Gotcha, thanks. I’ll have to check both bloc’s suggestion with the connector piece and this too if that doesn’t solve it. Will be several days before I have time but I’ll be sure to report back here once I have an answer.
2013 Fog Light Problem
- Thread starter ViperJustin
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bloc
SILVER Star
For my 2013 cruiser the male side was 90980-11460 and female 90980-11461
Not sure of your year/model (it helps to add it to your signature line) but I’d verify it didn’t change.
Protip: Note that nearly all Toyota connectors have a very small five-digit number molded into them. Generally you add that series to “90980-“ and you have the part number for it.
While you have it apart you’ll want to check for excessive corrosion on the terminals. Mine had minor degradation but they were fine after cleaning. Also for the record the female side (from memory the part attached to the chassis-side of the harness) had very short wires between the connector and an anchor point to the body. Depinning that without tearing stuff up was a challenge.
Now I’m wishing I had written this up.. figured mine was a fluke though and the thread wouldn’t really benefit many people.
Late update as I’ve been really busy and haven’t had any time to continue trying to diagnose this except for a few minutes this morning to at least check the connector housing and pins.
I was hoping this would be the issue since it seemed like an easier and obvious fix, but it appears the connector and inside of was more or less pristine with no signs of corrosion.
I still brushed off the connector with a soft bristle brush and blew it all out with compressed air to be sure, but the issue still persists.
I guess the next step is to try Teckis’ suggestions with checking the relays and such, which I’m not super thrilled about.
On a side note, I replaced the HID bulbs for the main headlamps since the old ones seemed lackluster, and these new ones are pretty much just as bad, it’s so strange going from my wife’s rogue with LEDs to my 13 LX and realizing just how dim and low light output these HIDs are. Not sure if something is wrong but I feel like my lights basically get drowned and if there is oncoming traffic I basically can’t see more than 10 feet in front of the car at night. That’s why I really want these fogs to work to have an additional light source that hopefully helps a bit untill I can figure out why the main headlights suck so bad.
I was hoping this would be the issue since it seemed like an easier and obvious fix, but it appears the connector and inside of was more or less pristine with no signs of corrosion.
I still brushed off the connector with a soft bristle brush and blew it all out with compressed air to be sure, but the issue still persists.
I guess the next step is to try Teckis’ suggestions with checking the relays and such, which I’m not super thrilled about.
On a side note, I replaced the HID bulbs for the main headlamps since the old ones seemed lackluster, and these new ones are pretty much just as bad, it’s so strange going from my wife’s rogue with LEDs to my 13 LX and realizing just how dim and low light output these HIDs are. Not sure if something is wrong but I feel like my lights basically get drowned and if there is oncoming traffic I basically can’t see more than 10 feet in front of the car at night. That’s why I really want these fogs to work to have an additional light source that hopefully helps a bit untill I can figure out why the main headlights suck so bad.
bloc
SILVER Star
Bummer, I was pretty confident that was going to be the issue.
Do you have a voltmeter? Your year LX should have pretty good headlamps if everything is working correctly. I guess it is possible the ballasts aren’t happy, but we generally don’t read about problems with them.
I do have a voltmeter, just a super basic cheap one from HF that I hardly know how to use. Yeah I'm at a loss, the ballasts i would think are ok since the beam pattern and height seems totally fine, its simply just the light output that is really dim. In addition my headlight lenses seems totally clear and not like worn out and yellowed from the sun. Really not sure but I've found a post or two on here with people having similar sentiments as me regarding the light output with no solution.
bloc
SILVER Star
I can't speak to this happening on toyota products but my friend had an audi with dim HIDs and it was the ballasts going out. Pattern was great, just not much light.
I don't know how to test them, however.
The reason I asked about the voltmeter.. I'd start with basic diagnosis of the whole electrical system. Make sure that's operating correctly, then start moving downstream toward the problem areas.
Small update: I replaced the ballasts on the headlights, haven’t driven at night yet but from being in garage they seem possibly brighter? But at the very least a slightly different tint so something I different about them.
As far as the fog lights, this may not really mean anything but testing continuity at the actual fog light plug/socket seems to work, but when trying to measure voltage it just comes back as zero, and this is with the fog lights “on” and the icon being on the dash.
Also when trying to check continuity or anything at the plug that was discussed early, I couldn’t get anything to register but it’s totally possible I wasn't checking things correctly. Overall I’m kind of at loss at this point.
As far as the fog lights, this may not really mean anything but testing continuity at the actual fog light plug/socket seems to work, but when trying to measure voltage it just comes back as zero, and this is with the fog lights “on” and the icon being on the dash.
Also when trying to check continuity or anything at the plug that was discussed early, I couldn’t get anything to register but it’s totally possible I wasn't checking things correctly. Overall I’m kind of at loss at this point.
Do you recall by any chance if all 6 of the pins/wires on the connector were present on yours. It’s difficult to tell from my previous pictures, but the #2 pin on each side of the connector, and its back where the wire would enter/exit are not present, assumed this was normal. But after cross referencing it with the wiring diagram in the FSM I’m not sure it’s normal anymore.
It seems like both the fogs and the ultrasonic sensors are associated with the #2 wire, and I cannot recall the sensors ever working either.
bloc
SILVER Star
I vaguely remember there being one blank pin slot with a plug in it.. which the EWD's seem to confirm. It is connector "BA1" and the fog lights occupy pins 5 & 8, the ultrasonic parking sensors pins 1, 4, 7.
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Guess I'm not totally understanding how to interpret those diagrams, looked at them in the FSM also and couldn't figure it out. So you're saying that is normal for it to be missing since 2 is not actually connected to anything? Also if 5/8 is for the fogs and 1,4,7 are for the sensors, then what are 3,6 connected to, as far as I could tell the wiring only splits off after that connector to the fogs and sensors.
I fly airplanes for a living and so far the 200 series electrical diagram is more complex than a $50M jet.
bloc
SILVER Star
Actually, yeah, more than one blank pin location. Should be able to look at yours and see whether those pin locations are populated. The spots without a wire will have a small rubber plug in there to prevent water ingress.
I’ve spent years reading Toyota diagrams almost exclusively.. so maybe there’s just a learning curve. But the rectangular box with BA1 is that connector, and the small number the pin location. Line color, obviously, is for the wire.
Also, oddly, the diagrams for the parking sensors are in the multimedia section, not vehicle exterior like the fogs are.
Ah thank you, I understand now, not sure why I couldn't figure that out lol. Well then back to square one I guess. Maybe one day ill be able to figure out what the issue is and finally have fog lights, and apparently parking sensors.
did you figure this out having the same problem?
Sorry for the late reply. No unfortunately not, I’ve been out of town for work the past few weeks and won’t even have time to diagnose it for another few weeks at minimum.
And honestly I’m a little defeated by it and not sure what to try going forward. Would definitely love to have functioning fog lights though.
