC guys.
Just to set the record straight on both sides- NONE of us are really that cool for buying a 7 seat disguised minivan. We just THINK we are cool.
If we could just get back to the real topic, and shift away from name calling, I think this thread is not finished yet and many people may still be interested in discussing further.

There seems to be 2 groups here that want the driving lights on a separate switch independent of the headlights- People who want to turn the driving lights into fog lights, (not their original intention as Mazda knows real Fogs are yellow and must go on WITHOUT HID headlights), and people who want DRLs. Now I have turned the factory driving lights on and off on a dark road, and since I have the powerful HID Xenons, the driving lights are pretty much useless and unnoticeable at night. They give me no extra night vision. So, as they are they are useless.

For the crowd that wants true fog lights like the guy from Costa Rico, this mod will improve his vision in the fog. Connecting them so they can be turned on and off when the parking lights are on is the way to go for this route.

For the crowd who wants DRLs (me included), This is not necessarily the best way to wire the driving lights. True DRLs should be independent of the parking lights, as the purpose is for approaching cars to see you from a long distance durning the day. Having all the parking lights and tail lights on all day is not needed and will burn out your bulbs faster. As I said way back on this thread, I still intend to hook mine up so that when the switch is thrown, they will always be on when the headlights are off, and when the headlights are on, the DRLs will go off automatically, just like my BMW is wired. (And then I can drive in Canada legally without all my lights on during the day)
This is going to be a tricky setup requiring 2 relays I believe, and I am going to have to think it through as I dig up my old tech-school training from 15 years ago. When I finally get this done I will post a DIY with photos, I promise.

In closing, I would like to say one more thing- I challenge Angry Kaiak Guy to explain again how I think I am cool when my set-up can't even turn on the very weak driving lights while my blinding headlights are on. And blinding they are- every sports car driver approaching a CX-9 with HIDs on a slight hill is instantly blinded. If the Driving Lights happen to be on, the driver would never even see them because the Xenons are 10x brighter. Even though I keep my lights tipped low people still flash me their brights.

So hopefully we can end the name calling from both sides and get back to the topic. Sorry for the long post but I wanted to cover everything.
 
I cut the green/red cable and attached to the pink cable = fuse blow.
Pics, please....(huh) Which step I miss???

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I cut the green/red cable and attached to the pink cable = fuse blow.
Pics, please....(huh) Which step I miss???

View attachment 140498 View attachment 140499

Sounds like you attached the wrong half of the green/red cable to the pink wire.

You should splice the end that comes from the relay (where the wire ends in the relay box) not the end coming from the fuse block which would create a short and blow the fuse.

So if you just disconnect the half of green/red wire you connected from the pink one and use the other half of the green/red you should be OK.
 
Does anyone know how to re-wire with just the low beam headlights on all the time (without the parking lights) instead of the fog lights? In other words, to have the low beams act as Daytime Running Lights (like the VW Touareg) ~ Thanks!
 
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+1 sometimes in the mountainy areas of north jersey or especially when I go to vermont I've realllllly wanted to do a mod like this because I've been outright blinded by my headlights before and wanted to just take a hammer from my trunk and smash out my headlights so I can drive along with my fogs only in my old car..

In my case I live in Costa Rica and I travel much to the Mountains with my trailer and ATVs ....I made the setup for the fog lights to work with the parking lights , because in dense fog the fog lights and headlights on at the same time do not work well. I installed yellow fog lights, and use only the fog lights with parking lights on (not the main headlights). In my case of severe weather the xenon lights dont mix well with fog, only the yellow lights.

I agree with CX 9 Sportowner, I think what makes the problem worst is those people installing fake Xenon light bulbs which produce a horrible bluish light and very high wattage ( lumens ), not as the real thing. In Costa Rica you get fined if driving Foglights where not needed.

If I want to look cool I will have to buy a Sports car!!!!
 
I just did it on my 09 and it works ~ I still prefer to have the low-beams on instead of the fog lights though!
 
cut the green/red wire and spliced to the pink (smaller gauge) wire going to the heated seats. Don't know if I'm supposed to use the green/red coming out of the relay or going to the relay but blew the A/C fuse. Gonna try one more time. Anyone have pics on how to do this?
 
Got it working...spliced the green/red wire coming out of the relay to the pink and it's good to go. Now just need to replace the fuse.
 
this is good news. Could you possibly post a few photos showing first a zoomed out shot to show the location of the relay and splice and then maybe a close-up? This will be helpful to many people in the future I think.
 
Thanks for the tips and instructions AZ-CX9.

Only change was I used a Gardner Bender tap splice #20-2218.

Just cut the Green-Red; Tape off end; slide splice over the pink and insert relay end of green-red into tap slice; squeeze splice with pliers, close cap; close up relay covers; done.

Works great....Fogs without headlights, with or without parking lights

Thanks again!
 
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Enough acting like teenagers! You guys are all driving a car designed for old farts with 2 or 3 kids. I don't think anyone will think you are cool if you separate your driving lights from the headlights or if you drive around on dirt roads with a canoe on your roof. None of us are EVER going to look cool driving a CX-9! Case in point- I showed a young hip co-worker who is half my age a picture of my CX-9. She said, "Ew. Why did you buy a minivan?"

As I said like a year ago, I do want my driving lights to be on without headlights or tail lights because I drive in places where it is illegal to not have daytime running lights. The alternative is to keep all dozen lightbulbs turned on all day long which is pretty silly. But what is more silly is that 5 years from now people are still going to be reading this thread and they are all going to laugh at us for acting like idiots.
 
You guys are all driving a car designed for old farts with 2 or 3 kids..

Speak for yourself.
I have gotten plenty of compliments on my 9 from old farts and young cats as well.
Nobody has referred to it as a mini-van.
 
Mini-Vans = Huge rear sliding doors and tall squarish rooflines.
CX-9 = Huge front hinged rear doors and low, slung and sleek roofline.

Mine has never been confused with a mini-van.
 
If anyone is interested in a simple way (based on your wiring skills of course) to do this here goes:
........

Now your fogs will come on with ignition and still function on/off from the stock switch (which provides the relay ground thus eliminating the need for an add-on switch)

Cheers.

Andy

Thanks Andy, this is simply the best 15 minutes modification ever for my CX-9. I truely appreciate your write-up for sharing such useful modification. I just LMAO when I saw posts questioning the purpose of doing this mod and some even throw-in the dumb local law requirements... (blah) Nobody is forcing anybody to perform this mod, if you don't like it, just leave this thread and let others who like this mod to ask questions or leave feedback. (hump)

So Andy if I can provide you a fog light electrical diagram for my other vehicle (Lexus), can you tell me what to do for the same mod?
 
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