How To: Auto Fog Lights (Don't Have To Push Button)

midwestdenaliguy · August 15, 2018

2 hours ago, jlozan2 said:

looking forward to see the update. Just ordered them myself.

Hopefully you got the micro and not mini fuse taps. Both 15a fuses you do this with are micro fuses.

midwestdenaliguy · August 15, 2018

2 hours ago, jlozan2 said:

Is it necessary to use 14-gauge wire?

No, it's a little overkill but it was what I had laying around at the time. Could go smaller. The fuse tap wire is definitely smaller than 14 gauge, but not sure of exact size.

OldBlue61 · August 16, 2018

I like this. I know what I'll be doing this weekend!

phabejhmoob · August 16, 2018

17 hours ago, jlozan2 said:

Is it necessary to use 14-gauge wire?

You can always go with a larger gauge wire to be safe, you can't go the other way around, using small gauge, it could melt, burn, etc etc. You can actually home electrical wiring if you want... it just doesn't look as nice.

Edited August 16, 2018 by cs2016lt

e_schott · August 16, 2018

Good idea but use the fuse taps. Jamming the wire will stress the terminals in the fuse box and could eventually cause a poor connection and high resistance

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

sk · August 16, 2018

On 8/15/2018 at 12:05 PM, midwestdenaliguy said:

UPDATE - the fuse tap link in here is for a mini fuse and not a micro fuse, they are too big to use (just learned the hard way). Fortunately it was only an $8 lesson. Here are the correct fuse taps (micro):

Wirenest Micro2 ATR Fuse Tap 16awg with 15A Fuse - 5 Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XKWWS7B/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_03eDBbJ6KZ2V2

I'll install them this weekend and update this thread.

Sorry I wasn't clear in my original post. The link was just an example of a fuse tap not necessarily the correct one to order (I didn't dig far enough into this mod to figure out which tap we needed).

jlozan2 · August 26, 2018

On 8/15/2018 at 11:05 AM, midwestdenaliguy said:

UPDATE - the fuse tap link in here is for a mini fuse and not a micro fuse, they are too big to use (just learned the hard way). Fortunately it was only an $8 lesson. Here are the correct fuse taps (micro):

Wirenest Micro2 ATR Fuse Tap 16awg with 15A Fuse - 5 Pack https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XKWWS7B/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_03eDBbJ6KZ2V2

I'll install them this weekend and update this thread.

Did you end up installing these?

midwestdenaliguy · August 27, 2018

On 8/26/2018 at 9:23 AM, jlozan2 said:

Did you end up installing these?

This past week has been crazy busy and I tried to do it real quick the other day. I couldn't get it to work with the fuse taps, but I ran out of time to troubleshoot it. I will try again this week. It very well could have been a loose connection, I was trying to do it really fast before I left the house. Not enough time to diagnose my new wires. I put the original wire back in and it worked perfect. Like I said, I'll troubleshoot the new set up with the wire taps this week and get back to the thread.

jlozan2 · August 27, 2018

38 minutes ago, midwestdenaliguy said:

This past week has been crazy busy and I tried to do it real quick the other day. I couldn't get it to work with the fuse taps, but I ran out of time to troubleshoot it. I will try again this week. It very well could have been a loose connection, I was trying to do it really fast before I left the house. Not enough time to diagnose my new wires. I put the original wire back in and it worked perfect. Like I said, I'll troubleshoot the new set up with the wire taps this week and get back to the thread.

Awesome thanks for the update!

midwestdenaliguy · August 27, 2018

On 8/16/2018 at 3:03 PM, sk said:

Sorry I wasn't clear in my original post. The link was just an example of a fuse tap not necessarily the correct one to order (I didn't dig far enough into this mod to figure out which tap we needed).

Not your fault, I jumped the gun and ordered the first 15A wire taps I saw. Didn't occur to me to make sure I was ordering the right size.

midwestdenaliguy · September 11, 2018

UPDATE - I have tried the micro fuses and I am having connection issues. I don't know if it's because these are cheap fuse taps or my connection between the diode and the wires is not sufficient, but the fogs and/or DRL's aren't working properly. Whenever I go back to the straight jump setup from the first post everything works perfectly. I will try to find higher end fuse taps or solder the current ones and see if that works - but until then I am keeping the original setup. Again for what it's worth, I never had an issue with the straight jump in 4 years of it being in my 2008 Cadillac Escalade and have not had any issues in the 2+ months it's been in my 2016 Sierra.

zea · September 11, 2018

I am assuming the two fuses for the DRL are for the left and right individually. When the blinker is turned on the DRL turn off on the side of the blinker. Does this mean that your fog lights would turn off while one of your blinkers are on?

AE1M · September 11, 2018

On 8/9/2018 at 9:45 AM, midwestdenaliguy said:

I posted this in another thread, but they were looking to only have the fogs on with high beams. My solution has the fog lights automatically turn on, and stay on, anytime the parking lights or headlights come on (hi and lo beam). You never have to hit the button. Figured I'd label this as a "How To" in case those are housed somewhere. I'm new to this forum, so let me know if I should be doing this differently. Cheers!

Hey guys - recently bought a 2016 Sierra Denali and joined the forum. Stumbled upon this thread while clicking around. I always gain so much from these forums, so I thought I'd give back in my first post. Here is a simple solution I made to have the fog lights automatically turn on with the day time running lights - did this with my previous truck as well (2008 Cadillac Escalade). I bought a diode and used some 14 gauge wire I had laying around. I wrapped 14 gauge wire to each end of the diode and sealed it with marine grade shrink wrap (waterproof). I then got into the engine bay fuse box and pulled the fuses for the fog lights (#49) and day time running lights (#28 or #29 - can be either, only need one). When I put the fuses back in I wedged the wire in one of the slots for the fuse connector, one end of the diode/wire goes in the fog light fuse and the other goes in the DRL fuse. Keep in mind the diode is directional (only allows current one way), so if it doesn't work at first just flip the wire around. Now anytime your DRL's are on, the fog lights will automatically come on. No need to push the fog light button. The fog lights also stay on when you turn on your brights. I attached a photo of my set up, it was taken standing over the driver side fender looking at the fuse box. Ask any questions if you got em!

You didnt show the orientation of the diode, can you comment.

midwestdenaliguy · September 11, 2018

11 minutes ago, AE1M said:

You didnt show the orientation of the diode, can you comment.

You're pulling power from the DRL's and sending it to the Fogs, so the diode arrow should point at the Fogs. If you happen to put it in backwards you won't hurt anything, it just won't allow current to flow to the fogs. Flip it around and your fogs will be on with your DRL's and/or headlights.

midwestdenaliguy · September 14, 2018

On 9/11/2018 at 3:41 PM, zea said:

I am assuming the two fuses for the DRL are for the left and right individually. When the blinker is turned on the DRL turn off on the side of the blinker. Does this mean that your fog lights would turn off while one of your blinkers are on?

My 2016 Sierra DRL's don't turn off when the blinker is on, so I don't have that issue. I see you drive a 2017 Silverado so I'm not sure how your DRL's work compared to mine. If they do turn off, then it could shut the fogs off while your blinker is on. This mod will only cost you a few dollars, so I say it's worth a shot to try it anyway and see if you like how it functions.