Stock fog light switch....

My g/f has a 98 and the light i'm guessing burnt out that illuminates the switch for the fog light...how would i go about dis-assembling the panel to get behind it...manual that is good to tell me the best way to do it or is it simple enough for someone on here to describe?

Are you referring to the pilot light in the switch, that lights up to tell you the fogs are on? Or are you referring to illumination to help you find the switch when it's off?

whats the diff which bulb it is? Either way he has to take the dash apart.
Just grab the middle dash area at the bottom. It just pops right out. The fog light switch is on a pannel that is help in place by 3 screws. Just take those out and you are at the back of the fog light switch. The bulbs just twist ouf of the switch. Just make sure the fog lights are still working, If they are not the switch might not light up. I say might because from 97+ they had problems with the switches burning up inside. That would cause all typs of problems.

I have a 97 and replaced the foglamp switch 3 times. None of them lasted over a month. I have a friend who had the same problem on her 98 and finally the dealership just put her a janky toggle switch next to the steering column

Yeah I went threw 3 also.
What finally made them stop melting???
I pulled the bulbs out so the switch would not heat up so much.

LOL, gotta love the common probs. Anyways, when it is dark and the fog lights arent on....i cant see the switch....AND when you normally turn the switch on and that little green light turns on, on the switch i cant see that either....so i'm assuming that is two diff. bulbs? I'll be attempting to fix this tomorrow...are these common bulbs that i can find at any autozone or something like that? Thanks

JeepXJ93 said:

LOL, gotta love the common probs. Anyways, when it is dark and the fog lights arent on....i cant see the switch....AND when you normally turn the switch on and that little green light turns on, on the switch i cant see that either....so i'm assuming that is two diff. bulbs? I'll be attempting to fix this tomorrow...are these common bulbs that i can find at any autozone or something like that? Thanks

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Yeah there are 2 bulbs. they are small. I have never seen them at an auto parts place. Then again I have not been looking either. If I sill had mine I would send them to ya. I just know its the 3rd switch on the right

My 97 is on it's 3rd switch and I've taken that one out and did the clean-up and lubricate thing twice!!! It became intermittant again just yesterday so now I'll be just wiring around it this time. Hell ... never turn it off anyway!!!

coryenyeart said:

I have a 97 and replaced the foglamp switch 3 times. None of them lasted over a month. I have a friend who had the same problem on her 98 and finally the dealership just put her a janky toggle switch next to the steering column

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When I saw the cost I swapped another switch in it's place. The one I used is from an 89-95 Dodge Spirit/Plymouth Acclaim that I had laying around the garage. Looks factory enough for me. Installed it in May and all is well. The little green dot does light up when the switch is on. (my "no flash" lights on pics did not turn out )



Stock switch is a cheap design from the beginning. I tore it apart and the solder in the switch melted so I used the frame of the old switch and mounted the new one in it. Snapped it into the stock switch holder and all is good.

T

Hmmm...this should be an interesting experience. Everyone recomend changing the whole switch to something else from the start or should i just try to fix the old one first and see how that goes? Sounds like from what you guys are saying that i should just find another switch.

JeepXJ93 said:

Hmmm...this should be an interesting experience. Everyone recomend changing the whole switch to something else from the start or should i just try to fix the old one first and see how that goes? Sounds like from what you guys are saying that i should just find another switch.

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I put mine in my 98 around spring of 98 but mine was the add on kit as the se did not come with factory fogs. I only used the inside portion of the kit and use it to trigger a hella relay which relays the lights vs going into the PDC to operate those relays. My switch is still original and other than having to remove and clean the hella relay contact points every year has given me no problems. www.jeepsareus.com has the switches a couple of bucks cheaper than the dealer. I also seem to remember that beezil found a source of the same switch from some marine supplier or marine application for like $10-$15 bucks.
I have to wonder if there is not something else going on, that switch is 12v and very low current, only operates relays to turn the fogs on and off, should last forever. I wonder if somehow the headligh ckt is getting involved here and somehow part of the current supply for the HL's are going thru it, a bad ground maybe, dunno, never looked at the ckt from that perspective before.
Might want to pull the relays in the pdc and see if the contacts are dirty. Might be getting some arching inside the relay that is giving the switch a 'shot' of high current every time you turn them on and off.
Not sure of the factory relays but the hellas come apart, don't know if the factory relays can do that, makes it handy to be able to clean the high current contacts. Just some thoughts...

Good stuff Rich!

I still have a problem understanding if the switch is used to activate a relay why it would get so hot when the lights are on. Could there be that much resistance in the stock wiring causing it to get hot? Even the new switch I installed is warm to the touch and it was NOT that way in either car (had 2 with driving lights) that had them installed. Ya know, I used the same switch in my old 94 Dakota along with a relay to run driving lights and it was not warm either. Very intersting :eyes:

Travis

I replaced mine on my 97 with the factory "new and improved design" one. The new switch looked like it had some kind of relay built in it. It was expensive though at $45 from the stealership, but no problems since replacement. That was well over a year ago.

Boris T said:

Good stuff Rich!

I still have a problem understanding if the switch is used to activate a relay why it would get so hot when the lights are on. Could there be that much resistance in the stock wiring causing it to get hot? Even the new switch I installed is warm to the touch and it was NOT that way in either car (had 2 with driving lights) that had them installed. Ya know, I used the same switch in my old 94 Dakota along with a relay to run driving lights and it was not warm either. Very intersting :eyes:

Travis

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The switch was the relay. Thats the problem. They came up with a replacment with some extra wire harness but it still got warm. thats why I took the lights out of it to help keep it cool to avoid it melting again. I am going to put a relya in place and then use the switch to operate the relay and not the lights.

gixer said:

The switch was the relay. Thats the problem. They came up with a replacment with some extra wire harness but it still got warm. thats why I took the lights out of it to help keep it cool to avoid it melting again. I am going to put a relya in place and then use the switch to operate the relay and not the lights.

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SPOBI. On the '97s and up, the switch is just that...a switch. If you have factory fog lights, take a look in your PDC (Power Distribution Center) under the hood, next to the battery. The fog light relay is there....

Ivan

Ivan said:

SPOBI. On the '97s and up, the switch is just that...a switch. If you have factory fog lights, take a look in your PDC (Power Distribution Center) under the hood, next to the battery. The fog light relay is there....

Ivan

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That is what I thought.... time to take a gander at the FSM.... :read:

Boris T said:

Good stuff Rich!

I still have a problem understanding if the switch is used to activate a relay why it would get so hot when the lights are on. Could there be that much resistance in the stock wiring causing it to get hot? Even the new switch I installed is warm to the touch and it was NOT that way in either car (had 2 with driving lights) that had them installed. Ya know, I used the same switch in my old 94 Dakota along with a relay to run driving lights and it was not warm either. Very intersting :eyes:

Travis

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Nope, on the factory supplied factory installed fogs that switch operates a relay in the pdc. The only way it can get hot is if there is too much current going thru it. It's possible that there is carbon build up going on in the relay in the PDC and that there may be some arching inside the relay from the fog lights power to the switch side of the ckt, it happens. Result could be that the fogs are drawing power thru both their primary contact points and some leak thru from the switch side thru the headlight low/high point. I just gave it a quick look in the fsm but it is not detailed enough on the construction of the factory relays, don't know if they are solid state or electro mech either. I've seen solid state relays do some nasty stuff where you have 5V on the switch side and 220 on the power side and the material inside the relay breaks down. If they are SCR's it could get interesting..

RichP said:

Nope, on the factory supplied factory installed fogs that switch operates a relay in the pdc. The only way it can get hot is if there is too much current going thru it. It's possible that there is carbon build up going on in the relay in the PDC and that there may be some arching inside the relay from the fog lights power to the switch side of the ckt, it happens. Result could be that the fogs are drawing power thru both their primary contact points and some leak thru from the switch side thru the headlight low/high point. I just gave it a quick look in the fsm but it is not detailed enough on the construction of the factory relays, don't know if they are solid state or electro mech either. I've seen solid state relays do some nasty stuff where you have 5V on the switch side and 220 on the power side and the material inside the relay breaks down. If they are SCR's it could get interesting..

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Well you responded before I got to the FSM (translating Greek for class
aperwork ). I will check out the relay when the Mrs gets home with the Jeep. Thanks for the legwork!
Travis

Would replacing the relay keep from burning out the switch again? I just replaced the switch on my 98 and they are a little pricey. Relays are cheaper than the switches. Just a thought.

I replaced my (97 XJ) OEM fog light switch a couple of years back and haven't had a problem with it. The newer style replacement switch comes with jumper harness attached to it along with an instruction sheet for its install. The jumper harness is designed to correct the problem of the short lived switch. Make sure your replacement switch comes with this jumper.
Also, the dealer does not sell replacement bulbs for any of those console mounted switches and neither do parts stores. I was told that you have to purchase a whole new switch just to get that bulb. I have since raided the local junkyards of both types of switch bulbs so I now have a reserve stockpile for our 3 XJ's.