Anytime Foglight mod explained electrical (diagrams)

I hope as many people use these as possible. They have made me lots of money over the years due to damaged and corroded wiring. More of an issue outside the vehicle than inside the vehicle but they are still bad news. They cut through the insulation AND the wire in many cases, causing a weak spot and an easy place for a failure.

I recently purchased a new trailer and almost declined the purchase when I found these items in the harness. Pure speed without durability taken into account. Soooooo many speaker issues, inop lights, no starts, security codes and the list goes on have been traced to these little gems. Go the extra mile, it is rarely crowded out there and your work will last.

Not trying to be mean, just sayin.

 

Has anyone done this and ran it to the tails or running light instead of them being tied in to the ignition? Just wondering which wire it might be so all I have to do is turn my switch one time to the running lights?

 

ShadowFalken is correct. Quicksplices are not ideal and can introduce electrical problems down the road.

Please see Please see jivewalker's method which does not require a splice!

Robert you can examine technical documentation and use another source for the relay. The ignition wire has worked well since at least 2007. Before that people were tapping into the emission circuit but people had issues with that.

It's kind of funny. People who used the emissions circuit had their fogs come for a minute or two about 5 hours after their trucks were off. Apparently their is logic which activates when the truck is off which attempts to detect fuel leaks or something similar. It's in your owners manual and you can read about it there.

If your so inclined try using some documentation to find an alternate circuit if you wish.

 

^^--- OK Thanks I wasnt sure if anyone had done it so I didnt have to start testing wires. Ill search other post as well.

 

Ok so I figured it out! Here is what I did!

I did a quick solder job instead of using connectors!
Now I can turn my headlight switch to the running lights/tails and my fog lights will turn on. They still work with the factory switch as well so if I dont want them on they can turn off! Everything seems to be working well.
NO SPLICING INTO THE IGNITION WIRE!

 

So you tapped into the trailer light relay. I assume you have the towing package, right?

Do you see the female spade just to the right of your upper solder tab? It is an empty relay socket that is not used. It should be wired into switched power. You can check it with a test light. You could then put a male spade on your wire and plug it in there.

What you did works and avoids cutting into a wire. I like how you routed it cleanly in the box. You can also use these........


http://order.waytekwire.com/productdetail2/M37/46045/ATO%20FUSE%20CIRCUIT%20TAP/

You never know what else you may want to add one day.

 

Kudos to you my friend!

You took pin 1 of the Fog relay and connected it to pin #3 of the Towing Tail Relay.

While your fogs will work anytime now... I don't think your tow lights will work if you connected your 7-pin connector to a trailer in that configuration.

You are proving a really good point though. All we're really trying to do is provide 12v to pin #1 of the fog relay.

ShadowFalken, Very interesting observation. If I have some time I'll try with a test light and see. I looked at a diagram where that female spade connector is and it looks like it may be hot all the way back to the fuseblock engine #2 wire for 1GR-FE engine. Take a look at this diagram if your interested.

I'm glad we're having this discussion because we'll come up with a better method. I never really liked tapping the ignition circuit, it always kind of bothered me--the risk does not equal the reward.

 

I have not checked mine Crom, but I will when I get back to the shop.

I did not have this MOD on my list because of how the Maryland inspection regs are written. If Fogs can come on with anything but low beams I am almost positive it is supposed to fail inspection and could get you an "equipment ticket" you have to take to an inspector. Dangit.

You may be right, it might be hot at all times. Worth a look though.

 

I just did the anytime fog mod this weekend. It's easier than it looks. Time to change the bulbs now !

 

Yeah damn knew there was something! Well I also know it works by puting the wire in with the relay without bending it and leaving it out. So I can do that. Im going to try and find the actual wire for the running lights that goes into the box and tap into that.

 

Okay, This post brings everything full circle for me. There is a good reason the ignition wire was used as a +12v source for this mod. Any other +12v source in the fuse box is ALWAYS HOT.

I believe if one of us tried to use any other +12v source in the fuse box, he/she would be able to run the fogs without the ignition on. This is fine--however most people will not want that because of the risk of accidentally forgetting to turn them off and draining the battery.

That was the whole reason someone came up with the idea of using the ignition wire. It's only hot when the keys are in the ignition and its in the "ON" position.

Here is an illustrated picture from a test I did this morning.

 

Didnt like the idea of bending the prong on my relay made up some wires pigtails what have you and oput male and female ends on them worked pretty good and tucked right under the fuse box cover!!

 

Well thats definitely a good idea but more messy and more work.....

 

yeah but its coverd up by the fuse box lid and alot easier to reverse if i ever trade it in ha i mean when my great grandson trades my truck in!!

 

Very creative BigA. It got the job done.

 

Thanks Crom <----- didnt know we had so many things we could put in our post

 

well just did this mod. and it was quick and pretty simple. it didnt work at first but then i realized i didnt crimp down the spilce tap connector enuff. thanks for the help and pics in the write up!!!!!! +1

 

Just finished up this mod. The pics were a great help and everything works perfectly. Thank you!

 

You're welcome!

Welcome to the forums! Glad you found everything so helpful.

 

http://mouser.org/projects/tacoma/foglights_mod/

Using an add-a-fuse is completely safe, cuts into no wiring, and, is the least work.