Not sure if they tap will actually fit but when I needed to get power to my aftermarket heated seat pads, I actually soldered a piece of wire on top of a mini fuse and drew power from there.

If you are in Ottawa, I can give you my aftermarket harness that I got when I bought my Chinese fog lights. My RAV came pre-wired so it was extra harness that I did not need. That harness uses its own relay, not the factory relay.

Some folks like that since they can then make the lights work independent of low/high beam.

 

I live in Brampton at least we are in the same province aha, if all else fails I would be glad to pay for shipping and everything else for that harness if that is an option for you.

I just went out and bought the tap in the pic and I inserted two 15A fuses. The tap fits in the FR FOG slot but it sticks out due to its black plastic body (its not an issue though). However, something weird is going on.

I have LEDs installed under the dash, so I used those to test and see if the circuit is working.

1. RAV4 was off, no keys in ignition
2. Headlights were off
3. Fog switch was not activated

As soon as I attached the LED to the tap the LEDs instantly turned on. I am completely baffled as to why this is happening. I tried every single combination of turning in the switches and taking out the fuses, putting back only one fuse in the tap etc. Nothing is working, it seems like the "FR FOG" is always hot.

I even tried "RR FOG" and I get the same results, constant hot. I pulled out the relay that's supposed to control the fog lights and that didn't help either. The relay is working as far as I can tell as I can hear it clicking when I activate the switch.

Is there some sort of short or bridge that I need to remove? Or was my rav4 wired in such a complex manner to ensure that a DIY fog light installation isn't possible?

 

Check with a DC voltmeter to see how many volts are across this fuse location.
Maybe it is "only" 0.2 v and is enough for an LED to light?

 

the LEDs I use are rated 12V, they won't operate lower than 8V, I tried it already when I attempted to hook them up to the DRL, they wouldn't turn since DRL voltage is around 6V.

I figured out the problem: the FR FOG fuse is wired in series with the relay; the fuse comes before the relay, not after. Therefore, the fuse will always be hot whether the relay opens or closes the circuit.

I decided to use the tap I bought for my LED lights since I can't use the tap on the FR FOG fuse anymore. I am currently testing an LED strip by directly wrapping the positive wire around one of the legs on the relay. So far it's working, I just need some advice on how to neatly tap the relay's leg so I can create my own path for some electricity for the fog lights.

 

I figured out the problem: the FR FOG fuse is wired in series with the relay; the fuse comes before the relay, not after. Therefore, the fuse will always be hot whether the relay opens or closes the circuit.

I decided to use the tap I bought for my LED lights since I can't use the tap on the FR FOG fuse anymore. I am currently testing an LED strip by directly wrapping the positive wire around one of the legs on the relay. So far it's working, I just need some advice on how to neatly tap the relay's leg so I can create my own path for some electricity for the fog lights.

Check the wiring behind the relay panel to see if there is a wire running from the switched terminal of the relay. If so, that's the wire to power your fog lights. If not, the slickest way is to get a length of wire with a connector like the other slots in the relay panel (you may have to get a whole panel from a junkyard). Another alternative, a regular push on terminal will fit the relay, but you'd need to open up that connector slot in the relay panel to fit.

 

pics

 

Finally figured everything out!

Okay, over the weekend I decided to take the time to figure this out. My RAV was only half-wired for installation of OEM fog lights which was very frustrating. I decided to take on this challenge and figure out my own method, which in my opinion was very successful. Some of this isn't as professional as I'd like it to be, but until I have free time to correct the small things, the fog lights are at least fused from the fuse box and and all the connections have been crimped and soldered.

These are the tools I used to to do this installation. I used a crimper/ wire stripper (very cheap but functional), a packaging of spade speaker terminals from Wal-mart, scissors for opening the package and cutting wires if necessary, and a butane torch used for soldering.

The first step was to determine which leg on the relay is the leg that leads to the fog lights. After some testing I figured it out and bent the leg 90 degrees to the left (make sure the relay is oriented like how it is in the picture).

Next is to crimp a solder a spade terminal that fits on the leg that was bent on the relay. I used 16 gauge wire on the terminal.

After soldering and crimping, I connected the terminal to the leg in a way so that the side of the terminal with the "rolls" were facing away from the other three legs and the flat side was on the same side as the legs. This was done for installation of the relay.

The relay fits securely as it did before bending the leg, as the side of the terminal that comes in contact with the relay panel is flat, therefore there is a minimal gap between the relay and the panel.

Next I removed the floor trim and the carpet, followed by this sponge/foam material thing that takes the shape of the carpet area under the pedals. I did this as in the past I found a hole covered by a rubber grommet that led to the engine bay. I used this hole to fish a power cable for my car audio system. I still have the cable running through the hole.

This is the hole that I found. The red cable is running through it and it leads to the battery.

This is after I fished the 16 gauge wire.

Next I created a path for the 16 gauge wire to go to the front left fog light. I zip tied the wire in various locations to ensure that it's secure. For this part, I basically created my own harness for the fog lights as my vehicle didn't come with one pre-wired. I ordered one, so until it comes I'll be using my custom-made harness. I have not included how I made the custom harness as I don't think it is particularly safe, even though I took many precautions while constructing it.

I tested the fog lights before I put the bumper cover back on. I also made sure no wires were being pinched or stressed in any way.

This is what it looks with the bumper cover on. I'm having a hard time trying to adjust the fog light's beam path with the low beams on at the same time. I'll have to disconnect the low beams one day and adjust the fog lights when i have time.

I went for a test drive to ensure everything on my RAV was fucntioning and I didn't destroy some other electrical component on my vehicle :laugh.


I really don't like the yellow look of those halogen bulbs, gotta get some HID's soon. I'll make sure I get 35W ones as I currently have 35W 5000K HIDs in the low beams and they're not too bright. Just gotta choose a colour. How about 8000K?

 

Excellent post! A couple of things: If you have Techstream, you can use it to turn on the fog lights independently as I recall. Also, those wires going through the firewall need a rubber grommet or maybe a few layers of electrical tape to prevent them from eventually chafing on the sheet metal.

 

How is this done through Techstream? I would buy it for that alone.

 

Thanks for appreciating my post Yeah I realized that the wire needed some sort of insulation while I was making the post, I have some of that plastic sleeving that came with my amplifier installation kit, I'll put it on the wire today before I get a short or something worse.

I'm just glad that my fog lights are finally working, it took me way longer than it should (we're talking about 2-3 months here) to figure out every individual piece and then put it all together!

 

Good job. For aligning the fog lights, the Chinese ones I had were tricky.

For example, turing the screw clockwise would me it go up. Then I would stop and turn anti-clockwise and it would still point even higher!!! Sometimes, it would just keep pointing lower and lower, no matter which direction I turned the screw.

I found out that I needed to turn the screw from one extreme to the other fast for it to move in one direction. Not very obvious.

 

The lamps I bought are a brand known as "Valeo", these come close to OEM quality no?

Here's what they look like, this picture isn't the pair I own by the way but its identical:

I bought them from China so for all I know they could be fake. I guess I'll find out when I align the lights.

BTW, any advice on how to align the lights? Should I just point them to the floor or do something else?

 

Point them towards a wall, 5 feet away. The adjust as low as you can. With your headlights on, the beam from the fog lights should be lower.

Then drive around and see if you like it. If not, repeat the procedure and bring them up a little at a time.

 

Thanks, Ill do this when my HID kit comes in. I might end up doing a retrofit on the fog lamps as I am planning on retro fitting the headlamps and I want the fogs to match.

 

I just read this thread and it stunned me! I've had non-working aftermarket fog lights for 2yrs now on my 2012 base i4 2wd. They didn't come with a set of oem fog harness, so I used the aftermarket set. I'm going to try this out and see if it works.