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

Update. The three wires are:

Yellow - Pin 5 - 12V+ Front Driver's flasher
Green - Pin 6 - 12V+ Front Pass flasher
W-B - Pin 8 - Ground

The harness in picture 1 contains yellow and white-black

The Y split contains Green and the same white-black

The plug in picture 2 is connector CA1

Factory fogs also run through CA1. They use pins 1 and 8.

1 is green 12V+. Both fog lights are powered by this.

pin 8 is the same pin 8 listed above, the ground wire.

Now for the bad news...
It looks like Pin 1 (green, factory fogs 12V+) should be opposite pin 5 (the Yellow turn signal wire mentioned above) In Picture two, you see that there is no wire in that location.

 

Update:

So I called bling lights to see about there ~90 buck fog light kit for the 2010 Prius. tehy said that it did not include the palstic insert part that surrounds the light. They suggested getting it from the dealer.

It makes me a bit uncomfortable to think that they do not have the part. How well does there fog light fit in the plastic part that they don't have? I don't know. Does anyone else have experience?

Now, even without factory wiring, the installation should not be a big deal. I spent a lot of time looking over the wiring diagrams, and here is my take away.

Getting power to the fog lights is not a big deal. The fuse box with a giant 12v+ white wire is right there, about 2-3 feet away. I can put an inline fuse attached to that wire and run it to the drivers side fog light, then rout it over to the passengers side under the bumper.

Sure, a relay is needed. They are cheap, and can be powered from a single ground wire going into the cabin. that's not that bad.

The bad news is the price.

I'm thinking that if I'm going to pay for factory fogs and factory plastic insert parts, then I'm already up to ~ 320 bucks. but it gets worse.

I still need a stock looking switch. my first thought was to use the windshield cleaner switch, but that is ~60 bucks, and needs a latching relay to work because because it is momentary. So now I'm up to 80 bucks. Why pay 80 bucks on that when I can get a factory headlight stalk with fog control for 110? I know, I know, the harness doesn't fit. (I'm not convinced of that by the way).

Seems like it wouldn't be that hard to just get the updated harness, and rewire it. It is just under the steering wheel. (Keep in mind that the fog light switch works by grounding a wire. Remember that ground wire for the fog relay that you'd put in the engine compartment? the other end of it would just plug right into the one pin of the new harness. The factory switch would ground it when turned on, and your relay closes.)

But, after all of that work, I'm up to ~ $450 bucks. For fog lights? That's a long way from the $90 bling light kit.

The cheapest implementation, with as close to stock look that i could find is the bling kit (presuming it is a good fit) plus the factory plastic parts that surround it, for a cost of 180 combined. Wire it to a non-stock switch, and you come out with 200 bucks including relay and wire.

Thoughts?

ps. Regarding me not being convinced that the wire harness won't fit. The wiring digrams list the headlight connector as L47. The wiring diagram for the fog lights that are part of the headlight switch, also list it as L47. There is no mention of an alternate connector. Now, the wiring harness may be different because it does not have the one extra wire for factory fogs. So what... the part number for the pin that goes into connector L47 is
P/N: 82998-24290.

Seems like you can wire your add-on ground wire to that pin, and slide it into connector L47. Get the new headlight stalk, and you are done.

 

Regarding the headlight/fog light stalk switch.

I am pretty sure they use the same connector. The problem is that the conenctor is missing two pins. I checked on my car and pins 3 and 4 on the connector have nothing in them. I will likely order the pins as per the part numbers in my previous post, and add those wires to the existing connector. Should be easy to do.

I'll connect one end to the wire that comes out of pin 12, just like the stock V Prius does. The other wire I will run into the engine compartment. There, it will activate an aftermarket relay to turn the fogs on and off.

What I like about this setup is that it uses all factory parts, but only requires having to run two wires. Those are the one ground wire from the switch, and the other would be a 12V+ source that I'll get from the engine compartment fuse box that is next to the driver's fog light.

Pretty easy installation if you ask me.

 

If this works, you should make a detailed set of instructions and post them. Hell, I'd even pay a small fee to save me the headache of having to figure this out on my own.

 

OK, I HAVE FACTORY FOGLIGHTS INSTALLED NOW, MINUS THE SWITCH AND WIRING(SEE PHOTOS BELOW) I RETURN IN THE MORNING TO HAVE IT COMPLETED AS THE ORIGINAL SWITCH ORDERED(FROM A TACOMA) WAS TOO TALL. I TOLD MY MECHANIC IT MUST FIT STOCK HOLES AND HE AGREED. WE ORDERED THE HEADLIGHT WASHER SWITCH FROM THE PRIUS V AS IT HAS TWO WIRES,ON AND OFF,(PERFECT), THE SYMBOL ON THE SWITCH IS A HEADLIGHT W/ SPRAY BUT IS THE CLOSEST WE CAN GET. IT WILL FIT THE DASH KNOCKOUT PERFECTLY,RIGHT NEXT TO THE SOLAR ROOF SWITCH. HE SAID HE WILL MAKE THE HARNESS(NOT TOO COMPLICATED) AND WILL POSSIBLY USE A RELAY FROM ANOTHER VEHICLE. I WILL POST THE ENTIRE PARTS LIST USED(INCLUDES THE FOGLIGHTS ETC.AND ALL PART #s ) ONLINE TOM. OR THURSDAY.WISH US LUCK!!!

 

sorry hawkmoon, i didnt read the rest of the posts here. I already ordered the stalk for the v. It will not work on the iv(according to my mechanic that is, they have already sent it back)he has looked at a 2,3,and 4 and they all have different harnesses in one way or another. I will let you know tom. Or thurs. If i have lights(appt. In morn)

 

What size are the lamps?
I have a set of bling lights (2.5") and am wondering how they will fit in the stock V housing.

 

We need to distinguish between the wrong harness and the wrong connector. All of the wiring diagrams state that the CONNECTOR is the same. The wiring harness is different because it is missing two wires. My point was that it seems one can order the pins used in that harness, and add the missing two wires to the existing connector, and then one can use the factory stalk.

I don't see any mention of a different connector, only that the existing connector on the IV is missing two wires. It seems it would be relatively easy to add those wires to the existing connector in the slots I mentioned in my original post.

What I didn't like about the washer switch was that it is momentary. That means a latching relay, or a more complicated circuit would be required. That procedure seems much more complicted than adding the ground wires to the lexisting connector.

Can you confirm that the connector on the IV and V are the same. It should be L47. See the picture in my earlier post. I also included part numbers for the required pins to add to the connector to get the V stalk switch to work correctly.


The lights on your car look great by the way.

 

What are you being quoted for the factory plastic "part"? Part #?

I think if you want functioning fog lights, getting some real fog lights and making them fit with a dremel and some brackets to the stock gray plastic piece is going to be the best way to go, both for function and cost. I already have a blank ready to go for the switch right where I want it.

Now that I get a close up look at the stock ones, they seem too recessed to me. Maybe my original idea of just gluing a plastic reflector on is best .

 

That's a great looking mod! :first:

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I'd love to know the cost etc that you paid in the end. My service center here gave me some gobbly goop about the fact the car wasn't setup with the computer for the extra draw from the lights. If the cost isn't terrible I might talk to a diff service manager with a copy of this post in hand. I really like the look with the fogs in place rather than the grey blanks.

 

Your service center must be the same as my service center. I think it's easier for them to make something up than to actually come up with a correct answer, eh? These are the same guys that went on and on to me about how my car had a fuel bladder a couple weeks ago... not so much.

I did a little photoshop on my car and I'm going to go see if I can find any circular fog light of the right diameter to snap in place in that ugly grey blanking plate. I don't think I'll bother trying to recess it like the stock version.

 

Ya know, now that you mention it... we don't actually have much fog here (or anywhere else I've lived, honestly) except on very rare occasions. My 2000 Celica had factory fogs that I never used at all, so seems kind of a waste to be in hundreds of dollars for factory fogs on the Prius that will probably also never get used. I think the biggest reason I want them is just to replace those darn fugly grey filler plates. So maybe an $80 set of BlingLights without any wiring even hooked up is the way to go... just snap them in for the looks. The BlingLights kit sounds like it pretty much sucks if you think of it as a complete, easy to install, custom-fit fog light kit... but if you think of it as just an $80 appearance accessory, not such a bad deal at all. Heck, people will pay over half that just for a decal to put on the rear bumper. Hmmm...

 

No one but you needs to know they're not wired up. I also had factory fogs on my last car and never really found them useful other than improving it's looks. I probably will get around to wiring them up eventually but for now I'm just going to be on a mission to find anything that fits nice in that dimpled circle part of the grey fuglies.

 

I'd just buy something cheap off eBay or Autozone then if you're not even going to hook them up. Measure the gray disc, get the right size light, buy some screws and glue and call it a day.

Almost all factory fogs ever made are worthless except as parking lights, so going this route would be just as functional .

 

Well we do have fog and fairly often depending on the season. Fog lights are really good about cutting under the fog to light up the edge of the road. Last fall when I went to the mountains I was not able to see 10 feet in front of me without the fog ligts. They highlighted the edges of the road so I could stay centered in my lane. I was actually using my GPS to know when I was coming to a bend in the road. I was only doing about 5mph but had to move on. You can't just stop in the road when there is no way to get off safely.

Fog lights in fog are indispensible. As for cool looking, they are, but I typically don't miss the looks unless like the Prius the factory leaves a big ugly place where the lights would have been.

It was a small issue but a big one for me as I decided on the V.

The fog light gray blank and the "Hubcaps" on the IV and down just didn't cut it with me. Fortunately a lot of people don't care and are happy with their cars as is. I knew it was something that would eat at me and I didn't want to go aftermarket for fog lights and wheels.

 

Thanks so much for your diligence on this issue/project. The modification looks great -- looking forward to hearing about the wiring outcome!

 

I totally agree. We get lots of fog on the interstates around here at certain times of year.

My point is more that if fog is a real concern, you're generally much better off with an aftermarket pair of Hellas or something than what comes stock. Factory fog lamps are notorious for being weak.

 

stock ones are not recessed hardly at all,well,the bulb is but there is a thick glass lens at the front of the housing w/ the bulb further back. Oh, yes, a mirrored reflector from autozone for the "fisheye effect" : )