DIY: OEM fogs to work with parking and high beams

[ace of spades]

here is a quick and easy (and free) mod that will enable you to run your factory OEM foglights when you have only your marker lights on and during high and low beam operation, instead of only when your low beams are on.

tools needed- light, 10mm socket and ratchet, set of precision screwdrivers


-we're going to be swapping two wires inside the foglight switch harness, so pop your hood and remove your positive battery cable with your 10mm socket and ratchet.


-under the steering wheel, you need to remove two plastic cover panels. start with this L shaped panel first. twist the knob and gently pull it down.


-the second larger panel sits directly above the pedal assembly. same deal- twist the knob and gently pull it down, then slide it towards the seat.


-lying on your back with your head near the pedals, look up to find the back of the foglight switch.


-it's hard to see in the picture, but there is a tab on the top and bottom of the back of the switch. you'll need to push on both tabs with your index finger and thumb, while at the same time pushing the switch out of the dash like so.


-picture of switch assembly.


-push the tab on the lower side of the harness to separate it from the switch.



-NOTE: I had to do this at the dash because my wires weren't very long. I had the assembly pulled and dangling for visual purposes.

-we need to pull two wires from the harness and swap their places. what you see is 5 pin terminals (one for each wire) and a very small slot above each one.


-here is a picture of the wires from the factory, you will see that the colors of the wire sequence is
black/red/red/red/blue


-using a smaller flathead than earlier, you need to insert it into the tiny slot above the blue wire on the end.



-prying away from the wire, gently pull the wire to detach it from the harness. the wire should come out easily and it took a little finesse to pry/pull/hold everything at the same time. wire coming out:


-now you need to remove the center red wire the same way.

-insert the red wire into the end pin connector, and the blue wire into the center connector to look like this.


-the wire sequence will now be black/red/blue/red/red

-ready to reinstall. feed the harness back up into position.


-and reattach the switch to the harness.


-gently push the switch back into the dash to lock the tabs in place.


-reinstall both under panels starting with the larger one, making sure you slide it into the slot on the firewall.


-reattach the positive battery terminal and dig out your stereo code card, you're gonna need to reprogram your radio stations.


try em out!

before:

foglights only work when headlights are on


high beams = no foglights ftl

after:

foglights can be switched on when marker lights are turned on


and will stay on when high beams are switched on = ftw


-there was only one drawback to doing this mod, and that was the "enabled" light on the foglight switch no longer works for me. not a deal closer, I don't need a dash light to tell me when my foglights are on.

one last picture

[ace of spades]

to the best of my knowledge, this is the 02/03 wire swap. I believe 04/05 have different colored wires in the switch harness. and I think the wires that are swapped are yellow and brown.

if any 04/05 owners can take a picture like the one below, I'd like to verify what color wires are there and add it into the DIY.



thank you

[Kerby]

nice write up.

[RedSiBaron]

Thanks for the awesome writeup jason...how'd you figure this out and what are those two wires for?

[ace of spades]

nice write up.

thanks

Thanks for the awesome writeup jason...how'd you figure this out and what are those two wires for?

thanks Charley. I did this in 2008 after reading that someone did it here. that DIY has long been deleted, and I don't know what the wires do. that thread also had some info about the wires being different colors for 04/05's. someone on cep3 asked for more info about the mod, so I made a DIY for it long after had actually done it.

[introvert]

Anyone know the part # or where to get a replacement switch?

[ace of spades]

Acura OEM fog light Switch PN: 08V31-S6M-01035

[2004ep3hatch]

very interesting, Will you pass inspection when they oerate the lights? Legally they are supposed to shut off when the highs are on. Assuming you don't put it back lol.

I do have the factory harness somwhere.

[usedep3]

nice write up! i did this same rewire on my 03 before it was totaled. worked out great. no issues after 4+ years

tried doing the same on my 04/05 oem fogs, no dice. the rewire works, but for some reason, the head lights will turn on for a quick second and then shut off. i tried (without success) to figure out what was going on. this would be ok for most people, but bad for HID owners as turning lights on and off very quickly is bad for the ballasts.

[usedep3]

also, there's a clip/lock that keeps the wires on the harness. if u 'unlock' it, pigtails will come out a lot easier with the pin.

[jrsev_03]

I was curious if it was possible to just jump the red wire to the blue wire and instead not use the slot where the blue wire was. Do you guys think the dash fog light indicator light will work??? what was the original slot for the blue wire for anyway???

[ace of spades]

Thanks for the awesome writeup jason...how'd you figure this out and what are those two wires for?

did a little digging- one of the wires is for illumination to the switch. since I've changed wire locations, the amber fog symbol no longer lights up when the parking lights are engaged like every other light on the dash. the green "enabled" light for the fogs still works when switched on.

very interesting, Will you pass inspection when they oerate the lights? Legally they are supposed to shut off when the highs are on. Assuming you don't put it back lol.

I do have the factory harness somwhere.

I was nervous about this the first time I went in for PA inspection, but they didn't say anything. it's been a few years now and they've always passed it (and I go to the Honda dealership every year.)

nice write up! i did this same rewire on my 03 before it was totaled. worked out great. no issues after 4+ years

tried doing the same on my 04/05 oem fogs, no dice. the rewire works, but for some reason, the head lights will turn on for a quick second and then shut off. i tried (without success) to figure out what was going on. this would be ok for most people, but bad for HID owners as turning lights on and off very quickly is bad for the ballasts.

I heard that the wires are different colors for 04/05's. can you post a pic of all 5 wires for me?

I was curious if it was possible to just jump the red wire to the blue wire and instead not use the slot where the blue wire was. Do you guys think the dash fog light indicator light will work??? what was the original slot for the blue wire for anyway???

see my reply to RedSiBaron. not sure if you can jump them.

[civictype_r04]

My ebay kit allowed me to this with just pluging it all in.

[ace of spades]

yeah, I heard that ebay fogs are like that without any modification. I think all fogs should be hat way...

[krod]

Used this today and it worked great thanks for the write up,couldnt get the wires to come out of the harness so just spliced them between the harness and the protective coating,got a quick question i figure my fogs are oem but both of my fogs need to be replaced one has a small pin hole where a rock hit it and the other one has a crack and moisture is getting in,can i buy a set of ebay fogs and just swap out the actual lamps and use my stock wiring?