How-To

[Teribus]

As we all know, when they produced the MK5b and the MK6 Escorts, Ford gave them two fog lights on the tailgate. However, Ford only wired in one of them on most models, and some of us want two of them. This is something i knew i was gonna do as soon as i bought the car, as it always bugged me why a car with 2 fog lights only ever had one working. it just didn't look right.

 

Here's a how-to guide for you getting a second fog light. The task isn't difficult, and really, most of you should be able to carry it out. if you're not keen on the idea, i guess you could find a mate who has knowledge of sparky work

 

Basically, what you need is:

 

Parts: Fog light bulb holder (with bulb of course), the correct wiring plug to go onto the bulb holder, about 12-18 inches of new red wire and some male & female spade connectors (the wire & connectors should be available in most car part shops).

 

Tools: Philips screwdriver, 8mm socket & ratchet, side cutters, wire strippers & crimpers

 

To get the bulb holder, my recommendation is to take your sidecutters and 8mm ratchet & socket to your local scrapyard. find a MK5b/MK6 Escort, and nab the light from there.

 

At the Scrappy

 

To do this, what you need to do is locate the wiring for the fog light on a scrap car, remove the bolt at the earth point to disconnect the earth wire(the ring connector on there is used to earth the light later), then follow the grey and yellow (positive) wire to it's connector which is clipped to the boot frame. Snip the wire as close to the connector as possible, so you've plenty wire to play with.

 

*put the lot in your pocket and walk out, tell them you couldn't find what you were looking for * (optional ).

 

I do understand that this isn't all that simple for all of you. Some of you don't have a scrapyard nearby, and some of you have scrapyards that won't let you go look around the cars.

 

You could also go to a Ford dealer and ask for the required parts, however, they could be expensive, knowing Ford!

 

on your own car

 

When you get home, remove the black plastic cover on the inside of your tailgate.

 

 

The first job to do is to remove the left hand fog light assembly from the boot. This is only held in by an 8mm nut (it could actually be 10mm, I can't really remember). once the unit is out, remove the little metal blanking plate (just twist it a few times and it'll break). Check your bulb holder will fit. If it does, replace the fog light unit. (I found it difficult to get my hands in with the fog light in place so that's why i removed it)

 

Find the wiring for your right hand fog light. follow it (away from the bulb holder) and you'll find the connector clipped to the boot frame. Unclip the connector here and pull the wiring out so you can work with it. Snip the grey & yellow wire, far enough away from the connector so that you've got enough to work with, but not too far away (you'll notice a felt-type insulator over the wires about 3 inches from the connector. Cut a bit of new red wire and bare the ends of it. Bare the ends of your grey & yellow wire, and then twist one end of the red wire with one end of the grey & yellow one. Put a male spade connector on there. Put a female spade connector on the other end of the grey & yellow wire (the idea is that you've snipped the wire, you'll need to reconnect it. but while you're at it, you're also connecting another wire too). Run the red wire across the innards of your boot to the left hand side of the car. On the other end of the red wire, fit a female spade connector.

 

Bare the grey & yellow wire of your new fog light and fit a male spade connector. Then connect it all together, and use the earth bolt for the rear wiper motor as your earth point for the left hand fog light (hence why you keep the ring connector that's already there). see picture below. The black wire is the earth for your wiper motor, the brown is the earth for your new fog light.

 

If you don't have an earth point there, either drill a hole and use a self-tapping screw as an earth, or lengthen the wire and use the same earth point as the right hand fog light.

 

Turn on your ignition and your sidelights, and put the rear fogs on. Check they're both working, switch it all off and replace the black plastic panel.

 

The job isn't too difficult to do, so long as you've got the right tools (i.e wire strippers and crimping pliers). it only took me about 10-15 minutes to do and the end result is that in the fog, your car actually looks symmetrical. That plus the fact that if you ever go abroad, you don't have to worry that your fog light is on the wrong side of the car.

 

Here's how it looks when it's finished:

 

 

Have fun, and try not to electricute yourself!

 

-T

[P3TER]

I've been meaning to do that for a while. You've just put the idea back in my head

[sortedford]

add it to the site then

[Teribus]

Ian, you know how people have their choice mods on the EscortEVOlution website, how can i add mine? y'know, like Matt's interior light etc...

 

-T