Problem With Rear Fog Light (and Dash Symbols)

[yar2000vvti]

Shortly after a recent purchase of a Toyota Yaris, it

was discovered that the rear fog light was not working.

The first thought was that it was a blown bulb.

The fog light bulb and holder was thus swapped with those for the

reversing light on the opposite side of the car. The result was

that the reversing light was still ok, and the fog light was still

not working. Thus the bulb and holder were ok.

The second thought was that it was a blown fuse. Thus all

the fuses in both of the fuse boxes were checked - ie in the

drivers side footwell and in the engine compartment. All

were found to be intact.

The third thought was that the switch for the rear fog

light was defective as this did not latch into position

when operated. Thus a replacement was obtained. This did

not latch either and the fog light was still not working.

Thus it would seem that the switch was ok.

As the obvious items had been checked, it was decided to

investigate the wiring for the rear fog light, starting from

the fog light switch. This switch is by no means straight

forward as it has no fewer than *eight* pins. Luckily the

connector that it plugs into has three positions unused, so

there are only (!) five wires comong out of the back of it!.

Voltage checks on the wiring with the switch disconnected

revealed the following:

1. Red (with Silver band),

Negative.

2. Green (with Silver band),

Negative with lights off,

Positive with lights on.

3. White with Red stripe,

No connection.

4. <No Wire.>

5. Red with Black stripe (with Silver band),

Negative with headlights on,

No connection headlights off.

6. <No Wire.>

7. White with Black stripe,

Negative.

8. <No Wire.>

where:

Negative indicates a connection to ground

Positive indicates a connection to about 12V.

No connction indicates no apparent connection.

Next the switch was reconnected and some readings

taken while the button was being operated. Found that

with the headlights on (either dipped or main beam)

that pin 3 changed state while the putton was pushed

but returned to it's original state when the button

was released. Checked the fog light while the switch

was being held in, but it was still not working.

Next tried checking the wiring at the rear of the car.

Voltage tests found the following connections:

A. Green with White stripe,

Brake light.

B. Green with Yellow stripe,

Indicator.

C. Green (with Silver band),

Tail light.

D. Red with White stripe,

Reverse.

E. Red with Black Stripe,

????.

F. White with Black stripe,

????.

Thus of the last two, one is the common ground, and

the other is the supply wire for the fog light.

An inspection of the rear light cluster showed that

the common was white with a Black stripe and the feed

to the fog light was Red with a Black stripe.

Looking at the readings at the fog light switch, there is

a Red wire with a Black stripe, but this goes low with the

headlights on and floats otherwise!. Thus this would seem

to be different wire - either that or something strange is

going on!.

At least I assume something strange is going on. It may in

fact be perfectly correct. I cannot tell as I do not have a

wiring diagram to refer to!. I did consider a Haynes manual,

but this is not due out until August!.

I would therefore be grateful if anyone could tell me if the

readings at the switch - as detailed above - are correct or not.

If anyone could help me out with a brief description of what the

circuit should be it would be very much appreciated. In other

words, Is there a relay for the rear fog light?. If so, where

is it?. Which fuse is the fog light fed from?, where is it? etc.

Shortly after the above fault finding, went to start the engine,

and there was a growling sort of whirring noise. A further

voltage check revealed a flat Battery!. (Due to the headlights

no doubt!.) This was solved with a junp start.

Shortly after this a red symbol was noted on the dashboard. This

symbol looked like two horizontal lines, with two vertical lines in

the middle, and was followd by an exclamation point. The closest

I can get to what it looked like is as follows:

-[i-!

A check under the bonnet showed that the transmission oil was low.

This was topped up, but the light remained lit. It was joined a

few days later by a amber/brown symbol that I believe is related

to the engine. Any idea what the red symbol is for, and what

needs to be done about about either of the symbols?. I have no

doubt that this is explained in the owners manual, but regretably

one did not accompany the car!.

The car in question is a 2000 Toyota Yaris,

with 1.0 Litre VVTI engine and Free-Tronic Transmission.

Sorry that this post is rather long, but I thought that it better

to include everything in one place, as this would give a more

complete view of the situation. As I am new to the forum,

I trust that this is not against policy.

[cfc1]

Hi.. and welcome to TOC....

1st of all i would like to be able to tell you how to sort your problem.. but.. alas, youv'e guessed it, i can't.. but if you look at this thread it will point you in the direction of how to get hold of the Yaris manual...

click here

Once you have clicked "find it here" it will lead you to this thread........

click here

Alternativelly you could just add me to your MSN and i could send you it

MSN = paradise_park@hotmail.com

Davy.

[yar2000vvti]

Hi cfc1,

Thanks for the reply. Had already come across the reference

that you posted to the yaris manual. Unfortunately, on trying

to download it by clicking on the "yaris manual" link in post

#20 I got a message stating "The requested URL/yarisman.zip was

not found on this server." I don't know if anyone else would

have this problem, of if it's just my computer playing up!.

Any chance of emailing it to me at "davespectrum@fastmail.fm" or

would it be too large for this - ie greater than about 9.5MB?.

[cfc1]

It's 107mb.. add me to your MSN and i can send you it on that.. or if you can't.. pm me and i'll tell you the filesharing way.

[cfc1]

pm returned

[Red Yaris 54]

The (!) symbol is your handbrake.......it is ON

I think that to get your rear foglight on you must have the DIPPED headlights on and the engine running.

This is because when it is foggy you only have dipped headlights on.

Also I did not think the freetronic system used "Transmission Oil"

Hope that this helps

[Ryan1985]

Get your car down to a Toyota garage becasue the amber/brown light you describe is the engine management light, hope you have deep pockets aswell!

[earpl]

i think the problem is caused buy the freetronic box. alas thee deamon!

[yar2000vvti]

Hi Red Yaris 54,

If memory serves, the handbrake symbol is indeed a exclamation

point (!) that lights up red, but it is in a small triangle.

The symbol in question has the excalmation point following

a symbol comprising two horizontal lines with two vertical

lines between them - ie the symbol that lights up is

-[i-!

As it looked to me like a representation of a clutch, this

was why I thought that it was to do with the freetronic

system. If the freetronic system does not use transmission

oil, then the guy from toyota was mistaken, and it could be

a costly mistake at that!.

Regarding the rear fog light, the only wire I could find

that changes state with the headlights was the one connected

to pin 5 of the switch, and this was grounded with either the

main OR dipped beams on. Don't know if this is correct

though!. Did not give the need to have the engine running

a thought!. Will have to check this!.

Hi Ryan1985,

I was afraid that tha amber/brown light might have been

indicating a problem with the engine management system!.

I don't know about deep pockets - more like a deep bank

account!!.

Hi earpl,

So you think that the red symbol is the freetronic box?.

Sounds like more open bank account surgery!!.

[earpl]

ignore me mate, im just taking the mick :P