Hi All :wave: ,

here's the solution to connecting up the o/s rear fog lamp (I think this should be placed in the FAQ but don't know how to do it).

It's easy to do and shouldn't really talk anymore than 10mins max.

What you need:

cable/wire suitable for fog lamps - 4ft is plenty (I'm being generous)

cable/wire splitter connector - connector to tap off from one wire

spade connector - to fit approx 3-4 mm spade

soldering iron and solder - optional if you don't want to use connectors

pliers and cable/wire crimpers - to cut and strip wire and crimp connectors

What to do:

Remove both tail lamps bulb holders.

The n/s lamp should have a fully populated connector block going into the lamp. You should see each wire connection numbered from 1 - 6. number6 connection on my RS was the live connection (brown).

The o/s lamp connector is also numbered 1-6 but number 4 is empty.

Tap-off number4 wire on the n/s lamp using the tap-off connector. Connect one end of the fog lamp cable/wire to the tap-off connector ( ).

Alternatively the connector block has a flip down flap. Open this up and expose the block connections. Solder one end of the cable/wire to number4 connector. Remember to snap shut the flap once finished.

Run the cable/wire behind the rear panel plastic moudling (to be neat and professional).

Remove the connector block from the o/s bulb holder. Feed the other (unconnected) end of the cable/wire through the empty number4 connection of the the o/s connector.

Crimp on the spade connector onto the unconnected end of the cable/wire. Ensure that there is enough clearance around the spade connector to allow the connector block to sit properly back on the bulb holder.

Alternatively solder the cable/wire to the number4 connection on the o/s bulb holder.

Put connector block back on lamp.

Without putting bulb holders back test fog lamps. If all ok put everything back in their correct place.

Well this is how I did it anyway.

Hopefully the description is clear enough. If not feel free to mail me directly or post it here.

Cheers.

Adrian

NOTE: All safety aspects of this are down to you as are blowing any fuses/bulbs or any breakages. :thumb:

Do you not have to make a hole in the n/s lamp to take the bulb or is that already there ?

I seem to remember looking at doing that and noticing that I would have to hole the lamp assembly so didn't bother.

No holes required, although mine is a '02 model; may be it's different for '01 year model.

All bulbs are present and correct. The rear driving light and fog lamp are incorprated within the same bulb (bottom most one in the bulb holder).

Just to clarify (as I'm not too sure myself ):

n/s - driver side

o/s - passenger side

Hope this helps.

Cheers.

Adrian.

Erm... :oops:

What size/type of cable would be suitable so as not to blow everything. Although if it was the wrong one only the fog lap fuse would blow.

Is SkodiRS's car UK spec? My foglight is a separate bulb. The top bulb is the combined rear/brake light, the second (orange) the indicator light, the third (clear) the reversing light and the bottom (clear) the foglight.

On the 2002 4x4 Estate the NS foglight is blanked off, ie you will need to cut a circular hole in the rear light assembly. I used a modelling knife and gradually pared the plastic away after making a hole in the middle of the moulding. The bits which fall into the lens assembly will need to be hoovered out. The female bayonet plug which connects onto the bulb holder also appears to be different to that described by SkodiRS. I tried but was unable to use a small spade terminal to make a connection. In the end I went to my local auto electrical shop who supplied me with a 'Junior power timer terminal (female)' which is what Skoda use to terminate cables into the bayonet plug. All you have to do is crimp the cable to the timer terminal and then push it into bayonet plug where it locks into place. Quick and very easy to do. The other end of cable needs to be spliced into the grey/white cable connected to terminal 4 of the OS bayonet plug.

But before doing that the wire needs feeding from one side of the car to the other, and that is not as straightforward on the Estate as the Hatchback - at least not if you want to do it properly. Having removed the plastic trim running across the lower rear of the boot area, I fed a curtain wire back along the path of the wiring loom just inside the boot until it appeared through a hole in the well below the NS light cluster. The foglight wire conveniently screwed into the end of the curtain wire and I was able to pull it back through the hole. On the OS I pushed the wire along the path of the loom and pulled it through below the light. Bingo. All that was left was to connect the new wire to the grey/white wire using a snap-lock automotive cable connector. I used 8 amp single (1.00mm

My 01 RS is something like. Top = Brake light, Indictator , Reverse , Bottom = combined Fog/Tail. I may have reverse and indicator the wrong way round as they are both clear (indicator has orange bulb)

Surely bottom can't be combined fog/tail, because this should mean that if you've only got one foglight then you've also only got one tail light. Or is there even more to RSs than I thought??? :roll:

Hi Guys,

sorry for the tardy reply.

On my RS at least (and it is a 52 reg '02 UK car, honest Guv!) the bottom bulb in the holder is a double filament. One for normal driving lights the other is the fog lamp.

The bulb layout is as described by Manny.

The connection5 on either side is for the driving lights. Connection6 is live. Connection4 is only present for the right side. The remaining connections tie up for the brake, indicator and reverse.

Connection4 of left side is the only connection missing. A quick test using some wire confirmed that connection4 is for the fog lamp circuit.

Just thinking about it I think I may have got my o/s and n/s mixed up (?) :oops: Left and right from now on.

The left rear lamp already had the bulb in place so no cutting of holes. So it was just a case of making the right connection.

Denis is right about the type of connector to use; I used my owned patented type; modified spade connector :lol: . I'll either get the correct one suggested by Dennis or get the old soldering iron out.

I've got the correct torx bit to undo the screws holding down the plastic trim on the rear panel to make it neat and tidy.

So I from my experience it took me only 10 minutes. It helps if you have all the right bits, tools etc and don't have to cut out bits of the rear lamp which I imagine took the most time.

Baaheed did ask the same thing about cutting a hole and he does have a RS so, I wondered if it was anything to do with the year model.

GAFF; I can't remember the exact rating of the wire but it was specced for fog lamps. I think it was 8amp rated.....I'll post the rating tomorrow; the wire's in the car and it's bl**dy freezing outside at the moment.

Dennis: your 4x4 is the estate right? The lenses are different but you'd expect the bulb holder to be the same. From what you say though I assume that they're not. I seem to remember in the fog that's my memory that my Octavia estate also had the left hand fog blanked off. May be it's an estate thing as opposed to an RS, 4x4 thing? The estate was a 2000 year model.

Anyway, whatever bulb arrangement everyone has there are now two solutions to connecting up the left side rear fog lamp. If you've got a blanked off left fog lamp it'll take you around an hour due to making the hole if not, then it'll take you about 10 minutes.

Either way, sorted! :thumb:

Cheers.

Adrian.

Adrian,

Many thanks for the update. Hopefully all the alternatives have now been covered! The 8 amp wire I used to link the 2 foglights is rated for 96W, but only has to handle 21W. It looked thicker than the existing wiring to the light clusters, so the only query is whether the existing feed to the factory fitted foglight can cope with 42W rather than 21W. I'm not going to lose any sleep over that.

We have a fair bit of fog each year in this country. Given that having 2 rear foglights makes the car easier to see from the rear, provides an indication of the width of the car, and gives inbuilt redundancy in the event that one bulb blows, I would thoroughly recommend that everyone carry out this simple mod. (Sorry about the length of that sentence but I did shorten it). But do buy the right connector for the terminal block to save time and effort.

Estate v Hatchback - viva la difference!

Hi All,

just for reference the cable I used was from Halfords:

8 Amp Cable:

- sutiable applications include

- brake and hazard lights

- rear fog lights

- electric windonw

max watts at 12v = 105W

Cheers.

Adrian.

Wow, they've managed to squeeze another 9W out of the cable (in a manner of speaking) since I bought mine from them!

I have done this mod today, have been unable to source the correct spade terminal for the connector block, so I simply stripped about 10mm of wirre, fed it into the connector block, and then pushed the block back onto the light unit. The wire has got jammed against the contact on the light unit, so job done !

Going to do this for a mate on his BMW320 tonight - although that will involve hole cutting a la Estate version.

I understand the German Logic for the use of only one rear foglight...

They don't resemble brake lights!!!!

Ability to judge width is irelervant from the rear so why are two bright red lights

used as fogs that can obscure the brake lights..???

Ta

Dazz

I think i might have a dabble at this while i'm off for :xmas: (Dec 19 to Jan 5 for those of you who have to work :p)

1 rear fog-light is a bit pathetic, considering the additional cost to wire up the second is negligible.

Ability to judge width is irelervant from the rear so why are two bright red lights

used as fogs that can obscure the brake lights..???

I suspect the reason is purely cosmetic

Good to see a thread from last year put to use though.

What IS the correct connector for the block, and where the heck can i find one.

Halfords and Maplin both failed me.

Jono

I suspect the reason is purely cosmetic

Not at all :nono:

Anything that gives the nuggets behind me (particularly those in "Superchipped" Octy's :wave: ) a couple of seconds extra notice of my presence in fog has to be good, methinks

I may be Superchumped you smug so and so but there's nothing wrong with the brakes!

I may be Superchumped you smug so and so but there's nothing wrong with the brakes!

I understand the German Logic for the use of only one rear foglight...

They don't resemble brake lights!!!!

Ability to judge width is irelervant from the rear so why are two bright red lights

used as fogs that can obscure the brake lights..???

Ta

Dazz

I take your point, but IMHO 2 fogs are better than one, plus in the Octy the brake lights are much higher up than the tail / fogs, and there are three of them.

Plus I'm a bit neurotic about the car being "un-symmetrical"

As for re-cycling the thread, I just wanted to point out that the job can be done satisfactorily without a spade connector, no doubt there are lots of people who have joined since the original post (like me) who will now get the benefit as we move into the winter weather.

Anyone fancy digging up the "Octavia Bass Tip" again :speaker: