MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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3rd brake light as fog?MiataMark
@garra
Club Retro Rides Member 29
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Sept 30, 2014 6:51:49 GMT
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As far as the Mot goes, the 3rd/high level brake light isn't an obligatory brake light, so can be used for the fog light as it is indeed central. Whether it's legal is a different matter, as the Mot isn't checking that the vehicle complies with Constructions and Use regs As for testers failing high level brake lights for not working, thats just them not reading the fail criteria properly My Discovery has passed it's MOT with a non-working high level brake light (it's not the bulb, must be a wiring fault in the door), I thought the tester was doing me a favour as he said "I know you'll fix it" obviously when it goes in next year I can now say internet says not a failure point p.s. can you have 2 high level brake lights? on a MX-5 I was thinking of putting one on the roll bar for when the hood is down as it's much more visible.
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Last Edit: Sept 30, 2014 6:53:30 GMT by MiataMark
1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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Rich
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 6,237
Club RR Member Number: 160
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3rd brake light as fog?Rich
@foxmcintyre
Club Retro Rides Member 160
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Sept 30, 2014 7:24:52 GMT
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As far as the Mot goes, the 3rd/high level brake light isn't an obligatory brake light, so can be used for the fog light as it is indeed central. Whether it's legal is a different matter, as the Mot isn't checking that the vehicle complies with Constructions and Use regs As for testers failing high level brake lights for not working, thats just them not reading the fail criteria properly My Discovery has passed it's MOT with a non-working high level brake light (it's not the bulb, must be a wiring fault in the door), I thought the tester was doing me a favour as he said "I know you'll fix it" obviously when it goes in next year I can now say internet says not a failure point p.s. can you have 2 high level brake lights? on a MX-5 I was thinking of putting one on the roll bar for when the hood is down as it's much more visible. You can have as many as you want. I'd just repair the door loom mind. Not exactly hard. Wires will have snapped where the loom goes from door to body. People are looking for high level brake lamps more than they are cluster lamps. I often fear that not having a functioning high level increases other's reaction time..
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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3rd brake light as fog?MiataMark
@garra
Club Retro Rides Member 29
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Sept 30, 2014 8:23:45 GMT
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My Discovery has passed it's MOT with a non-working high level brake light (it's not the bulb, must be a wiring fault in the door), I thought the tester was doing me a favour as he said "I know you'll fix it" obviously when it goes in next year I can now say internet says not a failure point p.s. can you have 2 high level brake lights? on a MX-5 I was thinking of putting one on the roll bar for when the hood is down as it's much more visible. You can have as many as you want. I'd just repair the door loom mind. Not exactly hard. Wires will have snapped where the loom goes from door to body. People are looking for high level brake lamps more than they are cluster lamps. I often fear that not having a functioning high level increases other's reaction time.. Sorry talking about 2 cars, yes I'll repair the door loom on the Discivery eventually*. The p.s. was regarding an additional brake light on a MX-5 fitted to the roll bar. Thanks for the info though, very usefull. * The trouble with this is project creep if I start looking at the rear door I'll start thinking about changing the panel, moving the speakers etc etc.
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,101
Club RR Member Number: 64
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3rd brake light as fog?glenanderson
@glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member 64
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Sept 30, 2014 8:59:17 GMT
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"Project creep"
PMSL ;-)
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My worst worry about dying is my wife selling my stuff for what I told her it cost...
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3rd brake light as fog?fr€$h&m1nt¥
@freshandminty
Club Retro Rides Member 99
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Sept 30, 2014 9:03:19 GMT
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The only restriction against the height of the rear fog is that the transport laws state that it should be less than 1 metre above ground but ideally under the bumper.
Oddly although it's a Transport law it's not tested as part of the MOT.
I guess even the roof of an MX5 is below 1 metre high though.
So below 1 metre and central or to the offside but I agree within the offside rear cluster is the neatest.
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glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 4,101
Club RR Member Number: 64
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3rd brake light as fog?glenanderson
@glenanderson
Club Retro Rides Member 64
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Sept 30, 2014 9:16:58 GMT
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...but ideally under the bumper... That's the bit that I'd be focusing on. The offside reverse light position looks good to me, otherwise maybe something frenched in to the bumper?
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My worst worry about dying is my wife selling my stuff for what I told her it cost...
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MiataMark
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,961
Club RR Member Number: 29
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3rd brake light as fog?MiataMark
@garra
Club Retro Rides Member 29
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Sept 30, 2014 9:53:59 GMT
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1990 Mazda MX-52012 BMW 118i (170bhp) - white appliance 2011 Land Rover Freelander 2 TD4 2003 Land Rover Discovery II TD52007 Alfa Romeo 159 Sportwagon JTDm
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ferny
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 983
Club RR Member Number: 13
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3rd brake light as fog?ferny
@ferny
Club Retro Rides Member 13
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Sept 30, 2014 12:56:39 GMT
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I thought all cars built after a certain date were required to have a high level brake light within X distance of the rear window? If so, then it'd surely be part of the MOT test?
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Sept 30, 2014 14:30:57 GMT
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this is the way to do a mx5---- technically illegal as its not the correct distance away from another light/coloured lens.... but nobody i know has been failed for it. buy a high watt red led bulb off ebay for 3 quid and rewire it to the foglight switch job done.
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Sept 30, 2014 17:38:00 GMT
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I have the third brake light wired up as a fog light on my 5 (Eunos Roadster) and have had it like this for over 5 years now with no issues (it was already like that when I bought it). However, I've also got it working as a brake light too. I've simply used a diode to wire it in, so that in 'normal' use, all 3 light up when braking (centers and side clusters). However, when I put my rear fog light on, just the central brake light comes on and my brake lights in the clusters continue to work as expected for braking.
Technically this isn't in line with the lighting regulations as the center light shouldn't be dual purpose and should be an MOT fail, but I have a little switch wired in which disables the center 'brake' light function, making it just a fog light for the MOT which has always passed without a problem. The way I figure it, I get the best of both - three brake lights for everyday driving and a very neat fog-light solution for the very occasional day when it's foggy!
[EDIT] Oh, and the UK version of the MX5 of the same age as mine (1991) didn't have a third brake light in the boot lid - just the brake lights in the rear clusters, so it can't have been a legal requirement to have a high-level brake light at that time, although may have come in later.
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Last Edit: Sept 30, 2014 17:54:01 GMT by Ben Harris
1997 Subaru Impreza Turbo 2000 1991 Eunos Roadster
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mk2cossie
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 2,948
Club RR Member Number: 77
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3rd brake light as fog?mk2cossie
@mk2cossie
Club Retro Rides Member 77
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I thought all cars built after a certain date were required to have a high level brake light within X distance of the rear window? If so, then it'd surely be part of the MOT test? If you read the page in the inspection manual posted earlier on, it does state all lights fitted must be tested. However, it clearly says lower down the same column that the obligatory lights are those fitted to the nearside and offside. No mention of high level, or central ones And as I said on page1, mot and legal requirements don't go hand in hand, let alone tally up in most cases :/
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