FOG LIGHTS ANYTIME THE SIMPLEST WAY

I'm not sure I even have a fog light indicator in the cluster. I will have to check on that.

 

So....Literally all you have to do is switch the position of those two wires??

 

That's pretty much it. There are alternatives though. The wires could be spliced together or a jumper could be used to connect them. I don't have heated seats, but the relay socket that would be used for them has wires in it. Some trucks don't have the wires in the socket so another method must be used. All you really have to do is get +12 volts to one side of the fog light relay. Some people do this by tapping into another circuit (which is already fused) and adding an inline fuse. I think it's a bit silly to add a fuse to a circuit that is already fused.

 

Roger That!

 

I wanted to do this today only to find out I couldn't.

 

If you have a jewelers screwdriver you can try to first push the wire into the connector with your fingers, then try to use the screwdriver to compress the tiny tab that holds the terminal in the connector. It's a real pain in the ass at first but wiggle the screwdriver around a bit while trying to pull the wire out.

As an alternative, you could always cut both wires and leave enough length to strip and crimp a male and female spade connector on each wire. After you do that you can easily connect one wire to the other and even put things back to the way they were without having to pull the terminals out again.

 

Looking to do this with my 2014 soon. I believe I have the same setup with the factory fogs. One question, any issues or lack of power when running both fogs and the AC inverter? Don't know if one might take away from the other. My understanding of volts and power needed is pretty slim.

 

No issues running both the inverter and the fogs at the same time - but I understand why you'd ask!

To be clear what we are doing here is just looking for the correct control voltage to tap for the fog relay coil - that's the low current side of the relay that draws almost zero power. The actual power for the fogs and the AC inverter come from the other side of the relay, the high current switched side which is the side we aren't touching or changing anything about.

As configured by Toyota the fog relay control voltage usually only comes on when your headlights are on. That's how they make sure you can only turn on the fogs if the headlights are on too. The fogs aren't powered by that control voltage at all, they have a nearly direct connection to the battery through the switch side of the relay. The control voltage just provides a tiny amount of current to turn on the relay switch so that it will pass the much larger current from the battery to the fogs. Same story with the AC inverter relay.

The AC inverter relay control voltage is only present with the ignition on which is what most people want for their fogs - to turn off when the ignition is off so they don't accidentally leave them on and drain their battery. Again this control voltage doesn't actually power the AC inverter or the fogs it just provides a tiny bit of current to turn on the AC inverter relay switch. It could provide vastly more current if we asked it to. In this case we just ask it to provide current for a second relay (the fogs relay coil) but it could easily drive ten or twenty additional relays.

Relays are just switches almost like the light switches in your house. The difference is instead of a physical lever that you flip with a finger they use a coil to generate a magnetic field that moves the switch. Your finger doesn't provide the energy for the light bulb it only provides the energy to move the switch from open to closed. In this case the control voltages we are tapping are essentially the "fingers" moving the switches for the AC inverter and the fogs - they power the little coil that moves the switch not the inverter or fogs themselves. So the voltages/wires we are tapping aren't actually powering the inverter and fogs - the wires connected to the switch side of the relays are doing that and we aren't touching those. We are just asking the AC inverter control voltage to use two "fingers" now instead of just one. That control voltage could switch a whole bunch more switches (has plenty of "fingers" worth of strength) if we wanted. So no worries about operating both at the same time. Apologies for perhaps a really lame analogy...

 

Is there a write up with parts list for the turn signals on the mirrors? You got skills! Never thought of this or that it would be possible.

 

Got it! Thanks and I appreciate the lesson. If you're ever looking for a job teaching electrical engineering, I teach at a high school...

 

It's not much of a write up but here you go. https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/side-mirror-turn-signal-light-modification.329661/

 

Thanks!

 

‘11 is naturally different...

 

Yes, I see it is. There are even 2013's that have the same relay sockets as the 2012's but don't have the wires in place.

 

This mod has been a Coelacanth to me for most of the vehicles I’ve owned...

 

I got my truck inspected in December and the inspector failed it because the fogs did not turn off when the high beams were on. So as a quick fix, instead of trying to pop the connectors back out, I simply put spade connectors on the wires so I could easily un-mod this whenever I need to.

 

I lived in the Commonwealth for 14 years, I know your pain.
I still visit regularly and plan on retiring there eventually...

 

wow, getting those prongs out was a task! Used a small eye glass flat head screwdriver at first (in direct sunlight) and still couldn't get it. Finally got just enough out where I could grip the head with needle nose pliers, but the metal electrical fitting was shot, so I need to pick some up tomorrow at the hardware store.
I don't have heated seats, but I do have the pump relay next to my fog light relay... Just curious, what does that do?! I live in Florida and we don't have any emissions testings here (I read that above from someone else, but still don't understand what it's used for or where it's located...) I'm hoping after I get new wire connectors, it will work, I bent the plastic fuse holder with the needle nose pliers, so I hope the blue relay will plug in...
I tried the "jumper" method a few months ago with no luck.
On a side note, I had a friend help me install some air horns (which turned out to be boat horns) and we put in a switch to toggle back and forth to my stock horn, but I had a small electrical fire because we didn't put in a fuse somewhere and now I have No horn whatsoever... I'd like to get these lights going, but just wondering if you might give me some direction on the horn wiring if you have a chance... I'll take pics and post. My buddy that helped is in Iraq at the moment and won't be back til end of summer, so I'd like to get it working again...
oh, my truck is a 13 TRD Sport Access Cab 6 speed manual 4x4, if that makes a difference.

 

uggghhhh... Just read a post about cutting the wires and using butt connectors instead of going through the painful process of unplugging... I'm fairly sure I ruined the plastic fuse connectors trying to get the wires out, but won't know for sure until I get new metal wire connectors... For anyone wanting to do this, I'd go with cutting the wires and using butt connectors. I just spend 45 minutes and had to drink 2 beers to chill out... it takes an electrical engineer to figure out a common sense method for someone with a useless psychology degree haha

 

I’m considering taking the truck to a local 4x4 shop and paying to get this done, liberal arts degree...