P38A Front fogs!

I'm fitting front fog lights and require a little pointer.

Switch fitted straight into the blue plug on the loom.

Lights fitted straight into slots and coupled up. Squirted a bit of electrical contact spray in but they didn't look too bad.

Enabled lights to go on with side lights in BECM.

Nothing. Rear still work. Front don't. Is there a separate relay / fuse and if so, what number and where?!

Cheers!

PS. When I look in the Nanocom all other lights show as 12V apart from front fogs on GND. Cannot switch them using the Nanocom either but all others do.

I take it you checked the bulbs?

tomcat59alan said:

I take it you checked the bulbs?

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Had a look before I put them in. Should pick up bulb failure though, shouldn't it?

The connectors do not look bad but maybe they're wrong inside?

Odd thing is no errors. It is as if the BECM doesn't know they're fitted. And then the inputs screen on the Nanocom. Permanently GND. Should only go to GND to tell the BECM to toggle on/off.

I cannot see any relay for the headlights either. That's odd. Or maybe it is all built into the FET or whatever in the BECM. i must admit I fell asleep through most of electronics at school.

I've got a lowline BECM. Maybe it cannot handle front fogs? Seems to have held the setting though. No error when I triggered the fog lights on using the Nanocom either.

The switch telltale doesn't light up but that may be the bulb in the switch given recent experiences from stuff off eBay.

I cannot see any fuses or relays in RAVE or in the handbook. Seems to be a single point of failure - the BECM!

It must be the connector, I think. I'll have to take the front bumper off (again) and see if I've got voltage in the wiring loom. Still would have thought the BECM would register a bulb failure if there was a broken circuit but maybe it is more clever.

Fog lamps will only work with ignition and side lamps or better switched on. Will stay on as long as side lamps are on but will need switching on again if ignition is turned off and back on.

wammers said:

Fog lamps will only work with ignition and side lamps or better switched on. Will stay on as long as side lamps are on but will need switching on again if ignition is turned off and back on.

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Yep. Rears working, no fronts.

no fuse? No relay?

Thinking it through. That inputs screen on the Nanocom is presumably what the BECM sees coming in? So, permanent GND would mean the switch is permanently on. But it should just ground when pressed. So the switch I got is duff?

I did try swapping with the rear fogs but the connector is different. rear has 5 connector compared to 6 for the front which probably explains why they made it a different shaped plug.

Just thought. I couldn't trigger the lights from the Nanocom and that would bypass the switch so it either isn't the switch or not only the switch. Hope it isn't BECM.

When I looked at fitting fogs i am sure you had to have a highline becm, might be wrong,

In short, It probably won't work. The low-line BECM is missing a few of the relays and MOSFETs that a high-line BECM has, including that for front fogs. I think some of the later low-line BECMs had fully fitted power boards as you could buy a lower spec vehicle and then all loads of options to it (for a price).

The Nanocom/BECM will probably let you set the front fog option, and hold it as the logic boards are all the same - it's only the power boards that are different (to my knowledge!).. The quickest/easiest option it to swap the BECM power board out for a Hi-Line model. (well it's quicker to swap the logic board into the BECM casing with a high-line board already installed!)

Think I have a few spare Hi-Line power boards kicking about if you do want to swap it out, though I'm away later this week for work and not back properly until the end of June..

Oddly enough that makes sense. This morning I checked RY and YR wires on C257, C113 and C120. No power from any ofthem.

I was thinking of doing it the old fashioned way with a relay direct to the switch. Of course, easy to leave the lights on that way!

How hard is the power-board? Does it involve soldering?!

I have a spare HiLine BECM too. You can take it apart for spares if you want it.

Have a read of this over a cuppa, and decide if you're brave enough...

http://www.rangerovers.net/repairdetails/becm/

If you wanted to bypass the BECM, a relay switched from the sidelamps, you be easy enough I'd have thought. It'd make them only work when the lights were on too.....

brianp38dse said:

When I looked at fitting fogs i am sure you had to have a highline becm, might be wrong,

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Looks like you're right. One gold star to Brian.

Keep forgetting I've got the budget model. Still, the switch balances the lok of the dash nicely, even if it does eff all.

MrGorsky said:

I have a spare HiLine BECM too. You can take it apart for spares if you want it.

Have a read of this over a cuppa, and decide if you're brave enough...

http://www.rangerovers.net/repairdetails/becm/

A relay powed from the headlamps, you be easy enough I'd have thought. It'd make them only work when the lights were on too.....

Click to expand...

Taking apart my BECM. It is sealed, clean, one of the best looking parts on the car. Only a bl**dy idiot would temp fate by fiddling with it. You up this way in the near future?

martyuk said:

In short, It probably won't work. The low-line BECM is missing a few of the relays and MOSFETs that a high-line BECM has, including that for front fogs. I think some of the later low-line BECMs had fully fitted power boards as you could buy a lower spec vehicle and then all loads of options to it (for a price).

The Nanocom/BECM will probably let you set the front fog option, and hold it as the logic boards are all the same - it's only the power boards that are different (to my knowledge!).. The quickest/easiest option it to swap the BECM power board out for a Hi-Line model. (well it's quicker to swap the logic board into the BECM casing with a high-line board already installed!)

Think I have a few spare Hi-Line power boards kicking about if you do want to swap it out, though I'm away later this week for work and not back properly until the end of June..

Click to expand...

NZ or nowhere as nice?

Not sure, but I can bring it next time I am.

Then your options are hack the wiring and power them direct, not have fog lamps, or buy a HiLine BECM and get Rick the Pick to clone yours and reprogram the new one! BECMs are cheap enough on eBay (mine was £1.50), but I don't know how much RtP might charge....

Grrrrrr read your other thread and look at STC8540 fitment in RAVE as advised.

Grrrrrr said:

Oddly enough that makes sense. This morning I checked RY and YR wires on C257, C113 and C120. No power from any ofthem.

I was thinking of doing it the old fashioned way with a relay direct to the switch. Of course, easy to leave the lights on that way!

How hard is the power-board? Does it involve soldering?!

Click to expand...

No soldering to swap a board over. It is quicker to swap the logic board from low line into a high-line casing, as then you don't have to mess about with the power studs. and fuse box.
Basic process is, once BECM is out: remove screws from the top casing,
Unplug 4x ribbon cables that link to the logic board,
Carefully lift power board up to about 90 degrees (there is enough slack on the wiring)
Undo 7 screws holding the logic board in place
Remove logic board
Do the same for the donor high-line BECM, and then refit your logic board to the high-line case.
Install the 7 screws to hold logic board in,
Carefully lower the power board back in,
Reconnect ribbon cables,
Refit Lid,
Refit to vehicle.

Or you can do as Wammers suggests and just get/make up the external wiring loom (basically exactly the same as the other one you made for the parking sensors) and use a relay to drive the fogs directly from a battery feed. You won't get error warning on them and need a latching switch to fit the front fog face on - but it will work aswell if you don't fancy pulling the BECM apart.

Grrrrrr said:

NZ or nowhere as nice?

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Sadly, no - Touring around China with a theatre show for 9 weeks... been awhile since I was out there, and this is a LOT bigger show too, so will be an interesting experience... I should still have time to have somewhat of an online presence, but having to stop all of my other P38 bits that I do at home whilst I'm away

MrGorsky said:

Not sure, but I can bring it next time I am.

Then your options are hack the wiring and power them direct, not have fog lamps, or buy a HiLine BECM and get Rick the Pick to clone yours and reprogram the new one! BECMs are cheap enough on eBay (mine was £1.50), but I don't know how much RtP might charge....

Click to expand...

No need for cloning anything - the logic board from a low-line BECM will work on a high line power board. The only difference that I've seen between high/low line is some of the components missing on the power board. To be fair, it is probably possibly to add in the extra MOSFETs and I'd say a couple of other components on the switch input side to modify the low-line power board, but that would involve soldering! and it's a lot easier to either do the wiring externally or swap the boards over to 'make' a high-line BECM

I'd forgotten the switch wasn't latched.

Decision time. I either don't bother or I swap my logic board into a Highline BECM. I'm disappointed the wiring diagrams on RAVE don't have "Highline" only or somesuch on the fogs page. I did check. I also Googled the differences between highline and lowline but came up with diddly squat! Should have asked Marty it seems!

MrGorsky, I'll give you a quid for that Highline if it is any good and it still has all the bits.

Got a few weeks as I'm busy now for he next few weeks straight.

martyuk said:

No soldering to swap a board over. It is quicker to swap the logic board from low line into a high-line casing, as then you don't have to mess about with the power studs. and fuse box.

No need for cloning anything - the logic board from a low-line BECM will work on a high line power board. The only difference that I've seen between high/low line is some of the components missing on the power board. To be fair, it is probably possibly to add in the extra MOSFETs and I'd say a couple of other components on the switch input side to modify the low-line power board, but that would involve soldering! and it's a lot easier to either do the wiring externally or swap the boards over to 'make' a high-line BECM

Click to expand...

Are there any differences between petrol and diesel and the years? Security is different between petrol and diesel for a start. And the cruise control. Guess I could take both apart and play spot the difference!