Fog lights / Retrofit

[Kidonedatone]

Good point. 

[11StiLimited]

subscribed;)

[mtb9153]

I don't have the fog's either, but would add them if there was a grill kit available for a reasonable price. I took some pics through the hole in the shroud which is right below the grills, there is not much behind them but I did see something that could be a connector on the passenger side, will check to see if it is on the driver side later and post back.

 

 

 

This was looking straight up through the hole on the passenger side, and could be a connector for fog lights:

 

 

 

Otherwise there is not much going on behind the grills:

 

Funny you want to add fog lights, I wish I had the vents you have.  The factory lights don't do much in the fog, pretty cheap in my opinion.

[Hybrid dude]

mtb9153, would you be interested in trading your grill covers and lights for my blank grills? The lights can simply be unplugged at the bulb.

[mtb9153]

mtb9153, would you be interested in trading your grill covers and lights for my blank grills? The lights can simply be unplugged at the bulb.

how easy is it to remove the light/grille covers from the front bumper?  what is involved? I assumed the underside air cover must be removed from underneath the bumper?  Or possibly the inner fender wheelwell cover to gain access to the back of the light assemblies?  If I remove them then my fog light switch on the dash will have no purpose which doesn't excite me.  I could possibly reuse/rewire it to switch on/off the white led DRL's I plan to add at some point once I find the ones I want.  I'm wanting a 6 or 8 LED light bar to put in the front grille on either side of the Ford Logo.  Philips makes one I'm considering, also Hella.

[MikeB]

mtb, I've pulled off the foglight cover once, and it's wasn't easy. Not because there's lots of steps, but because it's all just a matter of applying force without breaking anything. The cover has a series of tabs that fit into slots in the bumper cover, and you basically just pull until the tab lets go. Start at the top and work to the bottom, then the back.

 

To get access to the back of the fogs, I removed the headlights and reached down. But it's probably just as easy to remove the aero cover below the engine and come up. (Removing headlights is also a royal pain, since the fit is so tight)

 

Reusing the fog switch as a DRL switch would be a good plan, but the fogs only come on when the running lights are on, so you have to turn those on first (not a big deal, but something to remember).

[mtb9153]

mtb, I've pulled off the foglight cover once, and it's wasn't easy. Not because there's lots of steps, but because it's all just a matter of applying force without breaking anything. The cover has a series of tabs that fit into slots in the bumper cover, and you basically just pull until the tab lets go. Start at the top and work to the bottom, then the back.

 

To get access to the back of the fogs, I removed the headlights and reached down. But it's probably just as easy to remove the aero cover below the engine and come up. (Removing headlights is also a royal pain, since the fit is so tight)

 

Reusing the fog switch as a DRL switch would be a good plan, but the fogs only come on when the running lights are on, so you have to turn those on first (not a big deal, but something to remember).

I keep forgetting that my C-Max is really our C-Max!  Meaning my wife and I, she has voiced plenty of negative feedback regarding my want to remove the fog lights so I'd better leave them as they are.  Sorry to get your hopes up.

[Hybrid dude]

No problem, it brought about the removal discussion, which was useful.

Good luck with the DRLs and let us know if you're successful.

[CarpeNivem]

Has anyone actually completed this install? I'd love to know more about which wires are which under the hood.

Edited June 20, 2013 by CarpeNivem

[timber725]

Why not just get the housing and lights and then run new relay and switch and splice directly into battery and cig lighter.  I know sounds easy but it probably not that easy since there isn't a lot of room to work with in the C-MAX.  Who knew it would be so hard just to change a headlight bulb.

[ptjones]

I'm going to have my complete front cover, grills ,etc from my  wrecked CMAX, it's in good shape to try somethings on. I will use it to test my Grill Covers fit when making them. I would think about making an aero fog light instead using your existing grill. :) 

 

Paul

[BIG ROCCO]

Does anyone actually use their fog lights?  I think I have had them on every car I have owned since 1984, but I'm not sure i have ever even turned them on.  I will admit that we don't have a lot of fog here in the Phoenix desert, but I don't really recall using them even back in the days of living in Boston

[jdbob]

I know what you mean. I've lived in high desert (New Mexico and Oregon) since 1998 and don't see much fog. Would have been useful back in Vermont though. We did have 3 days of freezing fog here one time, that can be interesting.

 

[kc1174]

Has anyone actually completed this install? I'd love to know more about which wires are which under the hood.

I just finished what I could on my SE, and it's not great news. Bought the OEM grilles, lamps and had a tinker around. Didn't buy the switch because I already know that won't work as it just sends a signal to the BCM. Anyhow, there's no fog harness on the SE. At least not mine. The wiring diagram from my service DVD (thanks ebay) has the harness going from the driver's side to the passenger side along the front, then up to the BCM pins 18 and 19. 18 and 19 are not connected on mine. There is a 15A fuse in F75 though, which is nice. The harness is 15K867 if it was there. The BCM in question is C2280D directly above fuses F74 and F82 in the box under the glove box (does anyone actually have gloves in there?)

 

So anyway, I now have fog lamps and grilles on my SE, but not much else. Taped off the H11s and will look now for a harness and mess about with this again next weekend. Want to see if there's a way to get a harness up to a remote switch and see some online that support 55w x2. There are some nice harnesses that do work with ours listed at around $80 on ebay. I asked and they do work with the C-Max. Will post a link up in a bit.

 

Just as an FYI, screwing in the lamps is a royal pain in the ass on the driver's side. Only about 3" clearance back from the hex screw. The pass side isn't much better as the washer fluid reservoir gets in the way. Also, despite there being no rain in days here, those connectors in the driver's side were covered in water. May explain my dead 12V a couple of weeks back, so dried them and taped them off a bit.

 

Parts were from fdmotorparts.com.

$133.31 lamps and screws

$128.28 grilles

 

Link to possible harness:

http://m.ebay.com/itm?itemId=151140396296

and a remote that I'm not sure about:

http://m.ebay.com/itm/151270534535?nav=WATCHING_ACTIVE

 

I'll post up some pics later. Am done and need a bath..

Edited April 27, 2014 by kc1174

[kc1174]

I still don't know how to post photos so here are some links to those in the gallery.

 

http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/gallery/image/855-wet-connectors/

 

http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/gallery/image/856-another-connector/

 

http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/gallery/image/857-grille-off/

 

http://fordcmaxhybridforum.com/gallery/image/858-bcm-the-white-one-to-the-right-of-the-green/

[Bill-N]

"Also, despite there being no rain in days here, those connectors in the driver's side were covered in water. May explain my dead 12V a couple of weeks back, so dried them and taped them off a bit."

 

 

 

Water intrusion is indeed one of the suspected causes of 12V failure.  It's mentioned in the Maintenance forum.

Edited April 27, 2014 by Bill-N

[geobfield]

Anyone know if there is any progress on this topic?  My dealer says a wiring harness costing $900 is required so I won't be working with them.  I do not feel competent to do it myself.  Striking out finding anyone that can add fog lights to my SE.

[kc1174]

Anyone know if there is any progress on this topic? My dealer says a wiring harness costing $900 is required so I won't be working with them. I do not feel competent to do it myself. Striking out finding anyone that can add fog lights to my SE.

I installed fogs on my SE using a third party wiring harness from my post before and an illuminated push button I installed just to the left of the steering wheel. Had a shop here fit it all up as I didn't feel competent installing it myself, and don't have a ramp to get through the firewall to the switch. Works well and wired up correctly, it shuts off the fogs when the high beams are on.

 

It's funny you post this now, as I just bought this:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B00EE4ETN2/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1421697626&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX110_SY165

 

Back to the shop again as I have no clue how to install them. They weren't cheap, but no tax and shipping wasn't bad. They have led DRL's in the fog lamps assembly, fogs, and cornering led's triggered by the turn signals... I'll post back when it's all done.

[RoyC]

I gathered all the parts from previous posts.

 

Headlamp Switch, CP9Z-11654-J or Motorcraft BM5T-13A024-JE sw:04 hw:04

Outer Grilles, DM5Z-17B814-A and DM5Z-17B814-C

Wire Harness, FV6Z-15K867-A

Fog Lamps, 4F9Z-15200-AA x2

Fog Lamp Bolts, W701459-S424 x4

Fog Lamp Nuts, W700895-S300 x4

 

Before putting everything together, I tried the headlamp switch first. It did not turn on the the warning light for log lamps so I assumed the BCM was not configured/programmed to operate log lamps. Later, I was not able to find any cable/connector to connect to the fog lamp cable either. I decided to go with plan B, the parking lamps. I connected a relay to the parking lamp cable to switch power from "jump start" box.

 

The only drawback I can find in the configuration is my fog lamps will be turned on when parking lamps are on. I use LED H11 which takes about 3 amps for both.

 

[Adrian_L]

Did you consider a toggle switch between the fog lamp cable and the relay?  That way you decide when you want the fog lamps on.

[RoyC]

I was thinking about a separate switch just for the fog lamps. However, I could not figure out a place for that switch. Running those wires could also be a headache.

 

I upgraded my low lights to HID awhile ago. In my case, HID lights are much brighter than LEDs, maybe 5 times brighter. There is not much difference driving in the dark with or without my LED fog lamps. I mainly use these fog lamps as DRL.