Factory fogs keeps blowing fuses - any ideas?

[Trevor C.]

Hi everyone,

The fuses keep blowing in my dealer installed Hella fogs. Here's what I've done to try to fix it:

New Hella 55w bulbs
Disassembled and cleaned all connections

These take a 15A fuse, correct?

Thanks all! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jeremyc74]

15A fuse should be fine. Do they blow the fuse as soon as you turn them on, or does it take a while?

Any condensation in the lenses?

 

[weekendclimber]

Are they hella micro de? This is what I had to do with mine to keep moisture out of the housing. I was popping fuses too until I did this. Been running fine for two months now.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-gen-t4rs/183388-fog-light-frustration.html#post1886024

 

[G-mny]

Thanks for the info Weekendclimber. My lights went out last week. Took it to the shop to get checked out and wanted $250 to rewire the lights. Same symptoms as you explained popping fuse. Will check the lights for condensation.

 

[Trevor C.]

Hi everyone, thanks for the suggestions.

They stay on for a brief period of time - say 10 to 20 minutes.

I've glued and sealed the lenses to the fog light body, so their shouldn't be any moisture. Plus, they blow quickly no matter what the weather is outside.

I don't know what hella micro de are. The bulbs that I put in are HELLA H3 12V 55W Yellow Star. Those should be OK, right?

Thanks again for the help and suggestions! I really appreciate it.

 

[weekendclimber]

Do your foglights look like this:

 

[jeremyc74]

Hi everyone, thanks for the suggestions.

They stay on for a brief period of time - say 10 to 20 minutes.

I've glued and sealed the lenses to the fog light body, so their shouldn't be any moisture. Plus, they blow quickly no matter what the weather is outside.

I don't know what hella micro de are. The bulbs that I put in are HELLA H3 12V 55W Yellow Star. Those should be OK, right?

Thanks again for the help and suggestions! I really appreciate it.

What I would do is unplug one of them and see if the problem is strictly one side or the other. You could also put a clamp on amp meter on the wires if you have access to one. Once you have it narrowed down it will be easier to diagnose. It's possible there's a short on the bulb inside the housing.

A 55W bulb should be drawing about 4 amps normally. If the current draw looks normal while you're sitting still, it's most likely a short inside the housing, or damaged wiring somewhere between the relay and the bulb.

 

[Trevor C.]

Great suggestions!

I'll try it out and let you know what I find.

Thanks for the help!

 

[mwm695]

Mine did the same thing, they would work for a while, then just shut off.

I took them apart, put a piece of electrical tape on the back of the housing on inside, where the white piece comes out of the bulb itself. The backing had rusted and it created a short sometimes, thusly blowing the fuse.

 

[Trevor C.]

That's a good idea! I'll try the electrical tape trick.

Figures, I just glued the lenses to the fog light housing - oh well!

 

[Trevor C.]

Hi Scott,

Your photo didn't come through. But here is a photo of what my fog lights look like:

 

[weekendclimber]

I see. The ones I was thinking of are for the valence on the fat lip bumpers, which are on the 99+ 3rd gen models. When I saw "Hella" on your first post, I was thinking that they were from that model. Ignore my post.

 

[Trevor C.]

Thanks for reaching out anyway