99 Cobra Foglight Rewire
Last Updated on Tuesday, 21 October 2008 17:15 Written by Jason Trumpio Tuesday, 07 March 2000 18:00
Electronics
For those interested in being able to use their fog lights beyond the manner prescribed by the factory this article is for you. This is for all 1999 Cobras, similar cars may work the same way, but you'll need to check wiring first.
There is no need to disconnect the power since we will be locally disconnecting a harness, however, in good safety, I did. First, with the engine off, remove the center shifter bezel. Shift the shifter into reverse and lift the bezel out of the way.
Next, locate the wiring harness running on the drivers side of shifter cavity, and gently pull up to free the barbed clips from their holes and disconnect the harness.
Now remove the red cap from the connector whose wires point to the rear of the car (think of them as being the ones disconnected) Note my improper use of the electrode of my multimeter.
This is the tricky part. You'll notice little tabs INSIDE the harness that hold each pin inside the connector. You must use a small screwdriver to gently bend these tabs back to remove the WHITE/PURPLE STRIPE wire from the harness. Pull it aside and locate the BROWN wire directly next to it. You are going to SWAP the positions of the two wires, so the WHITE/PURPLE STRIPE wire will be re-inserted into the BROWN wire's seat, and vice-versa. Be sure they are re-inserted until they completely CLICK and you can see they are fully seated from the connector side.
The harness should now look like this:
And your car should look like this with the ignition on and the foglight switch activated:
Closing notes:
Foglights STILL turn off when high beams are activated
Foglights STILL turn off when ignition is off
Foglights WILL NOT activate when the headlights are on and the ignition is off.
Now, for you convertible users out there... Disconnect the Brown wire from the FIREWALL side of the harness and tape it up and out of the way. Install a jumper wire inbetween the BROWN and WHITE/PURPLE STRIPE wire on the CABIN side of the harness.
Alternatively, you could just turn on your parking lights to activate the convertible top if you still don't want to cut the loom.
How this works:
Coupes use the same wiring loom as the converts. There is a connector clipped inside your console which can later be used for the addition of a power top if you "convert" the car. When your ignition key is turned to the "ON" or "RUN" position, the WHITE/PURPLE STRIPE wire recieves + power. When you turn on your headlights the BROWN wire recieves + power. We are simply using the convertible top's power to activate the lights in this case.
