The more I read the happier I am I am not living in Maryland, my sympathies and prayers go to you. :confused:


[Modified by Shark ssn591, 5:29 PM 11/7/2001]

 

doesn't the fact that you can manually turn them off account for anything?
I would point it out to the inspector that you can turn it off with the switch.
Besides the fog lights on my car don't actually burn bright enough to light up anything
in our fog.

 

My wife thinks I'm nuts...I just ran out into the garage in my bare feet to check this out. Conclusion...My fog lights on my '87 DO NOT go out when my high beams are on :chevy So you tell those guys that Bob said they are full of old bull shoes :p:

Bob

 

Eric, This sounds like a crock of poopie to me. The state can't force you to retro-actively alter the operation of your car to meet a legal requirement that was not in effect when your car was manufactured.

My 1985 passed Maryland inspection in 1999 without any problems. You can always take your car to another inspector who understands the inspection laws.

 

THANK GOD I LIVE IN FLORIDA!!!!!!
MY FOG LIGHTS STAY ON WITH MY LIGHT ON HIGH OR LOW BEAM.
TRY TURNING THEM OFF MANUALLY WHEN FLIPPING ON THE HIGH BEAMS SEE IF YOU CAN TRICK HIM. GOOD LUCK

 

A bit more info:

I checked the manuals (that I have);
the HAYNES is garbage & the Chiltons has a decent diagram, but shows no differences from 84-89 & just like you said, doesn't show the fog light / highbeam interaction.

So I did an experiment to see:

Fog switch on Headlights off : FOG off
Fog switch on Headlights (low beam) or running on : FOG ON
Fog switch on Headlights (HI beam) : FOG off
Fog switch on Headlights (low beam) on, disconnected left (drivers headlight): FOG on
Fog switch on Headlights (low beam or high beam) on, disconnected right (passenger headlight): FOG OFF

this experiment indicates on my '88 the fog lights are grounded thru high beam of the passenger headlight wiring. As you know looking @ the prints there is no way to tell this.
Good luck w/ the inspector.

:rolleyes:





[Modified by Shark ssn591, 12:55 AM 11/9/2001]

 

My fog lamps in my '87 stay ON when the high beams are on.

Really though, why don't you just disconnect the bulbs, go have your inspection done (maybe somewhere else this time), re-connect the bulbs and be done with it?? :confused:

If you tell them "The fog lamps are not functioning" then you're not lying, you're just stating fact. If this were some sort of problem like damaged suspension or something that would actually make the car dangerous, I can see why you wouldn't want to just band-aid it for the inspection...but it's not. It's little fog lamps that aren't good for anything but looking cool anyway :)

:seeya

 

My 85 is the same, Fog Lamps stay on whether high beam or low beam! Only time they go off is when I flip the switch.

 

Good luck Eric. Be sure to let us know how it turns out! ~Juliet

 

Thanks, everyone,

I fought the dealership and the dealership won.

I called Chevrolet customer service and explained the situation. I got a call back in the afternoon. The rep said she talked to someone about it and he said that according to the owners manual, the fog lamp operation appears to be independent of the high beam operation. I told her that I had the owners manual. I asked if she could send me something via e-mail or fax which I could take to the dealership. She said that she couldn't do that. I asked if I could speak with the person she was quoting. She said no I couldn't.

I called the State police. The trooper I talked to said he would call the dealership and call me back. He seemed to be siding with me. That changed after he talked to the inspector. He called me back and said that it's a federal law that you can't have more than four lamps on at the same time. He said that the dealership had called GM and GM had faxed detailed schematics that proved that my car met this federal regulation. If I wished, could go and view the drawings at the dealership. He said that I wouldn't be able to get an inspection certificate anywhere in MD until I fixed the problem.

Later that day I took the car to another inspector down the road and it passed. The fog lamps weren't even mentioned! I got my tag the same day.

 

I'd go to the dealership and just point out that you went somewhere that new how it really worked. :yesnod:

 

I think that at this point the issue has become a personal one for the inspector at the dealership. He knows he made a mistake but his pride won't let him admit it. If I did as you suggest, I wouldn't be suprised if he called the state police and "snitched" on the inspector who passed my car!

 

Eric - Thanks for the follow-up.... BUT that is so LAME!!! I'm glad you got your car passed though. :cool: I can't imagine that GM was allowed to sell cars in violation of a law in place at the time! Did they ever give you a straight answer as to when that regulation went into place? Maybe if we all call GM customer service we can get them to release something official or something. :eek:

This brings up some interesting questions for future NCRS judging too.... ;) I wonder about the earlier C4 fog lights - how do they work? ~Juliet