84 Fog Lights

[Thomas F.]

The fog lights on my 84 Corvette will only operate if the headlights are on. Is this normal? If so it seems this defeats the purpose of the fog lights. Any information is appreciated.

[Mark E.]

Re: 84 Fog Lights

The owner's manual probably covers this.

For 1987 and 1990 (the two C4s I've owned), fog lights can be turned on only if the parking lights or headlamps are switched on. However, fog lights won't work if the high beams are on. I suspect other C4 model years are designed to operate the same, but I'm not certain.

So for 1987 and 1990, it's possible to have the parking and fog lights on with the headlamp off. With that said, fog lights are more effective when used with the low beam headlamps on. What you mean by "this defeats the purpose of the fog lights"?

[Thomas F.]

Re: 84 Fog Lights

I was under the impression that fog lights would work better if the headlights were not on. Just like the low beams work better in the fog than the high beams. I'm talking about real dense fog when you need to travel real slow and carefully. I have actually seen fog so bad one time I had to have my buddy walking out in front of my car to make sure we were still on the road. Naturally we were going really slow and there was no other traffic on the road. We were out late one night and had to cross the ridge to get back home. Good thing we did not have to go very far to get out of this really bad fog. Thanks Mark for the information. I will see what my owners manual says about this.

[Richard S.]

Re: 84 Fog Lights

This reminds me of a traffic citation I received in 1984. According to the police officer it was illegal to operate a vehicle with 6 lights aimed at on coming traffic. I argued that GM would not have built a Corvette if it was equipped with illegal lights-I lost the argument.

[Mark E.]

Re: 84 Fog Lights

I was under the impression that fog lights would work better if the headlights were not on. Just like the low beams work better in the fog than the high beams. I'm talking about real dense fog when you need to travel real slow and carefully. I have actually seen fog so bad one time I had to have my buddy walking out in front of my car to make sure we were still on the road. Naturally we were going really slow and there was no other traffic on the road. We were out late one night and had to cross the ridge to get back home. Good thing we did not have to go very far to get out of this really bad fog. Thanks Mark for the information. I will see what my owners manual says about this.

Good luck Thomas; I hope it's a simple repair or a matter of understanding how the lights are designed to operate. And be sure to stay off the road if it gets that foggy again.