2010 Prius OEM-quality Fog Light Kit Now Available!

I've also been wondering how these lights are holding up over time. I want to pull the trigger on this mod, but not if the lights are going to need to be replaced.

 

Ok... so I've been trying to figure out what is up with my fogs.

I noticed one day they something didn't seem right the sides of the road didn't seem to be illuminated (fogs weren't working). So I pressed the fog light switch multiple times and on the one press the fogs did a quick flash and then when out. Checked EVERY fuse and all was good. So I thought it was the relay went bad.

Ordered a new relay (thinking that was the problem) installed and still nothing. I know the fogs work b/c if i take the relay out and put a jumper wire from the HOT (red from the fuse box under the hood) to the blue w/ red stripe wires (the HOT to the fogs) they come on. Great! So I know the fogs work.

So I'm looking at the switch and it lights up and all that fun stuff and seems to be functioning fine. So how would i test the switch in the cabin to see if that is working right? If it is the switch.. where can i get a replacement?

Is there a way i could test the relay as well and make it "click" when it gets juice? It's getting me so frustrated! LOL

And yes I have checked the ground in the cabin and the one under the hood.

Any suggestions would be great!

 

bartelby19320,

If you have a voltmeter you can check the relay by checking the wiring in the back of the relay plug connector.

• The white wire is the 12V from the fog light switch in the dashboard. With the fog light switch off you should have 0V on the white wire. With the headlight switch on park or headlights and the fog light switch on, you should see 12V between the white wire and ground. If so, the switch is OK. If not, check the switch.
• If you have 12V on the white wire, the relay should be energized. You should be able to hear the relay click if you have someone operate the switch for you. If the relay is working correctly, you should now have 12V on the blue/red wires. If you have 12V on the blue/red wires then the fog lights should be on. If not, then check the wiring between the relay and the fog lights.
• If you have 12V on the white wire but not on the blue/red wires, then check the red wire and make sure you have 12V on the red wire. If not, check the inline fuse and then the connection to the fuse block. This red wire is the 12V power wire to the fog lights and gets switched to the blue/red wires when the relay operates.
• If you have 12V on both the red wire and the white wire but not on the blue/red wire then either the relay is bad or check your black wires for a solid ground connection. You should see 12V between the red and white wires and the black wires and close to zero resistance from black wire to ground.

Hope this helps.

Dwight

 

I'll have to snag the meter from my neighbor as I don't have one just lying around and will post my results I really appreciate the time you took to laydown some process of figuring out what is going on. I REALLY don't want to put the blanks back in .

I'll post my results very soon

 

I hope you get this thing figured out. But if you don't, in the meantime, why not just leave in your non-working fog lights instead of putting the blanks back in. I think non-working fog lights look better than the blanks.

If you read back on this thread, you'll see that some people put in the fog lights also for asthetic purposes, and will take the benefits when they need to be used. I live in Los Angeles and I very rarely get any fog or have any use for the fog lights. But they sure do look nicer.

Good luck on getting this fixed.

Mike

 

I want to order this, but why is the post say $109.99 and when i click $114.99??
How can I order this for 109.99? And is it Free Shipping with 109.99? Please let me know

 

Is the price include tax ans shipping?

 

Danny, don't know what's going on exactly but I keep burning through bulbs on the left fog lamp. Like 3 bulbs in maybe 3 months....I can't believe shotty bulbs would be that consistently bad in just that lamp when the car is using similar bulbs elsewhere (low beams, other fog).


Any ideas?

 

In one of the earlier messages someone said they ran the wire through the door harness instead of the firewall because it was easier. Has anyone else done that? I'm going to try to install mine this weekend. Thanks!

 

Just an update on my install on my 2011.....

- The fusebox connection in the instructions is different in an '11, my fusebox had the indicated space filled. I had to go to the extreme back left of the fusebox and plugged the red wire connector on the lower tab prong next to the battery jumper terminal.

- Ground connection bolt on firewall area worked great, but too much work and didn't want to drop a bolt down in the innards trying to install relay. I just tie wrapped it tightly to a wiring harness.

- The evil brown wire in the harness, spent 30 minutes trying to track down the right wire on the computer as there were two brown wires. On my car the first 'brown' wire you see in the front of the harness is a tan wire, a 'light' brown. This is not the wire! (on the '11) Pull apart the harness a bit and you will see a nice chocolate brown wire.

- You can save a lot of time if you can have another person on hand standing over the engine compartment for a couple of minutes while you poke the hole in the grommet. It is easy to poke at a slight angle and come out the side of the rubber nipple into the engine compartment. With back and forth clambering under the dash to double check poke is no fun.

Have a coathanger or sharp small awl, a small phillips, and another phillips screwdriver about the size of the plastic tubing and some soap handy. Poke the coathanger through just to make a hole, have other person confirm. Then coat the next size screwdriver with soap or armorall etc. and poke that through. Confirm, then largest. Then curve the coathanger and put it through again with confirmation. This can be done in a couple of minutes vs. going back and forth double checking and wedging yourself under the dash. I did miss the hole with the hanger once by myself. A total pia.

- Also a couple of 1 /14" plastic putty knives help a great deal popping up/off plastic door sill and other pieces. Kick panels were a bear to pull off.

- There is plenty of wiring in the harness, tie wrap will gusto. I just laid the wiring harness on top along the center of the plastic bumper directly under the radiator, tie wrapped on either side. Nothing else up there to tie to in the middle and figured it was protected enough.

- Applied 20 mil Lamin-x day before installation, very easy to put on, I wrapped it around sides about 1/8" and needed to cut some wedges out so it would stay down and not buckle on the sides.

- Rhino Ramps rule!

 

This is interesting because on my 2010, it was the tan wire. I had the same issue you had with the chocolate brown wire and light brown wire. I posted a lot on this thread about this issue. Cloud, one of the people here, gave me a lot of help and told me it was the light brown wire, and I'm sure he was right. My fog lights work fine, so on the 2010, it's the light brown wire. Apparently, on the 2011, it's the chocolate brown wire?

I guess you didn't have any problems with the connector for the red and brown wire. That was my downfall.

Mike

 

With the chocolate brown wire the fog dash light indeed comes on only when you turn on the parking/regular lights, so possibly it is either wire. I wish now I had taken a chance on the light tan wire instead as it was right in front and had lots of slack to play with, the dark brown was a bear to pull out enough to clamp on.

Will all the 'brown' instructions and posts I didn't want to take a chance on 'tan'. It's definitely not what I would call 'brown', much more a pale tan on mine. Heads up to future foggie installers.

 

I am getting ready to install my new fog lights. Got them this week. I am understanding that they don't turn off when the high beams are on? this is a violation in California. What is the procedure to wire them to the high beam circuit to have them off automatically when the highs are on? I am not an electrician, so if someone has an easy diagram or writtne process I would be very grateful.

 

When installing on the 2010, if you follow the instructions, the fog lights will turn off when you turn on the high beams. At least that's how mine work (especially because I also live in California).

Mike

 

Are you sure about that? If so, are the CA cars wired differently from the rest of the US?

After installing the OEM fog light kit, my fog lights will stay on with high beams. They will stay on with either parking lights, low beams or high beams.

I know others on here have come back with questions of how to rewire the system to turn off with high beams.

 

Now I gotta go back and check.

Whoa. My bad.

California's law is:
24405. (a) Not more than four lamps of the following types showing
to the front of a vehicle may be lighted at any one time:
(1) Headlamps.
(2) Auxiliary driving or passing lamps.
(3) Fog lamps.
(4) Warning lamps.
(5) Spot lamps.
(6) Gaseous discharge lamps specified in Section 25258.
(b) For the purpose of this section each pair of a dual headlamp
system shall be considered as one lamp.
(c) Subdivision (a) does not apply to any authorized emergency
vehicle.

The Prius only has 2 headlamps. Add the 2 fog lamps. You have 4 lamps. Now I remember why I wasn't breaking the law. Sorry for the mis-statement. So, using the fog lamps with the high beams is legal in California.

Mike

 

My fog lights are installed, and work. (took a little more effort than I originally planned). The fogs come on with the headlights and stay on with the high beams, giving me 6 lights (highs and lows are on at the same time when using the highbeams). Does the high with low count as only one headlight?

I may at some point mess with the wiring to find a combination that lets me use them as DRLs. The grommet into the firewall was easy enough. I ended up soldering my connections. 18ga wire is too small for the connectors - they kept wiggling loose.
I found a tan wire and a flesh colored wire. I didn't see any dark brown wire (wasn't really looking for it). After the fogs were done I fished the switched power wire for my gentex auto dim mirror with compass and homeline down the front pillar and wired the compass and auto dim to the flesh colored wire. The unswitched power wire is wired to the vanity light above the passenger's visor. All works well.
Thanks for the great information to help me get this done.

 

Can you give me some insight on the method you used to attach the laminate? I've read this entire thread and tried the search function with no results. I will attempt to do the install myself and want to get it right the first time. Thanks, Dave

 

Anyone have the part # for the switch that was used in the kit? Or know of a compatible one where it looks like its a factory switch. I asked the seller and haven't heard anything back as of yet. Any help greatly appreciated!