10 years I’ve owned this car and I never realized…

[Packofcrows]

10 years I’ve driven the same car.

Oil changes, repairs…maintenance…etc have all been done by me or dealer. Few weeks ago, I saw a twin drive by with JDM white corner lights lit up and I thought to myself, “well that’d be a fun little mod. Put an LED on side marker to illuminate it.” I thought nothing more. Queue a few days later and I saw this gorgeous semi full of LED’s from truck to trailer. Again I thought, “well damn, I really like that.”

I come home after work one day and realize my cheap fog lights have been cracked and broken for almost 4yrs now and I’ve been slacking on replacing them. Found a box of old car stuff and got around to replacing them fogs. I wait till sundown and walked around car and out of curiosity pulled on side corner marker that was itching to fall out… or maybe my car was hinting at something? It popped off way too easy and out comes cable!!! I had the Nick Cage face expression meme decorating my face. I felt like I had just disemboweled my car. 4yr negligence and now damaging it? What gives?

After a few seconds of coming to terms with what I had done, I took notice that it had an oem bulb from dealer days that was corroded and black with gunk and I realized that I had not really gutted my car. Lmao queue trip to local auto shop and proud to say that I now have lit up side markers. It’s beyond embarrassing not realizing they are lights. Been around too many muscle drivers with smoked out side markers I guess? I know they’ve been out for a minimum of 6yrs because of all the pics I have of nighttime, they are not lit up.

I still love this car. There was a time I was anxious and wanted a mustang or a Supra or anything with more torque, but after driving everything from a ae86 to a hellcat, I always returned to the FRS. It finds ways to humble me and teach me new things. I just love how it finds ways to pull me back in. It reinforces the whole “I’m keeping it forever,” mentality I had once I drove off dealer lot.


Now if it could just help me pay bills or keep track of the hole in my pocket. XD

Thought it was silly and felt like sharing. Maybe I’m just getting old? Is this what getting old is like @Tcoat? I’m starting to think all those years back, you weren’t too senile and crazy. Kudos to @humfrz and @Ultramaroon as well for always helping when I was a late teen early 20’s super car noob. I think I’ve graduated to just a noob now.

[soundman98]

no they're definitely going senile and crazy. difference is it appears you're jumping on the bus too!

way more fun if you know your going crazy than if you try to deny it!

i scrolled up to check the time at the end of that. i get wordy like that late at night

[Ultramaroon]

We're all noobs

[villainous_frx]

Funny enough side marker bulbs were the only, in my mind, legitimate 'fail' on my cars inspection a month back. I didn't realize they lit up either, even though I'd had them off plenty of times. If you do opt for JDM clears, I found Subaru Japan (84912CA130, 84912CA120) to be cheaper than the Toyota alternative.

[Packofcrows]

:O


I was so proud of the cosmetic tune up I’ve given my FRS for past few weeks… then, just now I was observing every little imperfection that added to the beautiful asymmetry of the car. After all, a vehicle without little chips here and there or dents tells no story…we’ll maybe a few…but I’m sure they’d be boring.

Anyhow, ended up finding license plate light on right side went out in past month or so. Just one, but damn, I celebrated way too early. Gonna go find a pair of cool 6k or 5k LED’s tomorrow. Then cosmetic diffuser for rear and diode dynamic super SS3’s are in mail so hope to get to those in next week.

Originally Posted by soundman98

no they're definitely going senile and crazy. difference is it appears you're jumping on the bus too!

way more fun if you know your going crazy than if you try to deny it!

i scrolled up to check the time at the end of that. i get wordy like that late at night

Hehe I started writing at about 2am. Couldn’t login because I forgot password and ended up posting later XD

[soundman98]

lol, so it was a late night ramble!

[soundman98]

figured i'd post it here to keep it somewhat on-topic instead of derailing the other thread too much.

Originally Posted by Packofcrows

Thanks but back to troubleshooting

Decided to go for drive to celebrate and car “steering wheel !” Dash light went up. Checked 80A in front for it and it’s good. Put all stock fuses back and now it turns on and goes off right away. Wahhh! Back to troubleshooting. Ran cheapo OBD from Autozone and no codes so I’m guessing it’s fuse/electric. Fml.

this all started with the fog lights right?

typically that many lights indicate a lack of communication between computers-- usually either a fuse for multiple computers, a plug connection, or a bad ground.

where did you originally install the fuse tap for the fog lights?

[Packofcrows]

Originally Posted by soundman98

figured i'd post it here to keep it somewhat on-topic instead of derailing the other thread too much.



this all started with the fog lights right?

typically that many lights indicate a lack of communication between computers-- usually either a fuse for multiple computers, a plug connection, or a bad ground.

where did you originally install the fuse tap for the fog lights?

Oh man, soundman98, I did so much unnecessary and pointless wire splicing and had to replace many different wires and fuses. So... turns out I burnt out several fuses...like 6 after accidentally kicking driver side fuse panel(?) and wires got pulled, then my wire tap was done unsafely and in wrong low fuse (forgot to unplug battery too!)....then found cables in engine bay that had just barely been chewed by rodents. Ended up having to put in an avoidable $1000 in dealer parts and services myself. Was worth getting hands dirty!

Anywhoo... five days later, all of my components were working amazingly and car felt like day one.... until I took it for some "spirited driving" and lost power steering going about 68mph... good thing I've been exercising a bit because my small gains helped me steer into shoulder with little to no issue. Turned car on, my abs+PS+battery light came on and ac was weaksauce. Had multimeter with me. Battery read good and when car was sitting still, looked like alternator was around 14.6ish so it read fine.

Made it home without making any full stops for fear of car dying on me and not restarting... poor clutch and over revving. I decided to call it quits for the day,. Went to bed like 3am all frustrated and shizz. Queue next day, and I decided to restore everything back to stock... then I dragged myself unwillingly over to engine bay, lifted the plastic red terminal protector, ran my hands through all the cables.... guess what? One of the damn nuts was loose... enough for a electrical connection to hold true, but not to be stable in bumpy roads and such... tightened it, rewired fogs again and she now purrs like day one... i'm not sure how i fkd up so bad, but i'm so excited I resolved most issues with the power of of ft86club friendship and curiosity in the end. Dealer wont get my cash this time. XD

LSS: Added Diode Dynamics SS3 Sports, messed up wires, fuses and rodents had field day with my engine bay which I neglected to repair asap. Fixed everything, but still couldn't get car to stay on. Replaced burnt fuses and final issue had to do with not tightening battery nut. Car is 100% now.

Obligatory these nuts needed some tightening.

TIP:

If you ever do any electrical stuff work and are a noob like me:
1) wear gloves.
2) unplug battery
3) check your work
4) check your work
5) check your work prior to connecting battery.
6) Be patient.
7) if your clock inside cabin keeps messing up time and resetting, likely you have a loose cable in your power (i.e. battery).
8) Have fun. Don't stress or you'll likely snowball into more issues.

[soundman98]

Glad to hear you got it figured out.

Your steps should be amended though, just walked a coworker through a similar wiring fiasco.

3a. Install 1 change at a time
3b. Verify change works properly.
3c. If change doesn't work properly assume a failure in newly installed gear, remove connect to change , revert vehicle to initial state.
3d. If issue persists, it's not the change