ELECTRICAL: fog lights only turn on when the turn signal is on

[saab1995conv]

Hi -

On my 1999 9-3, I have a little problem with the front fog lights.

Here is what I see:

1. The Front fog light light switch does not stick into place. Regardless of how it is pushed it does not light up the lights.
Note: by changing around a few pieces I tried using the rear switch on the front lights, it made no difference.

2. The when signal blinker is on, the fog light on that side turns on.

Very odd - any ideas?

Thanks.

[dend008]

i hav same problem on my 2000 9-3

[Jeremy R.]

There are a few possibilities.

The first is that your fog lights may just be burned out. For the first couple of years of the 9-3, there were two bulbs in each fog light housing. There's the H1 fog light bulb, and also a small cornering bulb that lights up when the blinkers go on. If the fog light's burned out and the cornering bulb still works, you'd have exactly the problem you're describing.

It's also possible that you have a fog light switch problem if it won't click into place. The rear fog light switch is momentary. It pops right back out when it's pushed, but the front fog light switch should click in and stay in when pushed. They do that so you don't drive around with your rear fog lights on all the time.

The third possibility is that your headlights aren't turned on. The fog lights won't work with the headlights off, and they won't work with the high beams on.

[busaboy]

Ditto on the headlights (or parking lights, in my case) needing to be on in order to turn on the fog lights. I had the settings on my car changed so I only need to turn on parking lights to use the fogs. Fogs with headlights aren't much use, except as a fashion statement!!