Winjet Fog light install voids warranty or causes ECU problems?
 

I'm going crazy here, but I could swear I read somewhere on this forum or another one that installing aftermarket fog lights or other additional lighting messes with an electronic control unit and can void the warranty. I just picked up a Winjet kid, but I've only had my car a week and it's a "Certified" used 2013. Am I hallucinating? I can't find any mention of problems on the 'net today.. sigh.. help. I'd like to install the kit, but not if there's a chance of causing problems or voiding my 12/12K comprehensive warranty.

Thanks..

Barry

Warranties don't get voided. However, if your aftermarket part causes a warrantied item to fail, your warranty will not cover it.

The item you're looking for is the BCM or BCU. Disconnect the battery before you start any wiring project, and make sure you've correctly grounded whatever you're installing before plugging the battery back in. A lot of these BCM/BCU failures are caused by short circuits frying the BCM, and people cutting corners by not disconnecting their battery first. So yeah, if you roll into the dealership with aftermarket lighting and a fried BCM, of course they're going to deny warranty coverage for that replacement.

There are many threads where aftermarket lights or other electronics have caused issues. I was trying to compile them for the New Here thread but it is rough as most have titles like "Help" or "What is Wrong".

So, to answer your questions yes there is a number of incidents where there have been issues with blown ECUs and they will without a doubt deny warranty if they can even remotely prove you had after market goodies hooked up.

Thanks for the replies. If I understand correctly, Jawn, the issue isn't the existence of an additional piece of lighting, it's with an incorrect installation procedure. That's reassuring.

On my other vehicles, I have the radio codes notated for when I have to disconnect the battery when working on the cars. I pored over the FR-S manual and other literature I got from the Toyota dealer last night, looking for mention of the code, but couldn't find it. Will my radio lockup if I disconnect the battery? If it does, where would I find the code prior to disconnecting the battery?

Tcoat - LESS reassuring.. <grin>. You're alluding to the threads I had found previously.. I just can't find'em again. If the fog lights are installed properly on their own circuit, then I'm unsure how the dealer could claim that they caused a malfunction elsewhere, right? After all, the dealer can install'em.. so there has to be a right way to do it, I'm hoping. I'll look into it more before proceeding.

As a side note, I just read through the world-map-of-forum-folks and added mine. Noticed you were from London, ON.. neat. I drove my '84 Honda VF700 Magna from Massena, NY to London and back one day about 20 years ago to look at a Fiat Spider for sale. Prior to heading out, I had forgotten to look at the scale on the map for Ontario compared to NY (no gps back then), and SEVERELY miscalculated the distance; Ontario is BIG. I got back home about 2am after driving many hours in 40 degree (fahrenheit) temps (windchill at 70mph.. well... pretty nasty) frozen to death. Good times!

Barry

12/12?

I got 36k/36m

Wth...

Anyway, nope, shouldnt get voided. Make sure to add a fuse and ground.

Thanks for the reply. I think the warranty when purchased new is 36/36,000 comprehensive, 7y/60,000 powertrain. I just bought mine (a 2013) as a used "Toyota Certified" vehicle, so the comp is 12/12,000 from date of purchase, and powertrain is 7y/100,000 from date of original owner's purchase, which will cover me until July of 2019 or another 77,000 miles from now, whichever comes first. At least, that's what Salesperson FriendlyEager told me, and it agrees w/ the paperwork I have. I like 36/36,000 much better.. did you get that on a used car?

The Winjet fog kit is fused, and I'll probably wimp out and get some help from an expert when doing the wiring. I'm OK at swapping parts, (brakes, suspension, manifolds, pumps, blah blah) but I turn into a scared idiot when it comes to most electrical stuff. Not fear of electricity, just fear of screwing up my cars.

Thanks again for the help.

Barry

If you blow the BCU with aftermarket lights whether installed "properly" or not and the dealer discovers it they can and likely will void warranty. If they are installing OEM fogs then no it doesn't void warranty since they are approved parts installed buy an approved service provider.
As I said before there are many examples on here of the BCU blowing even by people who swear everything was installed properly. Part of the issue looking for the threads is that many bad BCUs had symptoms other than just the lights and it makes things confusing.
I am not saying for one second that you should not do it but you do need to be aware of the consequences if you do blow the BCU.
http://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&...EwE1Dt4TMgq-iA