CircuitCircus
New member
I got caught in a heavy blizzard a few weeks ago. The snow was coming down HARD and staying on the unplowed 2-lane road was totally nerve-wracking. There was no issue with traction in 4WD, but visibility was garbage -- even just the low beams produced so much glare in the snow that I felt like I was overdriving them at 5 mph and worried about careening into the ditch. Unfortunately my truck doesn't have fog lights, as this would have been the perfect situation to use them. In desperation, I turned off my headlights (no DRLs) and turned on my hazards. The parking/hazard light combo produced just the right amount of light to see the edge of the road and comfortably go about 15 mph until the snow died down. Of course, driving with hazards on is illegal and makes you look like an ass. Since I never use my hazard lights (and can't afford $200+ for real fog lights right now) I figured out a wiring mod to make them turn on with a steady glow and operate as makeshift fog lights.
Here's the wiring diagram for my 2000. When the hazard switch is pressed, power from the light blue/white wire goes to port 2 on the relay, and the pulsed output from port 1 goes through the yellow/red wire to the bulbs. All you need to do is disconnect the yellow/red wire from port 4 of the switch, and move the light blue/white wire over to that port.
Disconnect your negative battery cable. First step is remove the dash panels. I won't go into much detail here since plenty of threads cover this. Unscrew the shifters, pry up the black piece over the shifters, and then pry off the panel over the HVAC controls and hazard switch. I think other years might have screws that need to be removed.
Behind the hazard switch, press the black tab with a flathead to get the wiring harness out. There is a white menorah-looking thing, you'll need to pry up on this retainer with a paper clip or something until it protrudes slightly. I used a 1.4mm slotted screwdriver.
Depinning the wires is kind of a *****. If you're looking into the harness like this, you'll need to insert the screwdriver just to the right of that metal tab in the middle of the slot. Push it in a couple of centimeters, and then angle the screwdriver to the left a bit. It will disengage the clip and you should be able to pull the wire out with a gentle tug.
Disconnect the yellow/red and light blue/white wires.
Connect the light blue/white wire to where the yellow/red wire previously was. Press down on the white retainer until it's flush. Wrap the yellow/red spade terminal in electrical tape or heat shrink. Plug the wire harness back into the hazard switch. Reassemble dash.
Now pressing the hazard switch turns the blinkers on steady. It also works when the key's out of the ignition, so watch out for that. It's a decent amount of light, good for snow/fog that's so thick that the low beams blind you and you have to go <25 mph. Also useful for driving past a bunch of campsites at night so you don't have to shine your headlights in people's eyes. It's completely reversible of course. There are no inspections where I live, so I won't miss having the hazard flashers. It would also be possible to wire up a switch that alternates between normal operation and constant mode.
Here's the wiring diagram for my 2000. When the hazard switch is pressed, power from the light blue/white wire goes to port 2 on the relay, and the pulsed output from port 1 goes through the yellow/red wire to the bulbs. All you need to do is disconnect the yellow/red wire from port 4 of the switch, and move the light blue/white wire over to that port.
Disconnect your negative battery cable. First step is remove the dash panels. I won't go into much detail here since plenty of threads cover this. Unscrew the shifters, pry up the black piece over the shifters, and then pry off the panel over the HVAC controls and hazard switch. I think other years might have screws that need to be removed.
Behind the hazard switch, press the black tab with a flathead to get the wiring harness out. There is a white menorah-looking thing, you'll need to pry up on this retainer with a paper clip or something until it protrudes slightly. I used a 1.4mm slotted screwdriver.
Depinning the wires is kind of a *****. If you're looking into the harness like this, you'll need to insert the screwdriver just to the right of that metal tab in the middle of the slot. Push it in a couple of centimeters, and then angle the screwdriver to the left a bit. It will disengage the clip and you should be able to pull the wire out with a gentle tug.
Disconnect the yellow/red and light blue/white wires.
Connect the light blue/white wire to where the yellow/red wire previously was. Press down on the white retainer until it's flush. Wrap the yellow/red spade terminal in electrical tape or heat shrink. Plug the wire harness back into the hazard switch. Reassemble dash.
Now pressing the hazard switch turns the blinkers on steady. It also works when the key's out of the ignition, so watch out for that. It's a decent amount of light, good for snow/fog that's so thick that the low beams blind you and you have to go <25 mph. Also useful for driving past a bunch of campsites at night so you don't have to shine your headlights in people's eyes. It's completely reversible of course. There are no inspections where I live, so I won't miss having the hazard flashers. It would also be possible to wire up a switch that alternates between normal operation and constant mode.
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