Uh oh... What's up with my fog lights?

[Dan in NZ]

The other day I got F/FOG LIGHT on the dash, checked the lights and both were working just fine. I unplugged the connectors, cleaned out the contacts with contact cleaner, left the soloution to dry, plugged them back in.... Now neither of the fog lights work at all. Still get the F/FOG LIGHT message on the dash. I've checked all the fuses, and they're all fine. I can't have possibly blown both bulbs at exactly the same time.

Does this mean my LKM shat the bed?

PS. I have the elipsoid fog lights, with the H1 bulbs.

[shogun]

Remove the housing and see if the relay inside is working.
On my E32 there is a plug under the front bumper going from drivers side to passenger side (LHD). Probably on your model too. Check the plug, could look like this one. It is also for the temperature sensor.
http://bmwe32.student.utwente.nl/johan/OBC_temp/connector-1.jpg

[Dan in NZ]

That plug was discontinued from 2/89 onwards, and the lights and temp sensor are just wired directly. Good suggestion though. How do I check if a relay is working?

[RobPatt]

on the left side...somehow the ground wire about 12 inches up from the lamp wore through and broke.... odd but true. A few checks and all was good once again. And my A/T has 132K on it and gets the crap driven out of it generally once per drive w/no ill effect apparent. Mobil 1 ATF full drain/fill every 20K w/filter. Cheers, -Rob.


The other day I got F/FOG LIGHT on the dash, checked the lights and both were working just fine. I unplugged the connectors, cleaned out the contacts with contact cleaner, left the soloution to dry, plugged them back in.... Now neither of the fog lights work at all. Still get the F/FOG LIGHT message on the dash. I've checked all the fuses, and they're all fine. I can't have possibly blown both bulbs at exactly the same time.

Does this mean my LKM shat the bed?

PS. I have the elipsoid fog lights, with the H1 bulbs.

[Dan in NZ]

on the left side...somehow the ground wire about 12 inches up from the lamp wore through and broke.... odd but true. A few checks and all was good once again. And my A/T has 132K on it and gets the crap driven out of it generally once per drive w/no ill effect apparent. Mobil 1 ATF full drain/fill every 20K w/filter. Cheers, -Rob.

Did that make one or both lights stop working??? I'm looking for something that would make both lights not work.

Interestingly I didn't get the dashboard warning today, until I turned on the lights... Previously I would get the warning every time I started the car or switched it off.

[shogun]

Dan,
the warning in the dashboard depends on the priority. You might get a warning when you turn the car off and/or when you start the car.
There are 3 priority steps. Some are always repeated, some not.
There is a lot mentioned in the owners manual.

Some weeks ago I had a similar prob. Wash water for window washer empty warning.
Refilled it, still the warning on. Waited 1-2 days and then it disappeared. Think there is a system behind it, that probably it delays the warning delete for a certain time or that engine has to be started several times w/o prob before it disappears.
Maybe there is also something about this in the owners manual.

Just for your info: there are 2 LKM's. Standard one is LKM-B (=Basic), which only checks the lights when they are on, and the other one is the LKM-L which has some additional features such as the gong for "light on?" when you remove the ignition key and open the door etc, and it also controls/checks the light bulbs when they are off.
(a kind of 'hot and cold' control)

[Dan in NZ]

Dan,
Just for your info: there are 2 LKM's. Standard one is LKM-B (=Basic), which only checks the lights when they are on, and the other one is the LKM-L which has some additional features such as the gong for "light on?" when you remove the ignition key and open the door etc, and it also controls/checks the light bulbs when they are off.
(a kind of 'hot and cold' control)

Well, I must have the LKM-L then. I think I get the warning because my lights don't work... I'm going to try to borrow a multimeter to see where I have +12v, continuity etc.

[Dan in NZ]

Solved! Turned out that one bulb was on it's way out, not completely blown, but worked some of the time... The other foglight was half-filled with water, which must have caused some problems too. So only needed to replace one bulb, and all is good again!

[Paul in NZ]

how is the cd player saga going??

[Dan in NZ]

how is the cd player saga going??


Haha! CD player is installed, and powered. Interface cable is in transit from USA. As soon as SD European gets back from holidays, I'll get them to send down the head unit and data cable. I'm sick of trying to find a cheap head unit, so just going to get the one from SD.

[Javier]

Dan, the drawing I posted for Ilya will work for you also. To take voltage measures at the LKM is very difficult if it is plugged. If you have voltage at both bulbs, the relay is OK, If you don’t, check the F7 fuse, if it is OK, remove the LKM and check continuity to ground from LKM pins 16 and 32, if none, your trouble is in the bulbs or the wiring to the bulbs or from the bulbs to ground (both share the same ground connection in 1990 so being both lamps I would check on the ground connection). If continuity to ground from pins 16 and 32 at the LKM is OK, then it is time to test continuity from F7 to pin 17 at LKM, if OK, test that you get 12 Vdc at pin 18 of LKM when you turn on Fog lamp switch, if not, check F3 and continuity from F3 to Pin 18 when switching on the fog lights, you may need some cleaning at the fog lamp switch contacts. If OK it is time to check your LKM relay. To test it, with the LKM removed and opened, apply 12 Vdc to pin 18 and ground to pin 24, you should energize the Fog lamp relay by doing so, if relay energizes, check proper continuity on the relay contacts, they may need some good contact cleaner, you could check also continuity on the paths from Pin 17 trough relay contacts to Pin 16 and from Pin 17 trough relay contacts to Pin 32. If relay does not energize, check continuity from pin 18 to pin 24, you may have an open coil on the relay. Pay special attention to the related solder points, they may be opened and needing some re-soldering.

[shogun]

just open the fuse box and have a look. This pic is from a '87 E32 735i EU version, so your's might be slighly different with the other relays, but you can see that this one has an LKM-L

http://shrubbery.student.utwente.nl/johan/e_box/fusebox_1987_735.jpg

Relay's: (from top left to bottom right)
1 Starter relay
2 OBC Horn
3 Terminal R?
4 Blowermotor
5 Windschield washer pump
6 Head and fog-light cleaning module
7 LKM Parking light
8 Aux defoger, aux coolantpump
9 Terminal 15
10 ABS Voltage relay


Modules: (from top to bottom)
Checkcontrol Unit
Light control module

[winfred]

same general layout on a e34 heres the only handy shot i have of mine, it's actually a 92 525 box and layout instead of a 90 535 (i installed a body harness and box out of a 92 525 when i rebuilt the car)
http://members.cox.net/wdixon27/washerrelay


just open the fuse box and have a look. This pic is from a '87 E32 735i EU version, so your's might be slighly different with the other relays, but you can see that this one has an LKM-L

http://shrubbery.student.utwente.nl/johan/e_box/fusebox_1987_735.jpg