DIY: REAR Fog Light Install
05-18-2011, 04:28 PM
#1
DIY: REAR Fog Light Install
Ok I did this last December (it is now May) and finally getting around to doing my writeup. MAKE SURE YOU READ THE WHOLE WRITEUP! You will need to obtain an MPV front fog light switch as well.
This writeup is for the Series 2 JDM OEM Mazda rear fog light kit on a Series 2 US car (2009+). I bought the kit from japanparts.com and at the time it costed $367 shipped to my door(California). The price fluctuates due to the exchange rate and sometimes japanparts will have a sale going on. I guess they used to sponsor the site and offer a discount but no longer. I want to thank the girlfriend since she bought me the kit as a Christmas gift.
The japanparts.com part number is: 367-004-004 and you'll need to specify your color.
VERY IMPORTANT!!! ORDER THE NON-DSC MODEL EVEN IF YOU HAVE DSC!!!!!!
On Right Hand drive vehicles, there are only like two or three switch panels and they are all used up so if you order a DSC model one, you'll end up with a combined rear fog light switch and DSC on/off switch. You don't want this one. It will be harder to wire up and our left hand drive cars have extra spaces anyway for extra switches.
Here are the factory Mazda part numbers that showed up:
F190-V7-250 Rear Fog light kit without DSC
FF37-50-321 Crystal White Pearl (34K) lower panel
And a picture of what you get:
This writeup is for the Series 2 JDM OEM Mazda rear fog light kit on a Series 2 US car (2009+). I bought the kit from japanparts.com and at the time it costed $367 shipped to my door(California). The price fluctuates due to the exchange rate and sometimes japanparts will have a sale going on. I guess they used to sponsor the site and offer a discount but no longer. I want to thank the girlfriend since she bought me the kit as a Christmas gift.
The japanparts.com part number is: 367-004-004 and you'll need to specify your color.
VERY IMPORTANT!!! ORDER THE NON-DSC MODEL EVEN IF YOU HAVE DSC!!!!!!
On Right Hand drive vehicles, there are only like two or three switch panels and they are all used up so if you order a DSC model one, you'll end up with a combined rear fog light switch and DSC on/off switch. You don't want this one. It will be harder to wire up and our left hand drive cars have extra spaces anyway for extra switches.
Here are the factory Mazda part numbers that showed up:
F190-V7-250 Rear Fog light kit without DSC
FF37-50-321 Crystal White Pearl (34K) lower panel
And a picture of what you get:
Last edited by ASH8; 10-03-2011 at 04:35 AM.
05-18-2011, 04:28 PM
#2
This writeup is mainly focused on the wiring aspect of the install and modification of the rear fog light switch (more on it later). I'm not going to focus on how to remove interior panels and things like that. There are plenty of other writeups for that or you can always consult a factory workshop manual. Also it helps if you know how an automotive relay works as well.
Your first step (which also corresponds with step #1 in the provided install manual) is to remove the lower black trim pieces on the rear bumper and the lower painted panel/rear tow hook cover. Then your going to install the fog light and the cover. Pretty basic steps. The screws are provided and everything. Then install the new cover that you got. You have to reuse the tow hook cover swap that over.
Click on the pics below for a view.
Your first step (which also corresponds with step #1 in the provided install manual) is to remove the lower black trim pieces on the rear bumper and the lower painted panel/rear tow hook cover. Then your going to install the fog light and the cover. Pretty basic steps. The screws are provided and everything. Then install the new cover that you got. You have to reuse the tow hook cover swap that over.
Click on the pics below for a view.
Last edited by jrx13; 05-19-2011 at 10:56 AM.
05-18-2011, 04:29 PM
#3
Now we are going to start the wiring. Most of it your going to follow the routing of the guide that came with your kit. Use the pictures in the install manual if you need help. You'll have to remove the interior left side panel of the trunk and the interior rear trunk panel. Also remove the driver side rear seat back and cushion and the driver side lower panel (where all the factory wires are). Now's a good time to remove the fuse box cover as well.
Now that the interior is disassembled, the first step for wiring is to puncture the grommet in the trunk and then run the solid red & black wire through the grommet down to the rear fog light. They already have pins on them and after they are run through the trunk, insert them into the two pin grey connector that is provided. It doesnt matter the pin placement since it is just power and ground to a light bulb. Then secure the wire with a tie wrap that is provided. Following the guide, these are steps #2-#7.
Step #8 & #9: Back to the trunk, the black wire is going to go to body ground shown in the picture. Check out these two pictures:
Step #10: Next is connecting the black/red wire to the parking lights. A tap is provided already. This is like pin #85 for our fog light relay. It provides the low current positive to only allow the rear fog light to come on when the parking lights or headlights are on. Just connect it to the black/red wire of the parking light as shown here and the guide.
Now some people may not want to do it this way. You can just hook up the red wire (earlier) to a brake light wire and just have the rear fog light act as a brake light or you could even run a wire to a toggle switch. Another deviation is to connect the black/red wire to a different positive wire in case they want their fog lights to come on independant of the parking lights. That is up to you. But I did it using as much of the factory wiring as possible.
Ok then, route the remaining wire bundle neatly and tie wrap it to the factory wiring and just follow it along. Steps #11-#14.
Now that the interior is disassembled, the first step for wiring is to puncture the grommet in the trunk and then run the solid red & black wire through the grommet down to the rear fog light. They already have pins on them and after they are run through the trunk, insert them into the two pin grey connector that is provided. It doesnt matter the pin placement since it is just power and ground to a light bulb. Then secure the wire with a tie wrap that is provided. Following the guide, these are steps #2-#7.
Step #8 & #9: Back to the trunk, the black wire is going to go to body ground shown in the picture. Check out these two pictures:
Step #10: Next is connecting the black/red wire to the parking lights. A tap is provided already. This is like pin #85 for our fog light relay. It provides the low current positive to only allow the rear fog light to come on when the parking lights or headlights are on. Just connect it to the black/red wire of the parking light as shown here and the guide.
Now some people may not want to do it this way. You can just hook up the red wire (earlier) to a brake light wire and just have the rear fog light act as a brake light or you could even run a wire to a toggle switch. Another deviation is to connect the black/red wire to a different positive wire in case they want their fog lights to come on independant of the parking lights. That is up to you. But I did it using as much of the factory wiring as possible.
Ok then, route the remaining wire bundle neatly and tie wrap it to the factory wiring and just follow it along. Steps #11-#14.
Last edited by jrx13; 05-19-2011 at 08:50 AM.
05-18-2011, 04:29 PM
#4
Picture of the wire routing (step #15 in the install manual):
On to the fuse box. This is step #16 & #17. On my car, I don't have BOSE so there was an empty slot that was perfect. Just take the yellow wire from the bundle and slip it into the back side of the fuse box. It already has a terminal pin on it so it just clicks into place and locks in. Install the provided 10 amp fuse after you hooked up the yellow wire. The yellow wire is considered pin #30 on a relay and it must be fused. (no that is not my cheezy white ground wire, the car had a dealer installed alarm and I had them take it out. They left the ground wire there. I think I remember removing it) See the next two pics:
If you have BOSE, good for you (or bad depending on how you look at it). You will probably just have to use a tap or one of those add a fuse fuse holder you can get.
Now we are at step #18 of the instruction manual, you need to mount the fog light relay. Just follow the illustration. I think I ended up using zipties here.
Ok now steps #19-24. You are going to have a lot of excess wire on this main fog light harness we have been working with. Remember this is for a RHD vehicle so the wires had to cross over to the other side but our is LHD so no need. You can cut the excess or just bundle them up neatly. That is what I did. If your still following the provided install manual, you can see them wanting you to remove the instrument cluster and insert the other RED wire coming off the fog light relay into one of the connectors. This is to have the rear fog light indicator light up in the instrument cluster whenever the rear fog light is on. I checked the wiring diagram and the pin slot is free, I even shined a light on the instrument cluster and you can see there is a spot and even the indicator on the existing cluster. So I went ahead and hooked this wire up, BUT it did not work! I think the LED is missing on the circuit board at least that is what it looked like to me. I didn't want to take the cluster apart just to check. Just so you know, my vehicle is a 2009 Touring Model. You may want to hook up this wire just to see if your cluster has the LED as it would be pretty cool if the indicator worked. If you don't hook this wire up, make sure you wrap this red wire up so as it does not touch anything and short out. This is a power wire lead (pin #87) and is the same circuit that goes directly to the rear fog light. Another option would be to cut it out completely from the fog light relay if your sure your not going to use it.
Step #25. Now your going to have to pull out one of the blanks switch panels from the dash. This is a hard part. They have a clip on the top and the bottom and you need to press them to be able to push the blank switch out from behind. You need to remove the middle dash panel (the one located below steering wheel) for access. Good luck! It's tough. You might have to unclip some wire harness bundles that are in the way. I removed the blank panel all the way to the right, it's the easiest to access.
Now we are going to work on the provided fog light switch short harness.
Step #26 Is for the combined DSC/Fog light switch. You didn't order this one right? So we are using the next step.
Step #27 (Ok my memory is a little fuzzy here so someone correct me if I'm wrong)
In the install guide, they are showing you connector A2. (The rear fog light switch connector is A1). If I recall correctly, there is no place to plug the A2 connector into our US wiring. So what I did was cut this connector off.
There are a total of four wires going into our switch. The black wire is ground (which we will hook up later). The blue wire is the "switch to ground". It completes the circuit to the black ground wire, which provides the ground for our fog light relay. This would be pin #86. The other two wires are for illumination. It is for the little light bulb in the switch that turns on whenever the parking lights are on. Again I couldnt find a connector to plug into so we are going to tap into the illumination wires at the DSC switch (right next to it). If you don't have DSC, you should be able to tap into the dimmer switch the next one over. (GO TO NEXT POST)
Here is a shot of the short harness that connects to the rear fog light switch:
On to the fuse box. This is step #16 & #17. On my car, I don't have BOSE so there was an empty slot that was perfect. Just take the yellow wire from the bundle and slip it into the back side of the fuse box. It already has a terminal pin on it so it just clicks into place and locks in. Install the provided 10 amp fuse after you hooked up the yellow wire. The yellow wire is considered pin #30 on a relay and it must be fused. (no that is not my cheezy white ground wire, the car had a dealer installed alarm and I had them take it out. They left the ground wire there. I think I remember removing it) See the next two pics:
If you have BOSE, good for you (or bad depending on how you look at it). You will probably just have to use a tap or one of those add a fuse fuse holder you can get.
Now we are at step #18 of the instruction manual, you need to mount the fog light relay. Just follow the illustration. I think I ended up using zipties here.
Ok now steps #19-24. You are going to have a lot of excess wire on this main fog light harness we have been working with. Remember this is for a RHD vehicle so the wires had to cross over to the other side but our is LHD so no need. You can cut the excess or just bundle them up neatly. That is what I did. If your still following the provided install manual, you can see them wanting you to remove the instrument cluster and insert the other RED wire coming off the fog light relay into one of the connectors. This is to have the rear fog light indicator light up in the instrument cluster whenever the rear fog light is on. I checked the wiring diagram and the pin slot is free, I even shined a light on the instrument cluster and you can see there is a spot and even the indicator on the existing cluster. So I went ahead and hooked this wire up, BUT it did not work! I think the LED is missing on the circuit board at least that is what it looked like to me. I didn't want to take the cluster apart just to check. Just so you know, my vehicle is a 2009 Touring Model. You may want to hook up this wire just to see if your cluster has the LED as it would be pretty cool if the indicator worked. If you don't hook this wire up, make sure you wrap this red wire up so as it does not touch anything and short out. This is a power wire lead (pin #87) and is the same circuit that goes directly to the rear fog light. Another option would be to cut it out completely from the fog light relay if your sure your not going to use it.
Step #25. Now your going to have to pull out one of the blanks switch panels from the dash. This is a hard part. They have a clip on the top and the bottom and you need to press them to be able to push the blank switch out from behind. You need to remove the middle dash panel (the one located below steering wheel) for access. Good luck! It's tough. You might have to unclip some wire harness bundles that are in the way. I removed the blank panel all the way to the right, it's the easiest to access.
Now we are going to work on the provided fog light switch short harness.
Step #26 Is for the combined DSC/Fog light switch. You didn't order this one right? So we are using the next step.
Step #27 (Ok my memory is a little fuzzy here so someone correct me if I'm wrong)
In the install guide, they are showing you connector A2. (The rear fog light switch connector is A1). If I recall correctly, there is no place to plug the A2 connector into our US wiring. So what I did was cut this connector off.
There are a total of four wires going into our switch. The black wire is ground (which we will hook up later). The blue wire is the "switch to ground". It completes the circuit to the black ground wire, which provides the ground for our fog light relay. This would be pin #86. The other two wires are for illumination. It is for the little light bulb in the switch that turns on whenever the parking lights are on. Again I couldnt find a connector to plug into so we are going to tap into the illumination wires at the DSC switch (right next to it). If you don't have DSC, you should be able to tap into the dimmer switch the next one over. (GO TO NEXT POST)
Here is a shot of the short harness that connects to the rear fog light switch:
Last edited by jrx13; 05-19-2011 at 11:25 AM.
05-18-2011, 04:43 PM
#5
To hook up the illumination wires, I used t-taps. Some people don't like these but due to unreliable connections, but this is just for the little bulb in the switch so no worries. Tap into the wires shown on your DSC switch harness. It's easier to disconnect the DSC harness and pull it out some so there is room to work.
Then back to the rear fog light switch harness, cut off the ends and crimp on your connectors to go into the t-taps.
So connect the t-taps & crimps together (polarity shouldn't matter, just a bulb circuit). Then recconect the DSC switch and feed your short fog light harness down through the opening.
Step #29-30. This is the point you want to connect the switch harness to the switch and install the provided rear fog light switch into the dash. But you'll need to make some modifications before doing so. Your going to notice that the supplied fog light switch is a "momentary on/off". Well that is not going to work since we won't be able to connect to the module that is listening & controlling the circuit. We are actually direct wiring it. When I first did my install, I disassembled the fog light switch and just took the spring out. It became a on/off switch. The only problem was you have to "pull" it to turn it off. I thought this would work (it worked while bench testing) but after installing the switch, you don't have enough room to "pull" it off. I thought about gluing a **** to help pull it out but came up with a better solution.
You can supply your own switch if you want but I'm going to show how I did it making it look as factory as possible a little later but for the writeup let's just say you did this already so go ahead and install the switch.
Step #26-#28 (2nd ones, must be a misprint in the guide)
Notice there are two wires that are supposed to go to the auto light/wiper module. On the US cars the pins are used for something else (can't remember what from when I did it) but it went for all models whether you have auto lights or not. So we are actually going to hook these two wire together in series. They are the blue wire coming off the rear fog light switch and the red/green wire coming from the rear fog light relay. All these wires are provided you just have to join them together, I used a "butt connector". Remember earlier, this wire provides the low current ground to activate the fog light relay.
Here's a picture:
Step #29
Hook up the last remaining wire, the black wire, to ground. (I can't remember exactly where I grounded it, and I can't seem to find the picture)
Now tie up all your wires neatly and securely. Reinstall all your interior trim pieces you took out and that should do it. There is a little sticker for your fuse panel but I didn't use it.
Remember if you did it this way so far, the lights have to be on before the rear fog light will come on!!!
Then back to the rear fog light switch harness, cut off the ends and crimp on your connectors to go into the t-taps.
So connect the t-taps & crimps together (polarity shouldn't matter, just a bulb circuit). Then recconect the DSC switch and feed your short fog light harness down through the opening.
Step #29-30. This is the point you want to connect the switch harness to the switch and install the provided rear fog light switch into the dash. But you'll need to make some modifications before doing so. Your going to notice that the supplied fog light switch is a "momentary on/off". Well that is not going to work since we won't be able to connect to the module that is listening & controlling the circuit. We are actually direct wiring it. When I first did my install, I disassembled the fog light switch and just took the spring out. It became a on/off switch. The only problem was you have to "pull" it to turn it off. I thought this would work (it worked while bench testing) but after installing the switch, you don't have enough room to "pull" it off. I thought about gluing a **** to help pull it out but came up with a better solution.
You can supply your own switch if you want but I'm going to show how I did it making it look as factory as possible a little later but for the writeup let's just say you did this already so go ahead and install the switch.
Step #26-#28 (2nd ones, must be a misprint in the guide)
Notice there are two wires that are supposed to go to the auto light/wiper module. On the US cars the pins are used for something else (can't remember what from when I did it) but it went for all models whether you have auto lights or not. So we are actually going to hook these two wire together in series. They are the blue wire coming off the rear fog light switch and the red/green wire coming from the rear fog light relay. All these wires are provided you just have to join them together, I used a "butt connector". Remember earlier, this wire provides the low current ground to activate the fog light relay.
Here's a picture:
Step #29
Hook up the last remaining wire, the black wire, to ground. (I can't remember exactly where I grounded it, and I can't seem to find the picture)
Now tie up all your wires neatly and securely. Reinstall all your interior trim pieces you took out and that should do it. There is a little sticker for your fuse panel but I didn't use it.
Remember if you did it this way so far, the lights have to be on before the rear fog light will come on!!!
Last edited by jrx13; 05-19-2011 at 10:49 AM.
05-18-2011, 08:05 PM
#6
Switch modification:
As stated earlier, the provided rear fog light switch is a momentary switch. You can take out the spring and glue a **** to it for zero cost or do what I did (after much research!)
First you need to get an MPV fog light switch. The part number is GE4T-66-4B0. They cost about $25. This is a push on/push off style switch. Perfect for what we need. Only drawback is the illumination is green. I heard you can get a Protege one and the illumination is orange for a higher cost. BUT DON"T WORRY!!! When I got the switch, I was hoping for plug & play but the circuit boards are different too. We have to swap the guts anyways so buy the cheaper MPV one, plus we get to keep our cool rear fog light button instead so win-win!
Ok just use a small screwdriver and your going to pry the little plastic tabs. The switch will just come apart. Hold it while doing it, because there are springs and tiny metal ***** that you need. We want to keep our black plastic cover and circuit board, but you want the housing from the MPV switch. You can kind of see the differences in the 1st picture.
The top switch is our original rear fog light switch. You can see I removed the main spring earlier to make it a push on/pull off. The other switch is the MPV switch taken apart, see how the housing has an extra plastic piece (with grease) to make the switch click on/click off. Also in the picture you can kind of see how the two springs and the two metal ***** go. The other ball/spring combo is under the main spring. You want to use your original rear fog light switch front panel with the spring and the ball under the spring swapped over. Make sure you get this ball and spring underneath, it's important. Then just assemble the switch with the RX-8 fog light circuit board. You now have an orange illuminated click on/click off rear fog light switch!
Circuit board differences
Front of switches differences. Rear fog light on left, MPV front fog light on right. Notice the pointing directions are different.
As stated earlier, the provided rear fog light switch is a momentary switch. You can take out the spring and glue a **** to it for zero cost or do what I did (after much research!)
First you need to get an MPV fog light switch. The part number is GE4T-66-4B0. They cost about $25. This is a push on/push off style switch. Perfect for what we need. Only drawback is the illumination is green. I heard you can get a Protege one and the illumination is orange for a higher cost. BUT DON"T WORRY!!! When I got the switch, I was hoping for plug & play but the circuit boards are different too. We have to swap the guts anyways so buy the cheaper MPV one, plus we get to keep our cool rear fog light button instead so win-win!
Ok just use a small screwdriver and your going to pry the little plastic tabs. The switch will just come apart. Hold it while doing it, because there are springs and tiny metal ***** that you need. We want to keep our black plastic cover and circuit board, but you want the housing from the MPV switch. You can kind of see the differences in the 1st picture.
The top switch is our original rear fog light switch. You can see I removed the main spring earlier to make it a push on/pull off. The other switch is the MPV switch taken apart, see how the housing has an extra plastic piece (with grease) to make the switch click on/click off. Also in the picture you can kind of see how the two springs and the two metal ***** go. The other ball/spring combo is under the main spring. You want to use your original rear fog light switch front panel with the spring and the ball under the spring swapped over. Make sure you get this ball and spring underneath, it's important. Then just assemble the switch with the RX-8 fog light circuit board. You now have an orange illuminated click on/click off rear fog light switch!
Circuit board differences
Front of switches differences. Rear fog light on left, MPV front fog light on right. Notice the pointing directions are different.
Last edited by jrx13; 05-19-2011 at 10:41 AM.
05-19-2011, 10:44 AM
#8
Ok I think I got everything! I swear this writeup took longer than actually installing the fog light!
@wazup shorty
I think Canada cars have the rear fog lights standard right? So you don't even need this write up!
Edit: Just saw some of your pics....I guess the fog light does not come standard so you DO need this write up!
@wazup shorty
I think Canada cars have the rear fog lights standard right? So you don't even need this write up!
Edit: Just saw some of your pics....I guess the fog light does not come standard so you DO need this write up!
Last edited by jrx13; 05-19-2011 at 11:28 AM.
05-19-2011, 09:23 PM
#9
RX8. Yeah, I get it.
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Blah...not even worth all that trouble. Wired mine straight up to rear tails and have never needed or wanted a button. Tails on....rotor fog lamp on. Good to go. But regardless, nice write up.
05-20-2011, 09:11 AM
#11
As for wiring to the tail lights, I covered that a little in the write up so if you want to do it that way, it's listed.
The wiring is not that hard, like I said, the write up took me longer than the actual install. It's only like maybe 5-6 wires really.
I like having the switch, it eliminates one of the cheezy blanks on the dash and even lights up and matches perfectly. The other advantage is when someone is tailgating me I can just turn it on and they always seem to back off or change lanes after that!
Also if a cop has an issue with it, I can say it is factory and there is the switch right there. Many European cars have a rear fog light standard btw.
08-12-2011, 12:27 PM
#14
Living is best Modified.
Do the rear fog lights come on with the fog lights for the front?
Im interested in this modification for the longest while - for both safty and well.. hell, the looks
Im interested in this modification for the longest while - for both safty and well.. hell, the looks
08-12-2011, 05:51 PM
#15
The price is listed in the first post. $367 shipped to California at time of purchase.
If you want the MPV switch, it is about another $25 from Mazda.
If you want to wire the rear fog light to the front front light switch, that would be pretty easy to do as well. It's up to you how you would like to do it as there are many possibilites. The way I did it is for using the supplied rear fog light switch that comes in the kit.
If you want the MPV switch, it is about another $25 from Mazda.
If you want to wire the rear fog light to the front front light switch, that would be pretty easy to do as well. It's up to you how you would like to do it as there are many possibilites. The way I did it is for using the supplied rear fog light switch that comes in the kit.
08-13-2011, 10:14 AM
#16
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OP, very nice Sir!
Sorry, I missed the posted cost I guess. Viewed on cell.
I'm thinking just wire it into the rear tails and call it a day. Anyone tirade an issue with drawing current off those circuts? I guess an inline fuse just in case a cop got frisky about it. Or just wire into the break light, maybe a flashing feature like an F1 car. Donno.
Sorry, I missed the posted cost I guess. Viewed on cell.
I'm thinking just wire it into the rear tails and call it a day. Anyone tirade an issue with drawing current off those circuts? I guess an inline fuse just in case a cop got frisky about it. Or just wire into the break light, maybe a flashing feature like an F1 car. Donno.
11-11-2011, 06:35 AM
#17
RX8 & RX7 owner
OP, very nice Sir!
Sorry, I missed the posted cost I guess. Viewed on cell.
I'm thinking just wire it into the rear tails and call it a day. Anyone tirade an issue with drawing current off those circuts? I guess an inline fuse just in case a cop got frisky about it. Or just wire into the break light, maybe a flashing feature like an F1 car. Donno.
Sorry, I missed the posted cost I guess. Viewed on cell.
I'm thinking just wire it into the rear tails and call it a day. Anyone tirade an issue with drawing current off those circuts? I guess an inline fuse just in case a cop got frisky about it. Or just wire into the break light, maybe a flashing feature like an F1 car. Donno.
) but I am still editing them) First, here is a video incase anyone asks what it looks like at night. Its a Decent Cell Video.We did the install straight to the brake lights running lights, and grounded it near the exhaust at an existing ground. Simple, but we decided to take off the whole bumper to prevent from scratching it, run the wires, and make it a lot easier that being stuck under the car.
Last edited by ZumnRx8; 11-11-2011 at 06:44 AM.
08-25-2012, 01:15 PM
#18
!!!UPDATE!!!!
So it's been like a year or so and the my rear fog light has been working just fine.
I thought it sure would be nice to have it dimly lit though and not full brightness. Just so I could have the rotor symbol light up but not blind every one behind me all the time like if I had the switch on everytime.
Well after some research, I got it done!
So this is how you convert your single filament bulb to a dual filament bulb.
The JDM rear fog light uses a W21W bulb also known as a 7440 bulb. It is 21watts in brightness, the same bulb used in the stock RX-8 third/center brake bulb. Great as a rear fog light or brake light, not so great to be on all the time, at least in my opinion.
What I did was convert it to a 7443 dual filament bulb and socket. The 7443 bulb is 6watts low, 21 watts high I believe.
So you need to get a 7443 socket, I bought them from ebay. Just do a search. I bought a pair in case I messed it up. You will need to modify it/shave some of it down because the ebay one is not a direct fit. I used a dremel but you can use a small file too. I tried to see if Mazda made a socket that would be a direct fit, the Series 2 RX8 of course have LED tails so no go there for me to look on mine but I did find that the Series 1 RX8 does indeed use 7443 bulbs in the brake/tail lights. Unfortunately I didn't have access to a S1 RX8 at the time and the ebay ones are like $5. If you want to try it, the part number for the S1 RX8 socket is G19S-51-3G7 I believe. The only thing is that part number only gets you the socket, you would still have to make terminals to wire it up. The ebay ones come with wires already attached.
So here's the picture of the rear fog light housing and what you have to make the ebay socket fit into.
And here's the picture of it shaved down - not the final but pretty darn close. Just take your time and keep trying to fit it in the housing and be able to turn to lock it in place. You'll get it eventually.
Then just hook up the three wires, I cut the two existing wires, the stock black was ground and I hooked that up to the green/yellow wire on the ebay 7443 socket. The stock red wire (which is hooked up to my relay/rear fog light switch on the dash) is hooked up to the red/blue. The third wire on the socket, is the black/white. I just ran another wire down from the trunk area and connected that one up. I tapped into the stock black/red wire on the left tail light. This is the parking light wire.
So now when I turn on the parking lights, the rear fog light will light up, but only the 6 watt filament.
Then if I hit the rear fog light switch on the dash, both filaments light up - but of course you only really see the 21watt filament - same as a regular brake/parking light.
So it's been like a year or so and the my rear fog light has been working just fine.
I thought it sure would be nice to have it dimly lit though and not full brightness. Just so I could have the rotor symbol light up but not blind every one behind me all the time like if I had the switch on everytime.
Well after some research, I got it done!
So this is how you convert your single filament bulb to a dual filament bulb.
The JDM rear fog light uses a W21W bulb also known as a 7440 bulb. It is 21watts in brightness, the same bulb used in the stock RX-8 third/center brake bulb. Great as a rear fog light or brake light, not so great to be on all the time, at least in my opinion.
What I did was convert it to a 7443 dual filament bulb and socket. The 7443 bulb is 6watts low, 21 watts high I believe.
So you need to get a 7443 socket, I bought them from ebay. Just do a search. I bought a pair in case I messed it up. You will need to modify it/shave some of it down because the ebay one is not a direct fit. I used a dremel but you can use a small file too. I tried to see if Mazda made a socket that would be a direct fit, the Series 2 RX8 of course have LED tails so no go there for me to look on mine but I did find that the Series 1 RX8 does indeed use 7443 bulbs in the brake/tail lights. Unfortunately I didn't have access to a S1 RX8 at the time and the ebay ones are like $5. If you want to try it, the part number for the S1 RX8 socket is G19S-51-3G7 I believe. The only thing is that part number only gets you the socket, you would still have to make terminals to wire it up. The ebay ones come with wires already attached.
So here's the picture of the rear fog light housing and what you have to make the ebay socket fit into.
And here's the picture of it shaved down - not the final but pretty darn close. Just take your time and keep trying to fit it in the housing and be able to turn to lock it in place. You'll get it eventually.
Then just hook up the three wires, I cut the two existing wires, the stock black was ground and I hooked that up to the green/yellow wire on the ebay 7443 socket. The stock red wire (which is hooked up to my relay/rear fog light switch on the dash) is hooked up to the red/blue. The third wire on the socket, is the black/white. I just ran another wire down from the trunk area and connected that one up. I tapped into the stock black/red wire on the left tail light. This is the parking light wire.
So now when I turn on the parking lights, the rear fog light will light up, but only the 6 watt filament.
Then if I hit the rear fog light switch on the dash, both filaments light up - but of course you only really see the 21watt filament - same as a regular brake/parking light.
Last edited by jrx13; 08-25-2012 at 09:41 PM.
11-09-2012, 09:42 PM
#23
