DIY:REAR Fog Light install with New harness for US spec 370Z + Radar hardwire w/pics

AK370Z · 11-25-2009, 12:07 AM

We all know that our US spec 370Z do not get the rear fog light. This fog light is standard in 370Zs ALL OVER the world! We had to settle with a false blacked out plate. In my opinion, it looks horrible and do not flow with the taillights at all. Ever since I bought the Z, I wanted to install the rear fog light. Due to my busy schedule and recent family emergencies, I had to hold off this install. Today the fog light was installed and in the next few paragraphs, I'll try to write down as much info possible about the install. Please feel free to ask me any question (or request high res version of any pictures below).

First of all, I'd like to thank The Z Store for providing me a functional rear fog light and [discounted priced] BRAND NEW harness for the fog light. My car is the FIRST CAR in the United States to have this harness installed. I'm basically the beta tester. I have been trying to find a good switch to install in the cabin so that it doesn't look out of place. I bought the Roadster conv. switch , took it apart and tried to figure out how to hack it. I wasn't so lucky

. Then I also bought a set of seat heater switches but technically they are for seat heaters. Using it for fog light is okay as a last resort but I really wasn't too happy about it. When I was told about this brand new harness, I wanted to jump on it regardless of the price. I know many members(i.e. Mr. Robert Nash) spent hundreds of dollars having the fog light installed at the dealer and still had to settle for the seat heater switch.

I also would like to thank MATT (bigaudiofanat) for doing the install and SIMOTA1 for writing the initial fog light DIY

Fog Light:

Fog Light Harness:

This is basically the complete fog light installation idea.

Removal of Rear Fog Light:

In order to remove the rear fog light, first you have to take off a black backing plate. It's held by 3 small clips. Due to dirt and exhaust heat, these 3 pins were really stuck pretty well. Have patience and they will come right off. now, once you remove these, you will have access to the fog light bolts. It's held by two small bolts. PLEASE BE VERY VERY CAREFUL not to ruin the bolt by turning with the base since Nissan decided to put so much locktite. It'll def be a good idea to soak them with some sort of WD40 before you start the install. Matt couldn't open these bolts as they would turn with the base. So, he sprayed some of these

and heated the bolt so that it expands and locktite melts. I mean we were this close ----> ll to simply giving up and take the WHOLE rear bumper off. That would have def add more hours to our install.

Installation:
First we took the front dash off to gain access to the accessory power (+) line. You can find plenty of step by step on how to take these off HERE and HERE . Connecting the fog light switch via accessory power will prevent you from accidentally keeping the fog light on when the car is off.

Matt basically started putting everything in place just to get an idea how the fog light will be installed and where to feed the wires. We ran the wire under the armrest to the trunk area. We fasten the orange relay right below the switch inside the armrest area. Here are some pictures

Please NOTE we used the Driver side (LEFT sided) existing rubber grommet for this install. We previously ran the rear camera wire through it and it worked beautifully for this install as well.

Here Matt is installing the fog light.

Comparison picture.

It was a bad day out today. It drizzled during the first hour and half of the install. VERY light drizzle. We HAD to install it today since tomorrow both of us are busy. Here's a pic

As you can see in the following pictures, wires are routed very neatly (thanks to Matt) and followed through the inside of the armrest to the front.

ALL THE WIRES were soldered and heat shrinked professionally.

We had the Install cat - TIGER look over everything and she gave us green light on the install. I mean this cat is always watching over the install when my car comes in. Heck, I think I even stop paying attention sometimes but TIGER, not even a blink! So, if your install is NOT approved by "Tiger the Install cat", then you're pretty much on your own! Lol

There are 4 ground bolts by the shifter. Feel free to use whichever one you like. We used the top right and rear right bolts.

Simply plug in the harness to the switch and you're all done! Push the beverage/switch holder in (it's not held by any bolt. Just pull up to remove and push down to install).

Final pictures:

The awesome thing about this switch is that it has a illuminated fog light logo that lits up with THE SAME ORANGE OEM COLOR as the interior accent!

You can see it more clear here

Exterior

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ociHEZLxgvg

Another cool feature about the harness is that it automatically resets as soon as you turn the ignition off meaning you don't have to guess or physically turn off after each session. You turn the car off and fog light will not be on when you start the car (kind of like how VDC switch but opposite). If you need it, simply turn it on.

Impression:
I'm VERY happy with the way the fog light is installed. The quality of the harness is fantastic. I'm glad I didn't had to settle for cheap auto zone switch or the heater switch. Pricing and info thread for this harness should be released soon by The Z Store. Please keep your eyes open in the Sponsor Marketplace. If you have ANY question(s), do not hesitate to ask.

Thank You.

A. Kaiser

AK370Z · 11-25-2009, 12:08 AM

Passport Escort Radar Detector Hardwiring:

Hardwire Kit:

I Bought the hardwire kit from ebay for about $8 (shipped). Here's the LINK

Installation:

Install is very simply. Simply run the wire under the headliner and through the A Pillar weather strip.

Then run it under the knee panel and feed it all the way to the power accessory line by the headunit.

Connect the power and ground the black wire. Voila! You're all done.

bigaudiofanat · 11-25-2009, 12:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AK370Z

We had the Install cat - TIGER look over everything and she gave us green light on the install. I mean this cat is always watching over the install when my car comes in. Heck, I think I even stop paying attention sometimes but TIGER, not even a blink! So, if your install is NOT approved by "Tiger the Install cat", then you're pretty much on your own! Lol

LOL man she is always with me when I do installs. LOL she had me laughing and what you said in that pic I am on the floor over here.

Glad you like everything AK! Can not wait to see you next time for more stuff!

Bolts, be very careful with them we got lucky with ours. After noticing that they where not getting lose I sprayed them down than heated them up and sprayed them again. Works like a charm. If I where to do it again I would do that first. WD40 might work but this oil has the ability to loosen tough bolts very well I have been using it for a few years now.

My impression of the harness, I enjoyed being able to try it out. Everything seemed to have went week. Although some wires where to long and others to short "ground and power wire" I will say that I would recommend this product if it is reasonably priced. I would recommend this to anyone who wants the rear fog light to function how it should similar to Japanese 370zs.

molamann · 11-25-2009, 03:05 AM

Hmm... who do I owe this rep to?

bigaudiofanat · 11-25-2009, 08:46 AM

LOL I know well she is my cat (^_^)

theDreamer · 11-25-2009, 10:28 AM

Where is the wiring harness at the Z store, can not find it?
Does it come with the rear fog light now?

Michael@TheZStore · 11-25-2009, 11:08 AM

Great write up and pix AK370Z. Thanks for doing the first install for us.

Michael

bigaudiofanat · 11-25-2009, 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theDreamer

Where is the wiring harness at the Z store, can not find it?
Does it come with the rear fog light now?

Not available right now. Will be soon.

Michael@TheZStore · 11-25-2009, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theDreamer

Where is the wiring harness at the Z store, can not find it?
Does it come with the rear fog light now?

Will be on our webite within a week, ready to order.
In stock next month.

Michael

TSterling · 11-25-2009, 09:54 PM

can you please pm me a price

Mike · 11-25-2009, 10:09 PM

do you guys think if I removed the blank plate at the back there would be room for a trailer hitch to come out of that hole instead of putting a fog light in?

TonyBPD · 11-25-2009, 10:21 PM

Total time for install?

AK370Z · 11-26-2009, 01:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike

do you guys think if I removed the blank plate at the back there would be room for a trailer hitch to come out of that hole instead of putting a fog light in?

Mike,
I don't see why not. I will take a took tomorrow and see if there's any chassis part close by for you to weld on the trailer hitch.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TonyBPD

Total time for install?

Hey Tony,
I was in Bridgeton all day Tuesday and hoping to get pulled over by you

. I even had the fog light on!

I think the longest part is to remove the fog light. If you don't get any complication (though me and few others had complication taking off the cover due to extra locktite on the screw), then I would say 45 minutes to an hour?

TODAY we had the most dense fog I have EVER seen. Visibility is like 15 feet maybe! I was using the fog light with a

face.

I do feel that this fog light is a GREAT addition to the Z. It significantly increases visibility on bad weather like snow, heavy fog and heavy rain. Now with this new harness, I don't see why everyone would not put this on.

Another cool feature about the harness is that it automatically resets as soon as you turn the ignition off meaning you don't have to guess or physically turn off after each session. You turn the car off and fog light will not be on when you start the car (kind of like the VDC switch but opposite). If you need it, simply turn it on.

TonyBPD · 11-26-2009, 01:12 AM

I'm all over this once that harness is available. I was off on Tuesday.

bigaudiofanat · 11-26-2009, 06:11 AM

Should of stopped by, the install time was 4 hours but than again that included the radar hard wiring as well. I would say full time with no problems would be around 2 hours. One reason for this is the power wire on the harness is to short and have to be extended. Also for trailer hits all there is is a piece of aluminum frame back and above the cut out. In my non trailer hitch point of view I would not put one.

11-25-2009, 12:07 AM	#1 (permalink)
AK370Z Administrator Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: NJ Posts: 9,930 Drives: 09 370Z MB Sports M6 Rep Power: 10	DIY:REAR Fog Light install with New harness for US spec 370Z + Radar hardwire w/pics We all know that our US spec 370Z do not get the rear fog light. This fog light is standard in 370Zs ALL OVER the world! We had to settle with a false blacked out plate. In my opinion, it looks horrible and do not flow with the taillights at all. Ever since I bought the Z, I wanted to install the rear fog light. Due to my busy schedule and recent family emergencies, I had to hold off this install. Today the fog light was installed and in the next few paragraphs, I'll try to write down as much info possible about the install. Please feel free to ask me any question (or request high res version of any pictures below). First of all, I'd like to thank The Z Store for providing me a functional rear fog light and [discounted priced] BRAND NEW harness for the fog light. My car is the FIRST CAR in the United States to have this harness installed. I'm basically the beta tester. I have been trying to find a good switch to install in the cabin so that it doesn't look out of place. I bought the Roadster conv. switch , took it apart and tried to figure out how to hack it. I wasn't so lucky . Then I also bought a set of seat heater switches but technically they are for seat heaters. Using it for fog light is okay as a last resort but I really wasn't too happy about it. When I was told about this brand new harness, I wanted to jump on it regardless of the price. I know many members(i.e. Mr. Robert Nash) spent hundreds of dollars having the fog light installed at the dealer and still had to settle for the seat heater switch. I also would like to thank MATT (bigaudiofanat) for doing the install and SIMOTA1 for writing the initial fog light DIY Fog Light: Fog Light Harness: This is basically the complete fog light installation idea. Removal of Rear Fog Light: In order to remove the rear fog light, first you have to take off a black backing plate. It's held by 3 small clips. Due to dirt and exhaust heat, these 3 pins were really stuck pretty well. Have patience and they will come right off. now, once you remove these, you will have access to the fog light bolts. It's held by two small bolts. PLEASE BE VERY VERY CAREFUL not to ruin the bolt by turning with the base since Nissan decided to put so much locktite. It'll def be a good idea to soak them with some sort of WD40 before you start the install. Matt couldn't open these bolts as they would turn with the base. So, he sprayed some of these and heated the bolt so that it expands and locktite melts. I mean we were this close ----> ll to simply giving up and take the WHOLE rear bumper off. That would have def add more hours to our install. Installation: First we took the front dash off to gain access to the accessory power (+) line. You can find plenty of step by step on how to take these off HERE and HERE . Connecting the fog light switch via accessory power will prevent you from accidentally keeping the fog light on when the car is off. Matt basically started putting everything in place just to get an idea how the fog light will be installed and where to feed the wires. We ran the wire under the armrest to the trunk area. We fasten the orange relay right below the switch inside the armrest area. Here are some pictures Please NOTE we used the Driver side (LEFT sided) existing rubber grommet for this install. We previously ran the rear camera wire through it and it worked beautifully for this install as well. Here Matt is installing the fog light. Comparison picture. It was a bad day out today. It drizzled during the first hour and half of the install. VERY light drizzle. We HAD to install it today since tomorrow both of us are busy. Here's a pic As you can see in the following pictures, wires are routed very neatly (thanks to Matt) and followed through the inside of the armrest to the front. ALL THE WIRES were soldered and heat shrinked professionally. We had the Install cat - TIGER look over everything and she gave us green light on the install. I mean this cat is always watching over the install when my car comes in. Heck, I think I even stop paying attention sometimes but TIGER, not even a blink! So, if your install is NOT approved by "Tiger the Install cat", then you're pretty much on your own! Lol There are 4 ground bolts by the shifter. Feel free to use whichever one you like. We used the top right and rear right bolts. Simply plug in the harness to the switch and you're all done! Push the beverage/switch holder in (it's not held by any bolt. Just pull up to remove and push down to install). Final pictures: The awesome thing about this switch is that it has a illuminated fog light logo that lits up with THE SAME ORANGE OEM COLOR as the interior accent! You can see it more clear here Exterior Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ociHEZLxgvg Another cool feature about the harness is that it automatically resets as soon as you turn the ignition off meaning you don't have to guess or physically turn off after each session. You turn the car off and fog light will not be on when you start the car (kind of like how VDC switch but opposite). If you need it, simply turn it on. Impression: I'm VERY happy with the way the fog light is installed. The quality of the harness is fantastic. I'm glad I didn't had to settle for cheap auto zone switch or the heater switch. Pricing and info thread for this harness should be released soon by The Z Store. Please keep your eyes open in the Sponsor Marketplace. If you have ANY question(s), do not hesitate to ask. Thank You. A. Kaiser jlo370z, diala4asian, SterlingDrive and 1 others like this. __________________ The370Z Signature Pictures ll Want to rock our forum decals on your car? Then click here! ll How to Embed YouTube Videos In a Post STOP! (Hammertime) ll Become a Premium Member Click HERE ll F.A.Q. Are You a Nissan Dealer? Click Here to Become A "Supporting Dealer" and Start Listing Your 370Zs In Our Inventory Section My Monterey Blue Z ll My Exhaust --> My Intake --> G3 Nissan's Official Response Regarding Oil Temp Issue: CLICK HERE Need a Set of Cheap Winter wheels /Tires? Then Visit The Banner Link Below and Place Your Order. You'll Help Keep The370Z Alive.

11-25-2009, 12:08 AM	#2 (permalink)
AK370Z Administrator Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: NJ Posts: 9,930 Drives: 09 370Z MB Sports M6 Rep Power: 10	Passport Escort Radar Detector Hardwiring: Passport Escort Radar Detector Hardwiring: Hardwire Kit: I Bought the hardwire kit from ebay for about $8 (shipped). Here's the LINK Installation: Install is very simply. Simply run the wire under the headliner and through the A Pillar weather strip. Then run it under the knee panel and feed it all the way to the power accessory line by the headunit. Connect the power and ground the black wire. Voila! You're all done. __________________ The370Z Signature Pictures ll Want to rock our forum decals on your car? Then click here! ll How to Embed YouTube Videos In a Post STOP! (Hammertime) ll Become a Premium Member Click HERE ll F.A.Q. Are You a Nissan Dealer? Click Here to Become A "Supporting Dealer" and Start Listing Your 370Zs In Our Inventory Section My Monterey Blue Z ll My Exhaust --> My Intake --> G3 Nissan's Official Response Regarding Oil Temp Issue: CLICK HERE Need a Set of Cheap Winter wheels /Tires? Then Visit The Banner Link Below and Place Your Order. You'll Help Keep The370Z Alive.

11-25-2009, 08:46 AM	#5 (permalink)
bigaudiofanat Car Audio Installer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Magnolia DE Posts: 8,342 Drives: 2012 Infiniti G37x Rep Power: 853	LOL I know well she is my cat (^_^) __________________ Need help with car audio or electronics? Let me know!! Need Help Let Me Know Direct email address reimermatt@gmail.com Owner of: Dynamic Mobile Audio Follow me below https://www.facebook.com/Dynamicmobileaudio/

11-25-2009, 10:28 AM	#6 (permalink)
theDreamer A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 30,879 Drives: 370z Rep Power: 4210	Where is the wiring harness at the Z store, can not find it? Does it come with the rear fog light now? __________________ theDreamer's Z // Fast Intentions // Uprev // GTM // HKS // TEIN theDreamer's Silvia // URAS // GREDDY Houston Zs // Facebook // Twitter // Instagram

11-25-2009, 10:09 PM	#11 (permalink)
Mike The370Z.com Sponsor Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Loganville, GA Posts: 5,944 Drives: 370z Rep Power: 2186	do you guys think if I removed the blank plate at the back there would be room for a trailer hitch to come out of that hole instead of putting a fog light in? __________________ NISSAN: 75 280Z / 86 300ZX GLL /87 Sentra SE / 03 350Z / 23 Z Porsche: 93 968 / 23 Macan GTS / 93 968

11-25-2009, 03:05 AM	#4 (permalink)
molamann A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Los Angeles Posts: 1,666 Drives: 370Z with NAVVVVV Rep Power: 284	Hmm... who do I owe this rep to?

11-25-2009, 11:08 AM	#7 (permalink)
Michael@TheZStore The370Z.com Sponsor Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Orange, CA Posts: 159 Drives: n/a Rep Power: 299	Great write up and pix AK370Z. Thanks for doing the first install for us. Michael

11-25-2009, 09:54 PM	#10 (permalink)
TSterling Base Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: houston Posts: 14 Drives: 370z 6-speed blue Rep Power: 16	can you please pm me a price

11-25-2009, 10:21 PM	#12 (permalink)
TonyBPD Track Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: South Jersey Posts: 614 Drives: 2012 VW Golf R Rep Power: 17	Total time for install?

11-26-2009, 01:12 AM	#14 (permalink)
TonyBPD Track Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: South Jersey Posts: 614 Drives: 2012 VW Golf R Rep Power: 17	I'm all over this once that harness is available. I was off on Tuesday. Last edited by TonyBPD; 11-26-2009 at 01:26 AM.

11-26-2009, 06:11 AM	#15 (permalink)
bigaudiofanat Car Audio Installer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Magnolia DE Posts: 8,342 Drives: 2012 Infiniti G37x Rep Power: 853	Should of stopped by, the install time was 4 hours but than again that included the radar hard wiring as well. I would say full time with no problems would be around 2 hours. One reason for this is the power wire on the harness is to short and have to be extended. Also for trailer hits all there is is a piece of aluminum frame back and above the cut out. In my non trailer hitch point of view I would not put one. __________________ Need help with car audio or electronics? Let me know!! Need Help Let Me Know Direct email address reimermatt@gmail.com Owner of: Dynamic Mobile Audio Follow me below https://www.facebook.com/Dynamicmobileaudio/

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