On the road again, now with running lights!

After my last fiasco with perforated header pipes making Dante sound like the motor from hell, I took him back to my garage guy for a fix. He re soldered them in a simple fix (of course having to drop the motor) and all is back to normal again. Well, mondial kind of normal, as he says my muffler will not last much longer but will likely make it until winter.

While there, I had him redo the work from last time where I had asked him to make my fog lights into running lights. I started a thread on this a couple months ago when the push button fog light switch on my 85 QV stopped working. Many on fchat were surprised, including me at the high price of a replacement switch because they were only on QVs.

So I had him install a toggle switch just under the dash to the left of the steering column. He took the wires from the old (now dummy) push button and attached them to the toggle. The intent was to allow me to use my fog lights as running lights. Normally you can only use fog lights when the main head lights are up and on. I wanted to avoid having the main lights popped up which also kind of negates the idea of having simple running lights.

When I got it back the last time, he had wired them through the parking lights. I had to have the parking lights on before I could flip the toggle switch to add the fog lights. Well, that also kind of negated the idea of simple running lights because now the fog and parking lights were on at the same time. Another problem had arisen as it was overloading the line with the parking lights and when I used the horn, it would blow the fuse.

And it had one other unintended consequence. Parking lights are on when you are parked...with the ignition off. Meaning, the first time I forgot that the fog lights (and parking lights) were on after stopping at a garage sale with my wife, of course, I ran down the battery.

When I got in and the car would not start, I first took my wrench guys name in vain. I had just got it back from the second effort at solving my starting problem and was assured all was well. Then I thought of calling him even though it was a sunday afternoon (he made the mistake of giving me his cell number). P kept me calm as I worked out which tow service I would call and how would we get home. So talking through that took a few minutes and I tried again. This time, there was a bit of movement heard from the motor. I looked down and saw the faint blue lights signifying the parking and fog lights had been on, draining the battery. It was me, the idiot.

Turning them off and waiting another 10 minutes or so, allowed the battery to regain enough charge that it started and we made it home. It was actually a minimal swat on the head with a 2X4 to remind me to turn them off in the future. When I had to take Dante back in for the exhaust header fix, we talked about how I would really like to have just the fog lights on alone.

This time, he has wired them directly through a relay. They only can be switched on, when the ignition is on. So no more unintended draining of the battery. I can actually just forget about the switch and they come on and go off with the engine, just like "real" running lights.

When I asked him how he had done it he looked at me and smiled and said "Professional secret." So sorry guys, I have no clue exactly what he did.

But of course, one thing fixed, another thing happens. After a lovely long drive the 60 kilometers through hills and valleys and countryside from the garage, I stopped for a fresh baguette at my favorite boulangerie. You guessed it. It took 5 turns of the key to start! Sigh...

I now have an appointment with the Bosch automotive electric garage in Perigueux to have them install the selenoid relay that has been on recent posts. The guy did not know the part specifically, but he knew well the problem and how to fix it.

Another day with Dante.

Here is a pic of Dante with his new found running lights.
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