Fog Light Wiring and Install on 2.5S

[hexapod]

So I've been reading up on everyone's post about doing their foglights and wiring them, but noticed that most people have the 3.5 or the version of the 2.5 that's already prewired for fogs. I drive a 08 2.5S and I read in the manual that it is not even available in my model of the car :\ which is obviously causing some concern because that means that I'm going to have to re-wire or run a line myself through the car.

I woke up this morning thing of a new idea..and please let me know if this is crazy or impossible. Do you guys think that I could just disconnect the ugly orange lights in our head lights (that are supposed to be our fogs) and just connect new lamps to that wire. I realize that my fogs will be on at the same time as the lights are on, but as I look around at other cars it doesn't look that bad anymore. Let me know what you guys think!

I also read in numerous other blogs (not sure if it applies to my car cuz it's a 2.5) that the foglights/lamps that they purchased didn't fit into the frame in the bumper that it's supposed to fit in. So what I'm thinking is that Ima just have to go OEM with it, but what I would like from you guys is...

1. Any tips and ways to install..and what the best way of going about doing this is..
2. Any suggestions on products, where to find them, and prices..
3. What color should i get? (I've researched and found yellow is best because it doesn't reflect off the dog as much)

Tell me what you guys think. Any help is greatly appreciated!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/08-10-NI ... 5351wt_832

That's what I've found so far that's closest to what I want.

[R.]

1. Any tips and ways to install..and what the best way of going about doing this is..
2. Any suggestions on products, where to find them, and prices..
3. What color should i get? (I've researched and found yellow is best because it doesn't reflect off the dog as much)

1. Check out this post.
basic-2-5-coupe-fog-light-t474006.html? ... t#p5398714

2. Check out the thread of the post I linked earlier. I just bought the sedan version of those lights. They get in tuesday and I should have them installed by tuesday night and I'll let you know how I like them.

3. Yellow IS supposed to be the best based off of what I have read. I think yellow, as a headlight/foglight color, looks a little funny. I'm not sure how much of a difference it would really make though but I think white would be fine as tons of cars have white.


Stay away from BlingLights. I was stupid and bought a set from them. I sent them back and I am in the rough process of getting my money back.

Running a wire through the firewall on our cars is pretty easy if done through the wheel well on the drivers side so don't let that make or break your decision. If you get a aftermarket foglight kit that has the switch included all you would be doing is running the wire for the switch through. But if you are uncomfortable doing that then don't do it haha. Just make sure not to slice any other wires.

Check out this post
basic-2-5-coupe-fog-light-t474006.html? ... t#p5619694

The idea of unplugging the DRLs and hooking up fog lights is a interesting idea. I think it is just much simpler ordering an aftermarket fog light kit because you would need to splice and extend the wires and then figure our what ones to connect the wires to.

Hope this helps.

[fyrcomm]

Yellow fog lights are NOT better than white fog lights.

Back in the day, it was thought that yellow would be a better color for fog lights since it has a longer wavelength than white. Since the wavelength is longer, there would be less scattering against the fog droplets, and thus more visibility through the fog.

BUT this is only true if the fog droplets are about the same diameter as the wavelength of the light. Fog droplets are HUGE compared to wavelengths of light, so it doesn't make a difference what color the fog lights are.

Get whatever color you think looks best. IMO both yellow and white look good. To me, white is a cleaner look (especially if it matches the headlights), and yellow is a sportier look.

[hexapod]

Thanks for both your suggestions guy! I'm still pretty much a noob when it comes to things like these but I'm still learning I jus felt like yellow would be better because it wouldn't reflect off the water on the ground as much. So it'd be great for fog and rain at first, I was a little skeptical of the yellow lights because I bunch of "riced" (I jus learned that term ) cars have them. But the more I think about it the more I'm convincing myself to get yellow because it's for function and now cosmetic purposes. Plus, if I install a separate switch, I can choose when I want them on so that makes me happy. Thank you for providing me the tutorial. I must have looked over it when I was searching for it. Please let me know how ur install goes and what type of wiring u suggest me go. Through the wheel well or the firewall. last but nit least. The lights I found aren't blinglights right? I hope not :/

[R.]

Thanks for both your suggestions guy! I'm still pretty much a noob when it comes to things like these but I'm still learning I jus felt like yellow would be better because it wouldn't reflect off the water on the ground as much. So it'd be great for fog and rain at first, I was a little skeptical of the yellow lights because I bunch of "riced" (I jus learned that term ) cars have them. But the more I think about it the more I'm convincing myself to get yellow because it's for function and now cosmetic purposes. Plus, if I install a separate switch, I can choose when I want them on so that makes me happy. Thank you for providing me the tutorial. I must have looked over it when I was searching for it. Please let me know how ur install goes and what type of wiring u suggest me go. Through the wheel well or the firewall. last but nit least. The lights I found aren't blinglights right? I hope not :/

No, those arent bling lights. BlingLights is a company and it would say blinglights like 30 times on the page.

I will let you know how the install goes and ill take a couple pictures of where the holes are to get the wires through the wheel well.

[hexapod]

Oh okay cool! Thanks! That'd be awesome! I look forward to it! I don't need the fogs till like late December so there's no rush on my part!

[masterbeatty]

Please dont use the same wires for the main power to the fog lights. The parking lights are less amperage than \ fog lights so you would end up blowing fuse after fuse or maybe fry something that would be expensive to fix and they would not be bright enough to even use. That post R. linked i wrote and i only used the parking lights as pilot power to oen and close the relay's not power the lights alone. The only reason i ran the wires through the fire wall was because i already had a hole there from a previous install for my stereo. but going through the wheel well is a better option.

[hexapod]

Oh..I wasn't going to directly connect the bulb to the wire...is it possibly for me to use THAT wire..but connect a kit to it. So that it'll go through the ballast first and then the bulb? Or is that out of the question lol.

I really just want to limit the amount of wiring that I have going throughout the front of my car you know? And plus.. I really don't like those ugly orange lights anyway. They're so useless and don't light up anything! -.- I might just disconnect them..and just use that overlay to cover them up. What do you guys think?

[R.]

Well I hooked my fogs up it was all really simple, I took my bumper off because I knew it was easily done and I have huge hands so I didnt have to mess with squeezing them around - I still beat them up pretty good like usual though lol.

It was all good till I needed to wire my switch through the firewall. I got my tires rotated a few months ago and HOLY CRAP they made my lugs so tight. I could only break one loose. My cousin was helping me and he is ripped he couldnt break a single one. I had my dad come out and after laughing at how weak we were he couldnt break a single one. I asked my neighbor if he had a impact wrench and he didnt, then he also laughed and tried to show his muscles off that failed to break a single lug loose.

So I'm going to Discount Tire Co tomorrow where I'm going to get my wheels at in a few weeks and see if I can talk them into breaking my lugs loose for me and then I can tighten them back up with my tire iron so I can get them off again and complete the install that is extremely ghettoly switched inside my engine compartment.

After I get the wheel off which shouldnt be this hard lol it should be a slice of cake.

[hexapod]

Lol I see. Well seeing as how my hands r about the size of a 13 year old (I know because my cousins that old nd I compared my hands to his :/) do u think id be able to do it through the wheel well like I did with my hids? Or should I definitely go through the bumper because the wiring and install will b much easier?

Also..my other cousin (who taught me the install for my bids) said that taking off the bumper is hard because of the alignment when u have to put it back on. What do u think?

[R.]

Nah, you should be fine without taking the bumper off.

As far as aligning the bumper back on I have done it a few times and its pretty hard to mess it up because its all clips that it slides right into. So unless you go out of your way and purposely mess a whole row of clips up I think you should be good.

[hexapod]

Okay thanks Your input helped me out. Now I'm not too worried about the wiring or the installing. Do you think it'd be okay for me to just disconnect the orange lights that are in the headlight? or would that be dangerous because the wires would be all exposed. I just don't think theres a point to those lights and I don't want them on when i'm using my headlights.

[R.]

Well from the way that I think of it I don't see a problem. I would just take the bulbs out and put the bulb socket back into the headlight. The headlight is air tight so no water would get in there - at least that's how it was designed. Some gets in there because I know some Altima owners have condensation problems but I still don't think that would be a problem. Just wait for someone else to respond to that question haha.

[hexapod]

LOL didn't you just respond? Or do you not trust your own answer? lol silly

[R.]

I have a basic understanding of electrical systems from a year of honors physics(which really didnt do much for me) between that and common sense I think it would be fine. But there might be something im not aware of that makes it not alright lol.

Ok and I finally got my tire off and finished the install. It really is pretty simple.

I'm not sure if youve ran a wire through teh firewall yet.. this was my first time and its really frustrating but not that hard.

Here are the wheel well instructions. Take the wheel off and peal back the wheelwell like you would do installing HID's only do it going toward the cabin of the car. You will see a birds nest of wires running into a grommet. This is the grommet that is talked about in the post I am about to link you to below.
how-to-install-power-wire-in-4th-gen-al ... l#p4809687

Other than that its all in the post.
Let me know if you have any other ?'s

[mrodrig2]

Lilliku, did you end up getting the lights that you posted? I bought some and they won't fit unless I shave off the inner lip of the light opening. The lens is too big. Do yours fit?

[hexapod]

No I haven't gotten them yet :\ I'm waiting 'til closer to the fall or winter because that's when i'll really need it. sorry!!

[mrodrig2]

No I haven't gotten them yet :\ I'm waiting 'til closer to the fall or winter because that's when i'll really need it. sorry!!

Well, lucky for you. I recommend that you purchase from another seller unless this one gets sorted out. Not optimistic that that will happen though as I haven't gotten a response yet through e-mail.

[hexapod]

Okayyy!! Thanks so much! I hope you didn't choose this buyer just because I posted it Cuz then I'd feel really bad that you wasted your money :\

[Diesel187]

@ LilliKu & whoever's interested...

Here's a mini guide of how I installed my fogs. I was in your shoes a couple years ago when I first got my coupe. Installing fogs was one of the first mods I did. My car was not pre-wired. But I still wanted an OEM look. So I got my hands on the Altima service manual, and did tons of googling, and searched other Nissan forums.

You should know that even though your car is not pre-wired for fogs, the connectors in the fuse box next to the battery still work. I remember someone on another site\forum did it this way…which confirmed it. There's a few pictures of the fuse box area on this forum. The same way you check to see if you are pre-wired, is the same place where the wires have to go. I just stripped the new wire about a half inch and jammed it in there. I check it periodically but it hasn't moved. It's been working fine for over 2 years now. And I just installed an HID kit on it last week. Still good.

So in a nutshell, I ran my own wiring to the fuse box. To control it, I bought the OEM turn signal switch that has the fog light switch on it. My setup cost more, but like I said, I wanted an OEM look. And I def did not want to risk cutting any wires by going through the firewall.

In case your interested, here's what I got. At the time (2 years ago) there was not many options for Altima coupe fogs. Ebay might be a cheaper option now. But this still works...

Fogs (2 bulbs included)
http://shop.autopartsavenue.com/FOG-LIG ... 0-1-2.html
Combo Switch - Depending on if you have automatic lights or not...
http://www.trademotion.com/partlocator/ ... atalogid=0
3 - Different color wires - I used Red, Green, & Black for power and ground.
Sold all over the place but I got mine from Home Depot. "16Guage Primary Wire"
2 - H11 connectors.
I forgot the site I got them from but they are sold all over the place as well. A local Autozone might have it too.

Good luck.

[hexapod]

Oh wow! Thanks!! I've searching everywhere for someone with the same situation as me! lol I'm probably not going to be installing 'til a few months from now. But i seriously appreciate your post!

[mrodrig2]

Got the issue resolved. Turns out that they are the correct lights but they were sent to me improperly assembled. They had the right mounting plate on the left lens and vice versa. So I think that makes them the cheapest fog lights around for the coupe.