Rear Fog Lights

So has anyone installed LED or other tail lights that have rear fogs?

Is it worth going through the extra coding and the different switch?

Do they work like normal fog's?

on the JSW its only the driver side tail light that has the rear fog. its the only one ive seen so far. id prefer to have both tail lights have teh rear fogs

I should be taking delivery of my Golf TDI in the next few days. I'll be ordering the LED tail lamps with the rear fog light.

A rear fog is basically just a bright red tail lamp on one side for drivers approaching from the rear to be able to see you. I think it's designed only to be on one side so it isn't confused with brake lights.

I don't know how they are set up on VWs but usually they can be operated independently from front fog lights.

I'll try and take some pictures during the install and coding process.

Please do keep us posted. I'm hoping to get some LED tails soon and would like the rear fog option if it's not too much of a headache.

My understanding it there will need to be additional wiring involved from the ECU back. I'm not 100% sure but I belive i've read that for the Mk5 and the Mk6 isn't that much different.

I'd love if it was just add another bulb for my 2010 and call good. As maybe I'd really need them 2-3 times a year they are nice to have. But I think there is too much involved to make it worth it for me.

I could be wrong.

I had an idea of converting the two rear bumper reflectors to LED Rear Fogs. I had a rear fog on my Passat and loved it. I don't love the idea of loosing a back-up light in the process however. I have researched the crap out of it and think it is doable until I took out the reflector on the right side as it is accessible from behind.....I thought I would just need to cut the bumper out behind the reflector but the reflector is mounted to a very sturdy piece of doubly curved ABS plastic. Now that isn't the end of the world but I would have to cut out the centre portion to the ABS which measures 5 1/4" x 3/8" without damaging the reflector part (I think an impossible task).....if it is melted/glued together then I have a real problem..... I think I need an additional reflector as a test piece.....and this is where I am in my current project....it would be an independant circuit and I would have a separate switch and not a Euro switch...I would also likely activate the icon in the instrument cluster as I did in the Passat....

Many other vehicles have the very thin lights in their bumpers and use them such as a Mazda3 modification that I have seen...

maybe you can drill 3-4 holes behind the reflector and put the leds there like you said. just mount the leds to the bumper. how do those reflectors come out?

dpg said:

maybe you can drill 3-4 holes behind the reflector and put the leds there like you said. just mount the leds to the bumper. how do those reflectors come out?

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Yeah that is the easy part but like I said the reflector is adhered to a thick formed piece of solid ABS...getting through that either with a drill or drremel w/o damaging the reflector is the trick.....and from what I said I think impossible.....

To remove them you need to get behind them....for the passenger side remove the access cover for the tie-down bolt, and look into the cavity and you'll see two red nibs.....get your hand in there and squeeze the two pressure clips for each of the two connection points together and push the reflector outward....try to do them together if possible....

Thanks i'll try to take a look today after work

Ok let me know your thoughts....I was all excited thinking about this mod and sourcing the LEDs and switch etc....and then I took out the reflector...damn! I think I would wreck the reflector by trying to cut into the backing.....should have taken a pic when I had it out....

can you drill holes with the reflector out? i guess thats the part im not understanding, sorry if im not getting it. haha

dpg said:

can you drill holes with the reflector out? i guess thats the part im not understanding, sorry if im not getting it. haha

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Oh you'll get it when you look at it tonight The thin reflector about 1mm thick is glued or melted onto the 3-5mm thick red ABS plastic backing and clips which give the reflector a rigid back up support and I see NO way for these two pieces to come apart....I do believe they were manufactured together...the only way to really know is to by another one and wreck it....I don't really want to waste $20-$30 buying a new one....why don't you try drilling yours first please! Drilling out the bumper is the easy part....

ahhhh i gotya. hmmm this will be tricky. but i'll take a look

740GLE said:

My understanding it there will need to be additional wiring involved from the ECU back. I'm not 100% sure but I belive i've read that for the Mk5 and the Mk6 isn't that much different.

I'd love if it was just add another bulb for my 2010 and call good. As maybe I'd really need them 2-3 times a year they are nice to have. But I think there is too much involved to make it worth it for me.

I could be wrong.

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From what I know you need to have the EU switch, code changes, and wiring changes.

I didn't know it was only on one side

rbjones21 said:

From what I know you need to have the EU switch, code changes, and wiring changes.

I didn't know it was only on one side

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yep, correct. you need to add a trigger wire i believe

dpg said:

ahhhh i gotya. hmmm this will be tricky. but i'll take a look

Click to expand...

Did you get a chance to look?

I just added a rear fog to my 2010 JSW. The short version of the changes is:

Trigger wire from pin 7 on the headlight switch to pin A17 (the black connector) on the CECM

Move the driver's reverse power wire from pin A28 (the black connector) to pin C47 (the gold connector) on the CECM.

Change byte 18 in module 9 from 00 to 02.

Swap the driver's side taillight for one with a rear fog.

The downside for DRL fans is that it looks like VW doubled up on some pins. There's already a wire in C47 and in the default configuration it powers the passenger side DRL. So, unless someone comes up with a better way: rear fog == no DRL

Edit: The above is not true. The code change moves the right DRL to pin A28. Moving the wire that came from C47 to A28 restores the passenger DRL.

I pieced this together from detective work done by Dana from Ross-Tech, maloosheck, and some guys on a German forum. And I learned all my German watching Hogan's Heroes, so proceed at your own risk.

Nice job! How long did it take you? And do you need to run a new wire from the switch to the rear of the vehicle?

It took a couple of hours.

Most of that was spent contorted in the driver's footwell doing the wire connections and moves. I also did some prep-work for a front fog light install, so someone who had the proper tool to remove the wiring pins from the shells, or someone that knew what they were doing could probably do it a lot faster.

The rear fog in the Jetta's takes the place of the driver's reverse light, so you don't have to run a new wire, but you do have to move the CECM end of the driver's side reverse light wire from pin A28 to pin C47

Thanks aenea. When I did it on my Passat I also had spent about 45 minutes to get the aluminum pin out of the molex connector to illuminate the cluster icon and in the end I broke the plastic and it came out. I think they're impossible to get out once they're in....barbs pop out....

Pardon my ignorance but what does CECM stand for?

So in the end you needed to purchase the Euro switch and the new rear lens so you were in for about $275 plus your time...?

Do you notice not having two back up lights?

Dave

CECM = Central Electronic Control Module maybe? It's the controller that contols a lot of the electrical things, including the lighting. It's located above the driver's footwell.

The cost is about right, although the switch was purchased for front fogs, the rear was just a bonus

It hasn't gotten dark here yet, so I can't comment on one reverse light.

aenea said:

CECM = Central Electronic Control Module maybe? It's the controller that contols a lot of the electrical things, including the lighting. It's located above the driver's footwell.

The cost is about right, although the switch was purchased for front fogs, the rear was just a bonus

It hasn't gotten dark here yet, so I can't comment on one reverse light.

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Since I see you are here too I figure I can ask lol. So its cool that you got it working, but I have a question regarding the housing. the 2010's have tinted tail lights compared to the 2009's, do yours match or did you have to order a special one? I see OEMplus has the light and so does ECS but I want to make sure it matches my darker lights. Thanks, Justin.

I got mine from oemplus a few months ago, before ECS starting offering one. It's tinted and matches the passenger light perfectly.

I'm pretty sure they are the same tinted lights they were selling for the 2009's.

vw_leadfoot said:

Did you get a chance to look?

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Hey sorry for the late response, busy past couple of days. I did take a look and it looks like there is room to drill and make it through, there isn't much, but its there. I think if you're careful on drilling it can be done.

so, any comments on the reverse light? Could you take pics of the fog at night? just curious as to how it looks. Thanks

I bought the extra reflector and will try to dremel it out to check if my mod idea is achievable.

One question on the rear fog light is how is it different than the original lens? Could you not just put a red high intensity bulb in the reverse light position and do the wiring? Or is the reflector inside the RF spot colored red? Is the lens clear or red?

Best picture I could get at night. You can also see the cut-off from the front fogs against the barn. The fog is brighter than the rear lights, but it's lensed so it's focused a bit. Standing outside the car, looking down at it, it looks a bit brighter, but if you are coming at it from behind at ride height it's a lot brighter.




The one reverse light thing isn't bothering me. It's still throwing plenty of light back there.

Tweak3D said:

so, any comments on the reverse light? Could you take pics of the fog at night? just curious as to how it looks. Thanks

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The non-fog tail doesn't have a lens in the reverse light position. The rear fog tail has a clear bulb with a red lens, and then a clear lens, so when the bulb is off it looks clear-ish. I don't think there's any reason you couldn't put a red bulb in a normal tail.

The light pattern would probably be more annoying to someone behind you, but that is sort of the point.

Edited to add a picture of the lens

http://www.aenea.org/jsw/rear-fog-close.jpg

vw_leadfoot said:

I bought the extra reflector and will try to dremel it out to check if my mod idea is achievable.

One question on the rear fog light is how is it different than the original lens? Could you not just put a red high intensity bulb in the reverse light position and do the wiring? Or is the reflector inside the RF spot colored red? Is the lens clear or red?

Click to expand...

Thanks for the answers....

Thanks, looks good. I have my front and rear fogs on order with a euro switch. Order a highline CECM in the next week or so. Thanks for all your hard work.