DIY: Installing front fog lamps in a WagonR LXI

I own Wagon R LXI with CNG pre-installed. I have been driving it for around 4 years without fog lamps. Fog lamps are a crucial part of driver's safety.

BHPian KarDIY recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Fog lamps in Wagon R without cutting wire

I own Wagon R LXI with CNG pre-installed. I have been driving it for around 4 years without fog lamps. Fog lamps are a crucial part of driver's safety. Almost all of the car companies don't provide this feature in their lower variant cars. You either have to go for the top model or get it installed separately. Both of these options are a little expensive. I tried to get it installed from near-by mechanics but they were charging a lot of money. I decided that instead of looking for other cheaper options I would just do it myself. And with some efforts even you can do it.

I bought Lumax fog lamps with PSX24W Halogen Bulb 12V 24W. Its part number is 35500M67LA0. This is the same lamp Maruti uses in its cars. Each one costed around a thousand rupees. It is a reflector type fog lamp. This fog lamp includes a feature that allows you to adjust the direction of the light a little up and down manually by tightening or loosening a screw.

Now, you can bring wires and make your own wire set or you can buy it online just like I did. I bought wiring by ILAMP. It costed around INR 600. The set included a switch (same as what you get when you buy top model or get it installed), a relay, an inbuilt fuse and all the connectors pre-attached. This wire kit ensures that you don't need to make a single cut in any of the wire! This ensures that warranty remains as it is. The connector in this wiring kit is H8 connector. This connector will fit in this lamp too without any issues. I bought H8 connector instead of PSX24W connector because the latter one was pretty expensive.

The project takes some effort but it is worth it and once you have installed the fog light your eyes will shine as bright as the light you installed with pride. Saying that let's get into installing the fog lamp.

If you are someone who understands better by watching video or if you get stuck somewhere, you can watch this video.

Tools required

1. Fog Lamp

2. Relay

3. Switch

4. Screw Driver set

5. Ratchet set

6. Blade

7. Pry tools

8. Filer

Procedure

Locations of all screws, nuts and bolts.

1. Open the bonnet. Remove the three clips and keep them safely.

2. Remove the nuts using 10 number spanner and remove the screws using a phillips head screwdriver and keep them at a safe place.

3. Remove the screws on both the sides of the bumper under fender.

4. Remove number plate and a bolt mentioned as number 6.

5. Now, disengage the locks on the side of bumper and pull the bumper out by holding it from the top. Gently keep it aside.

6. Remove the screws of the bezel from the back of the bumper. Using pry tool, remove the bezel from the front of the bumper

7. Use a hot blade/knife and use it to cut a circle in the bezel. But if you don't want to do this, you can just buy it too. Company sells pre-cut bezels. They are as cheap as INR 100

8. After cutting the circle, the edges of the bezel would be very rough. Use a filer to smooth these edges.

9. Put the bezels back on the bumper.

10. Install the fog lamp on the bumper with the help of screws. (Note: Make sure the screw given for levelling the light should be downward so in case you want to move it up or down a little you can easily do it.)

11. Connect the connectors to the fog lamp.

Circuit diagram

12. Punch a hole in the firewall grommet and pass the red wire through it. This wire is going to be used in the switch and connect to a relay.

13. Remove this panel on the bottom right, so that we can remove the panel above it and can get access to switch board. There is no screw in this, you just need to remove the clip. Just press in the center and it will pop open.

14. There is just one screw on this panel. Unscrew it, keep it on side safely and remove the panel. (Note: Don't pull it impatiently and quickly otherwise you will break the wire behind the panel.)

15. Push the dummy button on the switchboard from behind to take it out.

16. When I tried to put the switch on the switchboard I found out that the switch is a little smaller than the dummy button and the switch falls in it. So, to tackle this I cut a hole in the dummy button and installed the switch on it.

17. Pull the wire of switch from behind the panel and through the hole and connect wire and switch.

In the above pic the switch is upside down but don't worry, I fixed it after taking the photo.

18. Connect the red wire to the relay using a thimble.

19. The red wire from relay (positive) will be connected to fuse box. Now, you have two option, you can hardwire it or not. I wanted to turn on the fog lamp even when the car is off, so I hardwired it. To hardwire it, we will connect the wire to the 12 VCC just like I did when I hardwired my car's dashcam. You can also get fuse tap to connect these wires as they are much safer. You can check that DIY as well, it was a fun project.

20. Connect the black wire (negative) to the body. Open a bolt little bit, put the wire under it and screw the bolt back.

21. Use cable tie to bundle the wires together and keep it organized.

22. Put back both the panels

23. Connect the black wire (negative) of the wire kit to the negative terminal of the battery. Open the nut, connect the wire and screw the nut back in.

24. Put the bumper back. Screw all the nuts and screws back.

25. Now, go to a dark place or in the evening, turn on you fog lamp and adjust the lights so that they both are at the same level. (Pro tip: Park the car near a front facing car to easily adjust the level.)

With this your new fog lamp are good to go. If I had got the fog lamps installed by a mechanic maybe it would have taken a little less time than it took me but doing it myself was so much more satisfactory. This satisfaction is why I like doing DIYs.

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