drahpla Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 Hi All, first post, so be gentle! I recently picked up a newly imported mk2 Alphard 3.5. It had been MOT'd without a rear fog light. The importer says he has a 'temporary fog light' which he fits for MOTs and then removes, but that seems fishy to me. Anyway, the long and short of it is that I need to install one. I've ordered the right switch for the dash, but I'm looking for handy hints regarding the lights. What method has the most ease of fitting, least cutting/drilling (preferably none!) etc. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rojie Posted December 23, 2021 Share Posted December 23, 2021 Hello, Welcome to the Forum. One common way of fitting the fog lights is to replace the rear reflectors with rear fog units freely available on the Internet. The supplier of my vehicle took this approach. The fishy bit, as you put it; is that the vehicle now has no rear reflectors ! As Starider has pointed out to us all, having no rear reflectors is an MOT fail. So how did my vehicle pass the MOT ? Either it had reflectors or rear fog lights, but never both. Or the MOT station was fishy. Starider fitted mudflaps and added reflectors to those. There is info on the DVLA website which is very clear. What am I going to do ? Think about it some more. Mudflaps looks the most likely candidate so far as the reflectors must be securely mounted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nov Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 Oh WOW... this is definitely not legit for uk. If importer was responsible for van registration in uk he should sort this out for you properly without a question. In 20 series you can have rear light activated via momentary switch. Have a look on the Chris.ac video in the below post For the rear fog light itself you can use rear light as in below pictures (left=normal lights on, right=fog light on) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rojie Posted December 24, 2021 Share Posted December 24, 2021 Hello Nov, This is really helpful, and I have not even read, or understood, it fully yet. Chris.ac is also ace at digging out info. My dealer is 200 miles away, has my money, so I don't think I have much choice than sort it out myself. The lights he has fitted are brake lights, which do perform nicely as rear fogs, but I no longer have any reflectors. Without wishing to scare lots of folks, arguably, it gets worse; as the sellers of these rear fog/ brake units (some of whom) have sold hundreds (according to ebay)) advertise them as reflectors. They aren't. I have yet to find one that is AND fits a Gen 1 Alphard. I have written to several ebay sellers, so far, requesting clarity. Most didn't reply ! One did, I specifically requested him to test them with a torch ! I don't wish to name him, but he did, and came back to me admitting there are not reflective. Good for him. Honesty. I will be checking his listing to see if he manages to remove 'reflector' from the description. It is true that all these lights from several vendors may not be the same, but, they are remarkable similar. So i will read and understand your tip, and try to implement it. I have to take the tail gate cover off anyhow, as I need to provide internal access to my tail gate lock in case it fails. With a rear conversion I cannot allow myself to be locked out from the rear door where the gas bottle is. Oh what fun it is to ride in an Alphard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.ac Posted December 25, 2021 Share Posted December 25, 2021 Yes, Rojie - im dubious now of the reflector replacements I bought, and may go for a dual white/red led bulb in both reverse lamp holders instead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drahpla Posted December 26, 2021 Author Share Posted December 26, 2021 I only just noticed these replies, sorry. Other forums I'm on email you when there's a reply to a thread, but not this one, unless I've missed a setting or something. Anyway, on my Alphard, what appear to be reflectors in the rear bumper are actually LED lights (maybe they are both reflectors and lights???), so they are already wired for power, but I would say that they are not sufficiently bright to be a foglight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rojie Posted December 26, 2021 Share Posted December 26, 2021 30 minutes ago, drahpla said: I only just noticed these replies, sorry. Other forums I'm on email you when there's a reply to a thread, but not this one, unless I've missed a setting or something. Anyway, on my Alphard, what appear to be reflectors in the rear bumper are actually LED lights (maybe they are both reflectors and lights???), so they are already wired for power, but I would say that they are not sufficiently bright to be a foglight. Try shining a torch on your rear bumper 'reflectors'. My guess is, if they are powered, they are not reflectors. If so, join the group of us trying to find an aesthetically pleasing solution ! This Forum will email you if you follow the thread. Select Follow at the top right of the page. It will also send you a copy if you answer someone, or they answer you, by using the quote function. I don't believe there is a brightness for fog lights anymore, About the same brightness as brake lights appears to be OK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 On 12/23/2021 at 11:47 AM, drahpla said: It had been MOT'd without a rear fog light same here, no doubt through a back street garage in Birmingham! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drahpla Posted April 6, 2022 Author Share Posted April 6, 2022 The closer I look at my car, the more sure that I am that it never passed a genuine MOT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 if you got it from a dealer around the Midlands, then you may well be correct as I'm thinking; my trader's name was called 'Honest Trade DXXXXX' and he was wholly dishonest, rude, and a madman! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphard Club Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 on mine it was fitted in one of the the reverse lights and used a red LED bulb, completely seamless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 53 minutes ago, Alphard Club said: on mine it was fitted in one of the the reverse lights and used a red LED bulb, completely seamless will certainly see if my AE can do this now, as I had the switch delivered today; thanks for the tip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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