Lost my fog and running lights!!

TexasChris · 04-19-2018, 01:41 PM

On my last trip home I noticed that my fog light switch was no longer illuminated while turned on. When I got home I saw that my fog lights were not on and I lost power to some of my running lights too.

As you can see in the picture I still have my tail lights, rear clearance light, back and middle side markers.

I have lost power to my fog lights, front side markers, amber lights on the head light assembly, and front clearance lights.

My headlights still work, they are off for the picture.

What could be causing this? Where should I start looking?

bubbles · 04-20-2018, 07:02 AM

I think you need the ignition and running lights to be on for the fog lights to work. This sounds like a running light issue and not a fog light issue (I think fog light power comes from the BCC). Have you checked the fuse panel by the left side of the brake pedal? I don't know if there is a relay control or not.

TexasChris · 04-20-2018, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bubbles

I think you need the ignition and running lights to be on for the fog lights to work. This sounds like a running light issue and not a fog light issue (I think fog light power comes from the BCC). Have you checked the fuse panel by the left side of the brake pedal? I don't know if there is a relay control or not.

The coach is running in this picture with the running lights on. The front half and the fog lights do not have power though.

I will check that fuse panel.

jfp2673 · 04-20-2018, 03:29 PM

There is also another fuse panel under the hood. Check both fuse panels it could be in either location.

Brother Les · 04-20-2018, 03:42 PM

You blew a fuse.

Oaklevel · 04-20-2018, 04:02 PM

1st thought is a fuse. Possibly a relay but check fuses 1st.

Good Luck !

twoclaws · 04-21-2018, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfp2673

There is also another fuse panel under the hood. Check both fuse panels it could be in either location.

I think there maybe 2 fuse locations Uber the hood and one inside under dash
Under hood one area maybe against the firewall the other is in a black box that is more easily accessible than firewall

camaraderie · 04-21-2018, 06:25 PM

Looks like there is a firewall fuse panel and relay panel and another fuse on to the left of the brake pedal on the firewall inside. Here's a bunch of possibilities to help you zero in on the right fuse.
Ford F-53 F53 Motorhome Chassis (2015) â€“ fuse box diagram | Auto Genius

May be some changes in 2017 but likely not to the standard fuse locations.

TexasChris · 04-24-2018, 04:02 PM

I checked all the fuses in the panel at the back of the coach, the panel under the dash by the brake pedal, and the fuse panel under the hood. All the fuses were good.

I took fog light switch out and replaced it, but that did nothing because there is no power going into the switch.

While the front side markers and the amber lights on the headlights do not illuminate, they do come on for the turn signals.

I talked to the Forest River tech support today and he told me that there is another panel in the house battery compartment. I will be checking those tonight.

bubbles · 04-24-2018, 07:03 PM

That would be the battery control center (BCC) box.

jfp2673 · 04-24-2018, 08:45 PM

If you don't find a fuse blown check all the ground straps under the hood. Many people including myself have had grounds come loose and cause lights to go out. I believe someone on here lost their headlights due to a faulty ground strap near the power brake booster

TexasChris · 04-24-2018, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jfp2673

If you don't find a fuse blown check all the ground straps under the hood. Many people including myself have had grounds come loose and cause lights to go out. I believe someone on here lost their headlights due to a faulty ground strap near the power brake booster

Interesting, I will check that out tomorrow.

I did check the fuses in the house battery compartment and they were all good. Does anyone know if the lighting system goes through a relay, if so that may be bad. Or if one bulb goes out does it prevent the others from coming on?

TexasChris · 05-01-2018, 04:38 PM

My dad and I worked on my lighting problem for 6 hours this past Sunday and finally solved the problem. First we looked at some of the fuse panels again and verified the fuses were good and the relays were working. After that we started in the rear of the coach since the lights in the back were working and not the front we traced everything forward.

Along the way we did clean up some of the grounds that were loose or did not have a clean connection. Once we were all the way up front we removed all the front bulbs and checked that they were good and they had solid power connections.

We continued to trace the four miles of wire under the hood and we found the problem. There was a crimp connector in the lighting power wire that was not longer passing the power through to the lights. I cut that out and soldered a new wire bypass in place. AND THE LIGHTS CAME ON!!!!

But in testing everything I noticed I now lost the turn signals. I went back to the area with the bad crimp connector because there were more wires crimped too. I found that the turn signal wire was in that same bundle and after testing I realized moving the wires around a little caused another crimp connector to fail, so I replaced that one and the turn signals functioned again.

I am going to go back and replace the remaining 10 or so connectors. I think whoever was on the production line at that time was having a bad day and not putting their best effort in the install.

Iggy · 05-02-2018, 03:30 PM

Can you take a picture of the location of the group of wires to show others?
Is it the bundle in the engine compartment on the vertical support drivers side like the picture of mine?
Just under the two horns?

Thanks
John

TexasChris · 05-04-2018, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iggy

Can you take a picture of the location of the group of wires to show others?
Is it the bundle in the engine compartment on the vertical support drivers side like the picture of mine?
Just under the two horns?

Thanks
John

Yes, that is the wiring harness. The crimp connects were about 12" down from the labels and were cover in split loom. It is a tight space to get into, but I highly recommend this project of replacing all the crimps as good preventative maintenance.

Also, it could be my imagination but it seems that my fog and headlights are now brighter. It was just a very poor conductive connection before.

TexasChris · 05-04-2018, 10:47 AM

Picture would not load on my previous reply.

Iggy · 05-05-2018, 11:42 AM

I need to take a closer look at that bundle of wires.
If they are a bunch of grounds all together and lead to that one wire and screw to the frame I can see issues and as you said a bad or dirty splice can show up and cause many weird problems.
Thanks for verifying.
Iggy

bubbles · 05-05-2018, 03:55 PM

On my 378 that ground is not a common ground termination for multi grounds.

TexasChris · 05-07-2018, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iggy

I need to take a closer look at that bundle of wires.
If they are a bunch of grounds all together and lead to that one wire and screw to the frame I can see issues and as you said a bad or dirty splice can show up and cause many weird problems.
Thanks for verifying.
Iggy

That bundle is power wires, not grounds.

Beards79 · 05-10-2018, 10:30 PM

Had a similar problem with our 2012, the front turn signals wouldn’t work with the headlights on.. the problem was inside that same group of wires. The guy who installed the connectors went overkill with the heat gun while melting the shrink tube and melted all the connectors together causing a short I replaced all them and the problem was fixed. That group of wires has been the source of many people’s lighting problems!

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