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SUVs Mitsubishi Outlander Rear Fog Light: A tricky subject
22 messages, Last post on Oct 01, 2009 at 11:53 AM
You are in the Mitsubishi Outlander Forum. Your Hosts are steve_ & tidester
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Rear fog lights/lamp: The Outlander comes with a multi-purpose switch lever assembly with a first rotary switch knob and a second rotary switch knob composed with a light switch for selectively switching a plurality of switch terminals and a fog light switch (rear or front) by selectively connecting switch terminals. The US model doesn’t have, the rear fog light activation rotary switch or it is just not visible on the lever knob. Does someone know or have some knowledge of how I can devise a procedure to trigger a rear fog light, that will light permanently when activated (by rotating a switch) when the conditions so require, e.g. heavy fog, rain or snow. Generally, US models connect the European fog light wire to the brake circuit thereby giving the US model a third brake light. I would need to buy a new conventional European composite switch lever that is mounted on the Outlander steering column to replace the original US switch lever. What I do not know is if the US harness will allow me to do that swap. Assuming that the harness is compatible (on the belief that Mitsubishi would not manufacture two harness, one for Europe and Asia and one for the America market), can it be connected by the Mitsubishi dealer, just like that, and bingo or the dealer needs to activate the new European switch lever by connecting it to their shop computer and telling the OBC that the fog lights and switch are there? The final results if everything goes OK is that by rotating the switch a little, the rear fog light lights, and the rear fog light icon lights in the instrumentation panel. I have seen a number of European car manufactures with plants in the USA, BMW (e.g. MINI), VW, etc that provides dealers with rear fog light kits to be ready when a customer requires this essential safety feature.
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Replying to: batman47 (Jan 26, 2008 4:34 am) According to the Outlander 2003 workshop it seems that there are only two switches shipped with the Outlander from Japan. A switch-1 and a switch-2. Switch-1 is composed of two switches, i.e. the front fog lamp switch and rear fog lamp switch which are in the same device. These switches are integrated in the lever/knob of the steering wheel that control the lights (i.e. dip/beam lights). The switch-2 is only rear fog lamp switch and this switch is compulsory in Europe although the front fog light is not. In other words, in Europe the front fog lamps are an option but not the rear fog light which is compulsory. In Europe if a customer wants a front fog light, the dealer just changes switch-2 for switch-1 and installs the front fog lamps kit. Switch-1 will activate the front and the rear fog lights/lamps. Because the harness for both fog lights is already there without undergoing any alteration, the procedure seems to be straightforward. It appears to me that in the US the switch-1 harness is installed in all Outlander vehicles sold in the US with the exception of the front fog lamps assembly/kit itself. Option F3 is for the customers who wants a front fog lamps in the Outlander and it consists mainly of the front fog lights assembly/kit. Because the lever/knob set (steering wheel) of a US Outlander has not any visual information about the rear fog light (no icon/symbol); this feature (rear fog light manually operated) is purposely eliminated by disabling the rear fog light LED on the instrumentation panel and by using a modified stamp lever/knob device (no rear fog lamp icon/symbol) and the rear fog lamp wiring to the rear ‘fog’ lamps. Because the Outlander has two rear fogs lamp assemblies the harness/wiring of the rear fog lamps is connected to the brake harness/wiring and as a result the US Outlander has three braking lamps (or four). Mitsubishi America, I think has resolved this situation by manufacturing two types of fog lamp switches as it has always been the case. One composed switch: front fog lights and rear fog lights in the same device. The second switch is only rear fog light. In Europe all cars comes with rear fog light, therefore this switch is mandatory. In the US fog lights are not mandatory, but the majority of US customers are keen to have front fog lights as an option. Mitsubishi has resolved this dilemma by installing the composed fog switch (switch-1 rear and front), in the US vehicles, deleting the rear fog light stamp/symbol from the European lever/knob, disabling the LED rear fog symbol light from the instrumentation panel, and bypassing the rear fog light wiring by activating them only when the brake pedal is depressed. Originally I though this rear fog light is a very complicated procedure but after the analysis above everybody that will like to have a rear fog light need only to find a willing dealer to reverse the steps that have previously disabled the rear fog lights information that in my opinion all the US Outlander trims come with..
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Replying to: batman47 (Jan 28, 2008 1:53 am) The adding of fog lights later is doable, by the owner, but it's not simply mount them from below and plug unto an existing harness. The kit comes with a harness, a relay to be added, and you must remove the front plastic bumper to install the lights and harness properly. Mitsubishi made the light switch overly complicated IMHO, the switch is a momentary on momentary off contact that activates via the "brain" and must be programmed in. The optional do it yourself programming instructions to open and close the door 5 times while standing on your head and facing east didn't work. Going back to the dealer I got them to program it for free since the official Mitsu kit instructions don't work. In the end I saved the labor cost of having the dealer do it and got the kit cheaper on EBAY, , but I sure wish I found an Outie LS with lights already installed (XLS does, but at higher package cost than I wanted to spend).
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Replying to: comem47 (Jan 28, 2008 11:07 pm) Your comments and procedure to install the front fog lights in your 2007 LS Outlander are paramount to the understanding of the rear fog lights layout. Mitsubishi calls it Smart Wiring System (SWS). Before I elaborate further may I ask you the following: Did your Outlander came with a sort of stalk (I will call it LS stalk) and when you bought the front fog light kit, did the kit came with a XLS stalk? If this is ‘yes’, the Mitsubishi dealer just replaced the original “LS stalk” for the “XLS stalk” that came with the kit in addition, of course, to the harness and relay. Another very important contribution of your comments is that the Mitsubishi dealer had to use his programmer device to instruct the On-Board-Computer (OBC) to recognize the new hardware addition in the same manner that a desktop/laptop recognizes addition of new hardware (e.g. CD/DVD player). May I ask about the “cosmetic” differences between the LS stalk and XLS stalk? I mean the LS stalk has some symbols scribbled on it because it must function to operate the low/high front lights. When you received the XLS stalk/stem it should have symbols scribbled on it to indicate the functionality of the lights that now includes the front fog light activation switch. If you see the Outlander rear body it has two lamps (left and right) about 10 inches below the corresponding brake lights (plus turning lights indicators, reverse lamps). Could you please depress the brake pedal and note if this action has activated one or two of these lamps (in Europe this lamp lights when the driver manually activates the stalk rear fog light switch by the steering column). If these lamps light then every time you depress the brakes the car responds by lighting the proper brake lights and one of two ‘rear fog’ lamps (Bulbs have the same watt as a brake bulb). If this happens then the European rear fog light circuit has been connected someway to the brake lines. I am almost sure that if a European stalk multi-function switch can be bought (those that can be easily bought by the desk of a Mitsubishi dealer part department) the problem of installing a rear fog light assemblage can be done by a Mitsubishi dealer in the US. The stalk switch system, harness (i.e. harness protruding from the stalk) and relay can be ordered from Europe. The relay case and fuses in the Outlander may already have the hollows to insert relays and fuses. Mitsu dealers may provide the programmer device and the OBC wire/harness/link (if needed) to physically connect the European hardware to the OBC. The Mitsu technician has to reverse the actions taken for neutralizing the rear fog lights and put them in the right order, i.e. disconnecting the fog light wire from the brake wiring. The OBC and the European multi-function switch will do the rest.
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Replying to: batman47 (Jan 29, 2008 8:09 am) as side marker/running lights on my US LS outie. Looking through the colored lens there appears to be a spot for another bulb in the center of this light, but it is not illuminating when both my brake lights and fog lights illuminated. (the whole wraparound lens cover is red, with the outside as a marker/running light and the inside as a reflector, The center appears to have a Fresnel lens of sorts, but I see no bulb inside) As for the steering stalk light switch. The one for fog lights has a ring the turns in one direction (momentary) to turn on the fog lights and rotates the other way (momentary) to turn them off. The stalk plugs into a connector block on the steering column (additional connections already present are used with the new stalk that contains this momentary rotating switch). I guess I don't understand the term "rear fog lamp" as front fog lamps are mounted down low and have a wide narrow hight beam to illuminate the ground and not reflect back up into your eye or blind the driver in front, These rear lights are mounted too high and would surely not serve the same function (illuminate the ground). I can only think that they supplement the rear brake lights for visibility to cars following behind, but not really a "fog" light beam.
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Replying to: comem47 (Jan 29, 2008 1:29 pm)  See more Car Pictures at CarSpace.com The car in the photo is a LHD 2008 Outlander with two sets of lights. One set 10 inches above the other set is responsible for the brake lights, turning side lights and reverse lights). The other set is responsible for the rear fog light. The reason why these two lights are there is that European (West, East and Russia) is LHD (left hand drive) and the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore are RHD. The rear fog light is compulsory in almost all countries with the exception of Canada and US. If the vehicle is LHD then the one rear fog light that must light is the left rear fog light. In RHD the rear fog light lamp must light in the right rear side of the car. Car manufacturers just build one model and adapt the circuitry to the demands of the respective countries. Rear fog light is a safety requirement which is very important when the weather is foggy, snowy, rainy, and dusty. These are the Californian regulations: CALIFORNIA CODES VEHICLE CODE SECTION 24602 24602. (a) Any vehicle may be equipped with not more than two red fog tail lamps mounted on the rear which may be lighted, in addition to the required tail lamps, only when atmospheric conditions, such as fog, rain, snow, smoke, or dust, reduce the daytime or nighttimes visibility of other vehicles to less than 500 feet.
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Hi, I have a 2008 LS Outlander (Canada model - same as US I guess). I had the fog lights installed in front, so the dealer changed the switch knob next to the steering to put a new one with the front fog control. So I was wondering seme as you for the rear fog lights. So what i did is that i removed the rear light socket where the fog should be. There is the side light connector and wire but, the other hole where the rear fog light would be is sealed with a piece of plastic stick there. So i guess that if a want to light up the rear section of the fog ligts i have to check if the wires are at the back and do the job myself (install a new light ). I've also checked the fuse box, regarding the user manual, the fuse for the rear fog light is there (10Amps) but my question is; Are the cables run to the back of the truck?. I'll have to check this out some day when the weather will be more hot in Quebec cuz now, there is 20 cm of snow falling. EnjoY.
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Replying to: btsworld (Feb 27, 2008 9:41 am) A long time has passed since your post about the rear fog light when you was in the process of find out ways to activate the ‘rear’ fog light. I have seen a post from a member from Poland here in this forum that took his 2007 Outlander XLS to Poland (this model has already front fog lights) and he said he took his car to a Mitsubishi dealership in Europe, and the technician got an instrument and he could see on the screen of this device a computer menu where it was asking to the technician what does he want to do i.e. activate or deactivate the front, rear or both? As I said somewhere in this Forum all the harness is already in the vehicle electrical system and only it need a willing Mitsubishi technician to operate the instrument (it has a proper name) to activate the rear fog light. I have posted to ‘lukarzkur’ the polish member and I am still waiting for its reply. |
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Replying to: btsworld (Feb 27, 2008 9:41 am) Thanks
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Replying to: random42 (May 23, 2008 8:47 am) EnjoY |
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