Fog Lights for EX Koup Install Guide (Including Wiring, and pics!) - Kia Forte Forum : Sedan / Koup / Forte5 Forums

Linear · 10-28-2010, 07:48 PM

This project cost me just over $200

Required Parts:

OEM Fog lights & Cover Panel (plus extra screws to attach bulb to panel - not included in ebay listing)

ebay: (~$150 after shipping)
Universal Wiring Harness - I used this one:

ebay (~$20-25 after shipping)
881 Bulb Pig tail connectors (x2) - I used these ones: BMotorSports ($7.25/each ~$20 after shipping)

Optional Parts:
Fuse Tap - $8.99
Extra 10A fuse - $3.99 for 5
Zip ties
Soldering Iron/Solder
Electrical tape

Ok, so installing the lights into the actual bumper itself is the easy part (in my opinion). I found that it was almost impossible to do without taking off the bumper.
I took off a wheel (as you can see in the pic) to try and gain access from the behind the wheel-well liner, but I couldn't do it without wrecking the foglight panel.
It only took about 5 minutes to remove. I would suggest watching BigE's horn replacement video a few times just so you know what to expect (BTW, excellent work BigE).

I know it looks scary, but it's really not. And it all went back together nicely.

I also have to apologize, I didn't take any pictures of soldering the pigtail ends to the universal harness, but it's pretty self explanatory.
I also zip-tied the harness wires to part of the bumper beam, just so it would dangle or come loose.

Now to the important part... The wiring:

On the harness you'll find a red (+) power wire. I attached this to the positive of the engine-bay fuse box. I then grounded the black to the ground terminal the fuse box was using.

I attached the ground to the grounding terminal used by the fuse box already, and attached the relay itself to the bolt holding the fuse box in. I also zip-tied the harness' fuse to the relay so it wasn't just dangling in the engine bay.

I then fished the white wire (running to the switch) through a little opening in the door hinge. I know there's probably a cleaner way of doing this and fishing it through the firewall somewhere, but this seemed easy, and if there was ever a question of warranty or anything like that (there shouldn't be), it's easily removable.

I also tried to hide the white wire in the rubber housing right near the fuse panel (I think it seals the door... sorry, going by memory).

Now at the end of the white wire, you also have a black ground wire, and a blue wire. The black wire can be grounded to the existing ground terminal under the steering column.

I just bunched up the wires and zip-tied them under the steering column. That way I can run the switch up and stick near the area where the OEM switch goes if I want to, but for now, I'm just leaving them on all the time, so I don't really need access to it:

This next part is really up to you, but for me I wanted my fogs to be powered whenever the tail lights are on (not brake light, just when there's power to the tail lights).
So if your light switch is set to on (on the signal stalk), or in the parking light setting, then fogs will be powered (read - POWERED, doesn't mean they have to be on, you can still turn them off with the switch from the harness). To do this, I used the fuse tap. I pulled the fuse for the tail lights, put the fuse into the tap and added a second 10a fuse, plugged it back in, and connected the blue wire into the tap.

You can see here, there's now 2 fuses using the same slot. I'm assuming that the switch is now protected by a fuse (not that it's really important, especially because it's 10A), but I think this will prevent the tail lights from any extra load of the switch... and it looks cleaner than just sticking the bare wire into the fuse panel.

That's it. You're done!

I hope this helps... I know I was searching these forums for quite a while looking for these instructions until I gave up and decided to do it myself.

Here's some pics....
I usually just leave the lights in the "on" position, and when I turn the car off and on, they fogs come back on (no need to touch the switch).. like below:

Fog light switch turned off:

Signal stalk set for parking lights: (looks kinda mean too)

Enjoy, and good luck!

LeShadow · 10-28-2010, 08:52 PM

Great holy f*ckin DIY mister !!!!!!!!!!!

DepotDave · 10-29-2010, 11:32 AM

Very good post.
Thanks

shattered.stars · 10-29-2010, 12:04 PM

Super thorough. Thanks!

kiakoupblk · 10-30-2010, 09:57 AM

Great job !!!

Geek.Verve · 12-01-2010, 10:16 PM

Two questions:

1) Can the lights be mounted in the existing bumper panels? Not sure how I feel about glossy fog light panels when everything else is matte black.

2) I assume if one wanted the lights to be switched, the cleanest method would be to add a switch to an unused button space on the button panel that houses the traction control switch. Would it be possible to merely replace the turn signal switch with one made for the SX and wire it up to that?

Great work on the write-up. Very much appreciated.

MatSim · 12-03-2010, 11:06 AM

Hye, what extra screws do you need?? I'm doing this mod tomorow and I dont want to jam at this place because I don't have the right screws ... Thanks for you fast answer !