Fog Lights: Install [Retrofit] fog lights on 2010 Prius?

If I want the fog light with HID bulb, will the whole installation process still be the same? I am thinking to get this kit 07 08 09 TOYOTA CAMRY OEM FOG LIGHTS CLEAR W/HID 2007:eBay Motors (item 400073571467 end time Oct-15-09 18:53:47 PDT)

 

Yeah it's basically the same, except of course you daisy chain the HID ballasts in line.

Can anyone comment on using HIDs in the fogs? Is the light blinding, etc, since there is no cutoff?

 

Personally, I would never use a HID in a setup without a lens (although highbeams would probably be OK). Unfocused HID's would probably be especially bad for fog lights. The last thing you want is to scatter a lot of unfocused light out your fog lights, it'll only decrease visibility. Remember, fog lights really only work in this setup because they are so low to the ground. The presumption is that the light will be lower than the fog itself, which might hover a foot or so off the ground. this is what "penetrates" or "cuts" through the fog. In reality, it is just going under it. There really isn't anyway for light to actually pentrate through fog without scattering, and it is that scattering that decreases visibility and makes everything seem white.

If you have unfocused HID lights, my worry would be that too much light would hit the fog in your line of sight. That light would just scatter back and decrease visibility. It's the reason that turning your highbeams on in fog makes things worse.

That being said, if you can keep the HID light pattern BELOW the fog line, you'd probably be okay. I just don't know how you would do that.

 

Thanks for this info you've posted. I just got the Yaris kit and am sorting out the supplied wire harness. Where does the grey connector go? Under the dash somewhere? To the fuse box?

BTW, I looked the 18 gage wire load up that runs power to the lights (American Wire Gauge table and AWG Electrical Current Load Limits with skin depth frequencies), and its 16 A max for "chassis wiring". The lights should draw 9.2 A nominal, so their wire is big enough.

 

Instruction for installing the Yaris kit is detailed in this thread already. See my post #321

You will find which wires to hook up where, a simple wiring diagram and bunch of pictures. Few posts before me is another example of same install by someone else.

 

I have routed almost all of the Yaris harness (after shortening it here and there to make it fit the way I routed it), and now am about ready to jack up the front of the Prius and mount the foglights. I'll use a floor jack (and jack stands for safety).

I have a few questions about the foglights:

What is the purpose of that black rubber sleeve on the back of each foglight assembly? It is about 1/2 inch long and about 1/2 inch in diameter.

There is an adjustment wheel (looks like a little black plastic gear) on the back of each foglight assembly. I think it is used to aim the foglight bulb. How is that wheel accessed for future aiming adjustments? My guess is that access requires that the black flashing covering each foglight assembly must be removed. Each flashing (LH & RH) is held in place with 4 screws and 4 clips.

I suppose that the black flashing must also be removed in order to replace a foglight bulb. Correct?

How is a bulb removed from a foglight assembly? It looks like counterclockwise rotation of the cable connector on the back of the foglight assembly will do this. Correct?

Thank you.

Jim

 

The grey connector itself isn't used (maybe a Yaris has a mating connector?). The red wire going into the gray connector, though, needs to be connected to switched 12V (IGN). There are multiple places to tap that.

Regarding the wire gauge, you always need to select wire gauge based on the maximum current draw AND the fuse. If you are using a 15A fuse (either the inline one that came with the kit, or the vehicle fog light circuit fuse), you only have a margin of 1A in the case of a short of 12V to ground. That wire is going to get pretty hot before that fuse goes. And I can pretty much guarantee that the wire the kit manufacturer selected is the cheapest they could get - not high temperature insulation, etc. I'd be willing to bet that a good share of that insulation would soften or melt before the fuse blew. If you want to stick with the 18 ga wire, I would reduce your fuse to 10A to protect the rest of your car and wiring... (But that's just my opinion. I'm a bit conservative - I don't like to take those kind of chances around the other factory harnesses that would cost hundreds of dollars to replace, if they melted as a result of the other wire's heat.)

 

I'm guessing here, but I believe that rubber sleeve probably has a very tiny pinhole in it, that allows the air pressure to vent as the lamp heats and cools. Just a guess.

That "gear" is used to adjust (aim) the height of the beam. You can turn the gear itself,or there is also a phillips screw inside the gear that can be accessed from below. If by the flashing, you mean the plastic splash panel directly under the lights, attached to the bumper (maybe the correct term is flashing!) I believe there is an access hole for this adjustment screw, so you can adjust without removing the flashing (if you have a long phillips screwdriver.)

Here's a link to the aiming requirements:

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...-v-owners-foglight-adjustment.html#post962983

That's easiest, but you can also start at the front screws and pop it out at only the front. It's pretty flexible and can be bent downward far enough to get your hand in. Also remember not to touch the bulb glass with your fingers or get any contaminants (oil, etc.) on the bulb - it will reduce its life. Clean it with rubbing alcohol if it gets skin oils on it.

Correct.

 

Thank, Jayvee, and thanks for the link to do the aiming. Yes - the "flashing" I was referring to is the plastic splash panel directly under the lights.

Jim

 

+1

In addition, you may want to consider current draw. 98% of LED's (including fog's) are junk ... but if you pay enough, they're not only bright, but they'll last, and not suck the traction battery down during stealth. My money would be to wait for Kenstyle to deliver to the U.S. but it may be a while. In the mean time, I'll just drool:

 

My foglight project is almost finished. The dummy cover for the driver side foglight has been removed, and the foglight with OEM cover has been installed. Looks really great.

I was able to do the removal/install without jacking up the car. A little effort (and patience), but not bad.

My costs were as follows:
$46 for the Yaris foglight kit, including shipping
$76 for the OEM covers, including shipping
$3 for a dash mounted mini-switch that includes an LED
Total of $125 (no labor costs, I did it myself)

Thanks, all, for your very informative posts along the way.

Jim

 

Where did your go to get the Yaris kit for $46 shipped? I went to ebay and the cheapest one I saw was like $59

 

The price I paid on Ebay was $27.99 plus shipping. This included the 2 lights, a complete wiring harness, and a dash mounted switch. The seller was makotoautotrends. Shipping brought the total up to $43.99.

These are quality OEM Toyota Yaris parts, and AFAIK most others who did the foglight project used the same Yaris kits, which are being sold by several different Ebay sellers.

Make sure you get the correct kit. It should be labeled as follows:
"Yaris 06 07 Liftback OEM style Foglights Fog Lights".

Jim

 

Was it this one? Yaris 06 07 Liftback OEM Style Foglights Fog Lights:eBay Motors (item 300349937826 end time Oct-01-09 12:41:14 PDT)

I typed in the same labeled you mention and the price was the same as your's, but I did the Bing Cash Back to get 8% cash back. Go to Bing.com and then search for stuff like Sony, then it will come up a 8% cash back on a ebay link. Click on it and then search for the foglight and do "Buy it Now" then pay with paypal to get the cashback.

 

My purchase was a "Buy it Now" deal.

 

Where did you ge the covers?

 

From www.parts.com

 

I just finished my install, and I thank hawkmoon77, tjp74 & jayvee for their inputs.

I took a different path in the installation. I used the elements of the Yaris kit wire harness, but I chose to minimize the length of high-current wire, hence I located the relay next to the fuse box. This took about 12 feet of wire out of the current path to the fog lights. I put the 15 A fuse in the fuse box, and I cut a notch in the back edge of the fuse box to pass the wire out - this should minimize the chance of water getting in the box thru the cut. The front of the box would have been more convenient. I will note that the connector to the 12 V power in the fuse box doesn't fit as well as I expected. It just fits in the slot but can't lock in - it's held by friction.

I worked outward from the relay. I had to splice in three extra wires to reach the dash switch (the ones in the Yaris harness just reached the firewall in my setup), that I passed thru the firewall first from the cabin, then did the splicing under the hood, then pulled the wire back. I hooked up my 12 V control power to the marker light in the driver side fender so that I can have the fog lights on independent of the headlights. I like lots of light. I routed the cables mainly as hawkmoon77 showed, except I went high under the dashboard to completely avoid the mechanicals.

One more thing: the holes in the underside covers line up perfectly with the adjustment holes on the lights.

 

My foglight project is complete as well, and the lights look great.

During the install I noticed that the lights were a little wobbly from being attached to the cover with only one screw. I was able to eliminate the wobbleness by drilling 2 small holes in the cover at the 2 points where the black half-round inserts are inserted into the cover. Then I used easily available black plastic push fasteners through these holds, and they hold the foglight assemblies tighter onto the covers. (See the following 2 photos)

As for recommending that others take on this project. I won't. It is a lot more difficult than it first appears, even though many participants of this thread were very, very informative and helpful. If I had it to do over again, I would just hire a Toyota dealer to do the entire job. My arms and hands wouldn't be full of bruises - and my neighbors wouldn't be aghast at the loud expressions of my frustration.

Jim

 

any pictures of the final product installed?