What's up acurazine?

Well I had a buddy of mine attempt to do the independent foglight mod on my 04 TL while I was at work.

He said he wired it up like in the diy but it still didn't work. He undid everything to retrace his steps.

He then ran a wire from the blue/white on the plug to the blue/black skinny wire to see if they would turn on and accidently touched the positive on the battery like a moron.

So I get to the garage after work and my combination switch doesn't work. The corners stay on when the car is on. My turn signals don't work nor the headlights. The green light on the cluster stays on. I have no blown fuses either...

What the hell can be the problem ? This is super frustrating. I'd be less pissed if it was my fault...

 

That's why I don't trust other people to mess with my stuff.

Which of the wires did he touch the battery on?

The BLU/WHT is the coil low side of the fog lamp relay: touching this to 12V will do nothing. Touching this to ground will illuminate the fog lights. It's important to note that this is an output of the relay control module in the under-hood fuse/relay box and must not be forced high or low. Therefore, the wire must be cut and the run going to the control module must be left floating, the run going to the fog lamp relay is the one you should be using.

Not sure what the BLU/BLK wire is though.

First, check if there are any DTCs: the TL is capable of reporting some exterior light trouble codes under certain circumstances. Next, troubleshoot your combination light switch.

 

He says it was the blue/white to the battery. I just tried looking around for anything and no luck.

The blue and black wire is from the relay that's attached next to the fuse box. In the DIY the guy ran that to the windshield wiper motor wire.

How can I check the DTC ? Will it show a CEL ?

Thanks for your help. Anything is appreciated. I just had to drive my car home ten minutes ago. Luckily I'm 2 min away from my garage.

 

Another questions is, could I have fried the relay control module ? And where is that located ?

Someone told me my switch may be bad. But if the combo switch was bad wouldn't all my lights stay off and not be able to function due to a bad switch ?

I read a thread on acurazine about someone having a pretty similar situation. The guy who checked his car said supposedly the main ecu was bad. I'm hoping this isn't the same.

 

Alright, this is the main question I have now: did he tap into the wire and it was still connected to both the relay control module and the relay? Or did he cut it and connect only one side? If he cut it, which side did he touch to 12V?

If he didn't cut it, then you probably damaged the relay control module as it was forcing the output to a certain state. In electronics, a simplified control net is either an input or an output. If it's an output, then forcing it to take on any voltage can damage the components inside the control module. Since this is an output, forcing it to take 12V could damage it.

From your PM, I'm not %100 sure I understand the troubleshooting you're doing. To test the combo switch, you need to take it out and test continuity (resistance) between the various positions. This will tell you if the switch is bad or not: there is no need to measure any voltages or connect anything else. Just measuring the resistance of the pin configurations when the switch is in various positions will tell us whether or not the switch is functional.

 

The wire was cut and tapped to the outside relay.

I'll go back and recheck for resistance. Haven't done this in a while :-/.

So pretty much disconnect the combination switch plug and measure for resistance on THAT plug ? Not the female side on the control module where it gets plugged I to. Sorry for the confusion.

Another question is, let's say its the combination switch that went back, how come the lights come on as soon as the keys in acc ?

Wouldn't that be something else. Maybe the relay.

Thanks again bro ! Wish we could've had some beers over this

 

Edit: double post

 

Quick update...

So I checked for resistance and got nothing.

I think checked the right turn signal terminal Which is 10 and 12 being grd. And set my DMM to 20mA

Viola my right turn signal started to work. I put my combination switch to the right turn signal position and my indicator light turned off..

Next I tried terminal 2 and 12 for the low beam on the same mA position of the DMM and my headlights came on.

So my question is, does this in fact mean my combination switch took a crap on me ?

Thanks again man. Really appreciate your help.

 

Oh boy. Uh.

So. To measure resistance, you'll want to set it to Ohms. The leads should be connected to Black = COM, Red = V, Ω

Measuring mA or A is actually shorting out whatever things you touch with the leads. In this case, since the light started working, it may indicate that the combination switch is bad, but I'm not certain of this because I'm still not sure how exactly you're performing the measurements.

Give this a read, it might help:
http://www.engineersgarage.com/tutor...ce-measurement

Once you're comfortable with the DMM, disconnect the combination switch and follow the troubleshooting guide I attached above. For example, when the headlight switch is in the OFF position, pins 1 and 12 should show a 0 Ohm (or something very very low) resistance measurement. When the left turn signal is on, pins 4 and 12 should show a 0 Ohm resistance. Make sure the combination switch is disconnected.

The dots on those tables show which pins are supposed to be connected (0 ohms) in that switch position. Everything else should be an open circuit (infinite resistance, or very very very large) to the pins with the dots.

Edit: I hope this makes more sense. I'm much better at explaining stuff in person.

 

So just to clarify, combo switch plug disconnected, measure the resistance at THAT plug, correct ?

I'll try again tomorrow after work, I remember the DMM reading over range (.0L).

Where'd you get that diagram ? Which manual do you haVE ?

Thanks again ! Sorry for the noobness

 

Lol don't worry about it. I got it from the 04-06 Acura TL Service Manual.

Yes, you measure at the plug that goes to the combination switch.

OL means it's an open circuit (no connection). When you touch the leads together, it should show 0 Ohms. I hope I explained it well enough. Try again and report back!

 

Hey Vlad what's up ?

Just got back from checking for continuity and resistance.

Switch is no good...

Just to make sure, I disconnected other plugs (I.e wiper) and checked the same and they were good !

Last night I went back into the diy thread and saw two more people had the EXACT issue as me and one guy took his to the dealership, resulting in a bad light switch.

 

Well there you go! That's better than a control module going bad I think. Nice work.

 

Hopefully it fixes my problem when it comes in.

Thanks again Vlad !!! Really appreciate all your help man !

I'll post back up after the switch is installed !

 

Of course bruh. That's what this is all about. I didn't do anything though: you did all the work. Let us know if your problem is fixed when you replace the switch.

 

What's up Vlad ? I forgot to give you an update.

The new switch came in yesterday. Luckily it was left at my neighbors. Switch was installed and my baby is back to normal !!!!!

Thanks again for the diagram and your help bro. If I do attempt to do the diy I'll make sure to have my DMM with me. Lol

 

Awesome! I'm glad I was able to help out! Thanks for posting an update. Hopefully it might help someone in the future who has the same problem.

Electrical troubleshooting is difficult sometimes. Now you're almost a pro!

 

not to revive an old thread but im going through this exact thing I sent 12 volts to the dark blue/ white wire of the light switch and lights are acting crazy. I used my power probe and sent 12v to said wire while connector was plugged in. i purchased a new wiper switch cause i heard a pop in there when that happened and wipers dont stop unless key is out.think im going to try a light switch..fingers crossed