DIY HID fog light install w/ fogs wired independently [turn on by themselves]
03-26-2011, 05:14 PM
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kcin920
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DIY HID fog light install w/ fogs wired independently [turn on by themselves]
Hey all...I noticed that theres not much for info on installing HID fogs in our car so I figured I'd do a quick write-up on my new install. Hope it helps anyone who's looking at getting a set soon!...LMK if anyone has any questions and I'll do my best to answer them asap.
Just so you all know upfront, I hooked up the lights so they will come on with the parking lights. This way, you can have the fogs on without having to turn the headlights on. Looks awesome if you ask me! I also installed a kill switch so they can be disabled from doing this if you ever change your mind. Ok, so here we go....
First off, I ordered the kit from Ebay. The sellers store is 'racerinnovation'. I got the entier kit - including the stock wiring harness (if you don't have fog lights to start with). I had the fogs installed stock so I didn't need to do this portion of the install but it came with my kit anyway. In addition, it came with smoked JDM fogs, 6000k HID bulbs (the pure white ones), switch, ballasts, and all wiring. I also bought a switch at my local autozone to use as a kill switch for the lights for about $5. The kit all and all cost about $100 w/ shipping. A pretty good price if you ask me.
I'm going to give the general description of the install w/ the few pics I took, so as I said earlier, if anyone has any questions, please don't hesiatate to ask.
To start, I'd reccomend getting a table set up for all your parts and tools and putting a blanket down for the front bumper for when you take it off. To be honest, this project is much simpler than you'd think so don't be discouraged by the thought of extensive wiring and removal of the bumper. Among other tools you will need a ratchet w/ a 10mm socket, flathead screwdriver, philips (standard) and a very stubby one, wire cutters and stripper, zip ties, electrical tape, kill switch, and work light.
Jack up the front of the car and put it on jack stands so you have some room to work with. I also layed a blanket down on the garage floor. There are supriseingly few screws and bolts that need to come out in order to remove the bumper. I started with the screw on each side of the bumper in the wheel well. Take a minute to make sure you don't remove the ones that hold on the front lip if you have that installed. Also, take a minute to make sure you don't remove all the bolts on the underneath that hold on the front lip, as I did this the first time mistakingly, not noticing that it wasn't required at all.
After you get the screw from each side, there are only a few bolts underneath that need to come out. It is pretty straight forward. Also, you want to make sure you unplug the foglights if you have stock ones installed already. Lastly, you need to take the plastic clips/fasteners from the top, right on top of the grille and around it. I believe there are about 5 or 6 of them. After this the bumper should simply pull out of place. This is much easier if you have another person, this way you don't have to worry about dropping it or anything.
Once the bumper is out, lay it on the blanket, remove the old fog light assemblies if you have them and install your new ones. there should only be 1 screw each if I recall. You can also adjust the angle of the foglights by tightening or losening the screw on the new housings. You need to do this now b/c it will be almost impossible to do it after you get everything installed.
I apologize for not having any pictures up to this point but I didnt think to take them until after. Now is when you are going to install the ballasts. One for each side obviously. You need to hold each ballast up where you want to install them(you truly need another person for this). Have them hold it in place while you drill a small marking for where the actual hole is going to go. You do this once for each of the three holes - this way you can put the ballast down and drill the holes with much more ease. Also, you want to make sure that the drill bit you use is slightly smalled than the screws that you are using to install the ballasts. FIY - I snapped a few bits during this process. It is not easy drilling through the metal but if you have an 18v drill I suggest you use it. Here are some pics so you have an idea of what im talking about....
[Ballast installed on driver side. Red wire is for the power for the lights which will be discussed later.]
[Ballast installed on passenger side. The washer fluid resevoir has to be removed to install but it fits perfectly.]
Ok, so as I said, make sure you have someone holding the ballast in place. Drill just enough so the bit makes a mark for where the hold will be for each of the three screws. Put the ballast down and drill the actual holes. After this I also changed the bit to a philps head and screwed in each screw WITHOUT the ballast in place. This ensures that the screws will go in nice and easy when you actually install the ballast. Unscrew the screws, have someone hold the ballast in place and screw it in. You should even be able to do this by hand if you like b/c of the previous step. The mounting bracket that I had was plastic so I wanted to make sure not to crack it.
Repeat all the previous steps for the passenger side, but before you do it you will have to be a bit more precise in the location of the ballast to make sure that it fits under the resevoir. Have someone hold it in place with the resevoir still installed, and score a line on the top and bottom of the ballast with a punch. It should make a nice silver line in the black paint on the metal surface. Next, remove the bolts holding on resevoir, tie it back w/ a bungee and install the ballast the same as done on the drivers side. Just obviously make sure to be very precise w/ the location so when you re-install the resevoir it won't be in the way. When finished, screw the res. back on and you should be all set.
Now were going to do a bit of wiring so the fogs will come on w/ the parking lights.(So the headlights don't need to be on for them to work) First, you want to strip back about an inch's worth of wire from the BLUE wire(power) coming out of each plug (where the bulbs plug into) from the stock harness. Be carefull not to cut all the way through. Now cut the insulation completely off. Now get a spool of wire, and strip an end and twist it into the blue wire that you just stripped. Do this on the driver side first. Now do the same on the passenger side and run the wire along the black beam where the bumper goes. You can now either tie it into the drivers side where you just tied in the first wire or you can run up a little further on the first wire. (Either will work but I tied it in a little further up so i didnt have so many wires in that one connection and so that the current will hit the passenger wire first(it has a farther distance to travel)) Make sure these connections are tight and if you are feeling ambitious you can solder them. When done, tape them up nice and tight. Now you should have 1 wire running up from the driver side fog and this is what we are going to use for the power. It only needs to go to the parking light on that side, so make sure you leave some extra slack to work with and cut it off from the spool.
So at this point you should have a wire running down from the parking light area to the driver fog where you tied it into the blue wire AND another wire tied into this one running down to the passenger fog and hooked to the blue wire there. There are a few other ways to do this such as tieing in a seperate wire on the passenger side, which is fine too, or even just running the 1 wire b/c the current should still travel through the stock harness, but I found that this way should ensure that both lights get the power directly and should be a bit more stable this way.
You can now plug in everything on the ballasts and slide the metal prongs from the new bulbs into the stock plugs and tape them up.
IMPORTANT - You need to make sure that you slide the prong from the red wire into the slot on the plug that corresponds w/ the blue wire. You can not reverse these as it will cause serious problems. Make sure everything is taped up very tight b/c those metal prongs are designed to plug into any plug which is great for compatibility but they can slide in and out pretty easily.
Now you can wire up the switch so you can always kill the power to fogs from the parking lights and have them just work as intended at stock. This is very simple - I happened to get a switch that already had the two wires coming out but you can get a standard one if you want and solder the connections. You have to stick your hand in the VERY tight spot where the parking light plug is and try to get it out. I used a long flathead to push in the clip to get it out. Figure out which wire in the plug is power. I think it's red but am not positive. You can simply turn the ignition to 'ON' and plug a tester into each slot. Whichever slot lights the bulb in the tester is the power. Do the same as you did with the fogs and strip back about an inch of insulation and tie in one end of the wire from the switch. Make sure it's nice and tight and solder it and tape it up. Tie the other wire on the switch to the wire that you ran up from the fogs, solder and tape and voila! I went a little further and was able to get the switch installed in the hold that is on the side right there. It was VERY much a pain in the neck to get in there but after some time, I finally got it. Using a washer in the back and one on the top, I put the nut on the switch(that it comes w/ for instalation), tightened it up and it's perfect. It fits in there very nice and almost looks like it's supposed to be there
. And like I said, you can find a switch like this from any local autoparts store or even radio shack.Flip the switch to 'on', turn you parking lights on, check to make sure your fogs come on and your all set! Here's a pic of my switch so you have an idea of what I'm talking about...
Kill switch installed for fogs, just in case you want to go back to the stock setup or shut them off with the parking lights on.(say if your stuck on the side of the road w/out the car running. This way you won't kill the battery.
)
OK!, as long as everything works, you're almost done. All that's left is reinstalling the bumper. It helps to have another person once again to help hold it, but all you need to do is get it in place, clip in the top of it, put the plastic clips back in, re-install the few bolts on the bottom and put the couple screws back in.
IMPORTANT - Make sure you take care when putting the bulbs into the fog light housing. One tab is slightly longer than the others and it will only go in one way. Also, you need to make sure you DON"T TOUCH the bulbs, b/c even the slightest bit of oil from your fingers could cause the bulb to explode when turned on! Lastly, obviously make sure that the bulbs go in before you screw any of the bottom of the bumper back in.
Well, I think that's about it, and to be honest I'm getting a bit punchy at this point so if I missed anything or if ther's any questions, just let me know.
Oh, and here's some final pics after everything was done...
Good luck!
Fogs on by themselves.
Fogs and heads.
Fogs(Day)
Fogs and Heads(Day)
Just so you all know upfront, I hooked up the lights so they will come on with the parking lights. This way, you can have the fogs on without having to turn the headlights on. Looks awesome if you ask me! I also installed a kill switch so they can be disabled from doing this if you ever change your mind. Ok, so here we go....
First off, I ordered the kit from Ebay. The sellers store is 'racerinnovation'. I got the entier kit - including the stock wiring harness (if you don't have fog lights to start with). I had the fogs installed stock so I didn't need to do this portion of the install but it came with my kit anyway. In addition, it came with smoked JDM fogs, 6000k HID bulbs (the pure white ones), switch, ballasts, and all wiring. I also bought a switch at my local autozone to use as a kill switch for the lights for about $5. The kit all and all cost about $100 w/ shipping. A pretty good price if you ask me.
I'm going to give the general description of the install w/ the few pics I took, so as I said earlier, if anyone has any questions, please don't hesiatate to ask.
To start, I'd reccomend getting a table set up for all your parts and tools and putting a blanket down for the front bumper for when you take it off. To be honest, this project is much simpler than you'd think so don't be discouraged by the thought of extensive wiring and removal of the bumper. Among other tools you will need a ratchet w/ a 10mm socket, flathead screwdriver, philips (standard) and a very stubby one, wire cutters and stripper, zip ties, electrical tape, kill switch, and work light.
Jack up the front of the car and put it on jack stands so you have some room to work with. I also layed a blanket down on the garage floor. There are supriseingly few screws and bolts that need to come out in order to remove the bumper. I started with the screw on each side of the bumper in the wheel well. Take a minute to make sure you don't remove the ones that hold on the front lip if you have that installed. Also, take a minute to make sure you don't remove all the bolts on the underneath that hold on the front lip, as I did this the first time mistakingly, not noticing that it wasn't required at all.
After you get the screw from each side, there are only a few bolts underneath that need to come out. It is pretty straight forward. Also, you want to make sure you unplug the foglights if you have stock ones installed already. Lastly, you need to take the plastic clips/fasteners from the top, right on top of the grille and around it. I believe there are about 5 or 6 of them. After this the bumper should simply pull out of place. This is much easier if you have another person, this way you don't have to worry about dropping it or anything.Once the bumper is out, lay it on the blanket, remove the old fog light assemblies if you have them and install your new ones. there should only be 1 screw each if I recall. You can also adjust the angle of the foglights by tightening or losening the screw on the new housings. You need to do this now b/c it will be almost impossible to do it after you get everything installed.
I apologize for not having any pictures up to this point but I didnt think to take them until after. Now is when you are going to install the ballasts. One for each side obviously. You need to hold each ballast up where you want to install them(you truly need another person for this). Have them hold it in place while you drill a small marking for where the actual hole is going to go. You do this once for each of the three holes - this way you can put the ballast down and drill the holes with much more ease. Also, you want to make sure that the drill bit you use is slightly smalled than the screws that you are using to install the ballasts. FIY - I snapped a few bits during this process. It is not easy drilling through the metal but if you have an 18v drill I suggest you use it. Here are some pics so you have an idea of what im talking about....
[Ballast installed on driver side. Red wire is for the power for the lights which will be discussed later.]
[Ballast installed on passenger side. The washer fluid resevoir has to be removed to install but it fits perfectly.]
Ok, so as I said, make sure you have someone holding the ballast in place. Drill just enough so the bit makes a mark for where the hold will be for each of the three screws. Put the ballast down and drill the actual holes. After this I also changed the bit to a philps head and screwed in each screw WITHOUT the ballast in place. This ensures that the screws will go in nice and easy when you actually install the ballast. Unscrew the screws, have someone hold the ballast in place and screw it in. You should even be able to do this by hand if you like b/c of the previous step. The mounting bracket that I had was plastic so I wanted to make sure not to crack it.
Repeat all the previous steps for the passenger side, but before you do it you will have to be a bit more precise in the location of the ballast to make sure that it fits under the resevoir. Have someone hold it in place with the resevoir still installed, and score a line on the top and bottom of the ballast with a punch. It should make a nice silver line in the black paint on the metal surface. Next, remove the bolts holding on resevoir, tie it back w/ a bungee and install the ballast the same as done on the drivers side. Just obviously make sure to be very precise w/ the location so when you re-install the resevoir it won't be in the way. When finished, screw the res. back on and you should be all set.
Now were going to do a bit of wiring so the fogs will come on w/ the parking lights.(So the headlights don't need to be on for them to work) First, you want to strip back about an inch's worth of wire from the BLUE wire(power) coming out of each plug (where the bulbs plug into) from the stock harness. Be carefull not to cut all the way through. Now cut the insulation completely off. Now get a spool of wire, and strip an end and twist it into the blue wire that you just stripped. Do this on the driver side first. Now do the same on the passenger side and run the wire along the black beam where the bumper goes. You can now either tie it into the drivers side where you just tied in the first wire or you can run up a little further on the first wire. (Either will work but I tied it in a little further up so i didnt have so many wires in that one connection and so that the current will hit the passenger wire first(it has a farther distance to travel)) Make sure these connections are tight and if you are feeling ambitious you can solder them. When done, tape them up nice and tight. Now you should have 1 wire running up from the driver side fog and this is what we are going to use for the power. It only needs to go to the parking light on that side, so make sure you leave some extra slack to work with and cut it off from the spool.
So at this point you should have a wire running down from the parking light area to the driver fog where you tied it into the blue wire AND another wire tied into this one running down to the passenger fog and hooked to the blue wire there. There are a few other ways to do this such as tieing in a seperate wire on the passenger side, which is fine too, or even just running the 1 wire b/c the current should still travel through the stock harness, but I found that this way should ensure that both lights get the power directly and should be a bit more stable this way.
You can now plug in everything on the ballasts and slide the metal prongs from the new bulbs into the stock plugs and tape them up.
IMPORTANT - You need to make sure that you slide the prong from the red wire into the slot on the plug that corresponds w/ the blue wire. You can not reverse these as it will cause serious problems. Make sure everything is taped up very tight b/c those metal prongs are designed to plug into any plug which is great for compatibility but they can slide in and out pretty easily.
Now you can wire up the switch so you can always kill the power to fogs from the parking lights and have them just work as intended at stock. This is very simple - I happened to get a switch that already had the two wires coming out but you can get a standard one if you want and solder the connections. You have to stick your hand in the VERY tight spot where the parking light plug is and try to get it out. I used a long flathead to push in the clip to get it out. Figure out which wire in the plug is power. I think it's red but am not positive. You can simply turn the ignition to 'ON' and plug a tester into each slot. Whichever slot lights the bulb in the tester is the power. Do the same as you did with the fogs and strip back about an inch of insulation and tie in one end of the wire from the switch. Make sure it's nice and tight and solder it and tape it up. Tie the other wire on the switch to the wire that you ran up from the fogs, solder and tape and voila! I went a little further and was able to get the switch installed in the hold that is on the side right there. It was VERY much a pain in the neck to get in there but after some time, I finally got it. Using a washer in the back and one on the top, I put the nut on the switch(that it comes w/ for instalation), tightened it up and it's perfect. It fits in there very nice and almost looks like it's supposed to be there
. And like I said, you can find a switch like this from any local autoparts store or even radio shack.Flip the switch to 'on', turn you parking lights on, check to make sure your fogs come on and your all set! Here's a pic of my switch so you have an idea of what I'm talking about...Kill switch installed for fogs, just in case you want to go back to the stock setup or shut them off with the parking lights on.(say if your stuck on the side of the road w/out the car running. This way you won't kill the battery.
)OK!, as long as everything works, you're almost done. All that's left is reinstalling the bumper. It helps to have another person once again to help hold it, but all you need to do is get it in place, clip in the top of it, put the plastic clips back in, re-install the few bolts on the bottom and put the couple screws back in.
IMPORTANT - Make sure you take care when putting the bulbs into the fog light housing. One tab is slightly longer than the others and it will only go in one way. Also, you need to make sure you DON"T TOUCH the bulbs, b/c even the slightest bit of oil from your fingers could cause the bulb to explode when turned on! Lastly, obviously make sure that the bulbs go in before you screw any of the bottom of the bumper back in.
Well, I think that's about it, and to be honest I'm getting a bit punchy at this point so if I missed anything or if ther's any questions, just let me know.
Oh, and here's some final pics after everything was done...
Good luck!
Fogs on by themselves.
Fogs and heads.
Fogs(Day)
Fogs and Heads(Day)
03-27-2011, 01:03 AM
#2
Make a hole, coming thru!
Boy, I'll bet people love that. 
Some kid in an Integra last weekend let me pass him (I wasn't following too close, but did blow by him quickly at 68mph), then sped up to follow me, flashing his high beams at me. When he pulled alongside, I showed him that I DID NOT have my high beams trained on him. He slowed and drifted back....
But seriously, looks nice. Thanks for the great DIY.
Some kid in an Integra last weekend let me pass him (I wasn't following too close, but did blow by him quickly at 68mph), then sped up to follow me, flashing his high beams at me. When he pulled alongside, I showed him that I DID NOT have my high beams trained on him. He slowed and drifted back.... But seriously, looks nice. Thanks for the great DIY.
03-28-2011, 11:09 AM
#3
awesome DIY! will look forward to this when i pick up a 1G in the future
03-28-2011, 02:29 PM
#4
Let me help you!
You should also add disclaimers that people should check their local vehicle laws before doing your DIY, and that you're not responsible for any tickets they may get. 
There is a reason why we can't do it stock. Acura has to make cars that are legal to drive on the road.
Originally Posted by http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d12/vc24403.htm
California Vehicle Code 24403(A): A motor vehicle may be equipped with not more than two foglamps that may be used with, but may not be used in substitution of, headlamps.
03-29-2011, 01:03 PM
#6
kcin920
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am I an idiot lol?...there is no option to edit my original post...If anyone knows whether this is allowed or not please lmk...For now, here we go..
*DISCLAIMER* {In reference to my original post} *Do this install at your own risk. Check your local/state laws before doing this install. All directions are for your reference only. I take no responsiblility for any damage caused or tickets received in result of doing this install.*
Thanks!
*DISCLAIMER* {In reference to my original post} *Do this install at your own risk. Check your local/state laws before doing this install. All directions are for your reference only. I take no responsiblility for any damage caused or tickets received in result of doing this install.*
Thanks!
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04-18-2011, 12:23 AM
#8
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Hey, I'm about to tackle this project. my only problem right now is the power source. I have one of those ebay kits. I heard that the blue plug that is suppose to run into the under side of the fuse box in the engine, does not fit/incorrect. are there other ways I could power my HID fogs? like tap into other wiring?
05-02-2011, 01:32 PM
#9
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question on this, if i turn of the switch in the engine bay will the fogs go back to oem, like flipping the high beams the fogs shut off and letting high beams go fogs come back on. or does it still work while the switch is on?
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