I am looking at three sets of fog light instructions:
#1. Scion document #2291 dated 2004 in PDF format.
#2. Similar but not identical instructions that came with the kit from Scion
Warehouse.
#3. Overboost's web instructions at http://overboost.com/print.asp?id=1098.

Questions:

a. #2 and #3 say to remove the LH scuff plate to remove the cowl side panel to access the junction block where the relay goes, while #1 does not mention removing those items. Offhand I don't see that removing these two items helps the access much. How necessary is it?

b. How do you remove the recessed box in the lower dash that is in front of the junction block. What is the technique for popping or prying it out of the dash? I don't want to mess it up.

 

We just installed the fogs just minutes ago.

NO, no need to remove these at all. Toyota just wants to make sure you don't scatch or dent these. They do not offer any better access. Just tiny fingers do.


pull the door from top to bottom, you won't break it just pull

 

Do you mean pulll on the top of the box? It's really an odd box in the dash, rather than a door.

 

if it is the fure access door in the lower dash, yes, just pull. your fingers just cup into it and pull out

 

Another question on the battery:
1. Did you disconnect the battery first? If so , did you lose your trip meter and radio settings?
2. If you did not disconnect the battery, did you use a little screwdriver or your fingers to pry the harness off the junction block?

 

When the battery is disconnected, you loose your trip meter and radio settings. IMHO, a minor action to assure that nothing gets shorted out while you are doing the installation.

 

The Overboost web instructions don't mention disconnecting the battery, but they also imply the relay socket can be removed from the fuse panel with fingers only.
http://overboost.com/print.asp?id=1098

But the printed and PDF Toyota instructions show a long thin screwdriver being inserted under the relay socket to pry it off the fuse panel. Looks like the screwdriver might touch a bunch of contacts doing that and cause a short if the battery were still connected.

 

I tried with no luck, to disconnect that socket, then I had to get creative.The relay can be installed without moving that socket. If you've got small hands (or in my case, a girlfriend with small hands) you can reach around the back of the fuse box and plug it in. The relay simply plugs in through the back side of the fuse box, just feel your way around and it should plug in pretty easy.

 

All three instructions (printed, PDF and web) miss that point completely. I could not see the relation between the relay and removing that "socket" (actually it's a harness plug).
Now you explain that the harness plug has nothing to do with the relay - the harness plug is just in the way of plugging the relay into its own socket.
Unfortunately I have large hands, but at least I have good information now.

 

Yeah, if you can get a little hands person to help you out, they can just reach around the back and feel for the 3 pronged plug. I never figured out how to get that darn thing out and it took my girlfriend about 2 minutes to plug it in through the back.

 

I finally got it done, after a long struggle with that relay. Here's my tips:

1. The instructions say to remove the lower dash cover, a U-shaped piece of plastic. It is held with a trim button on the right side, which pulls out if you pull on that side. Then there are concealed snaps on the left sideand under the ashtray in the center - start pulling the left side and then in the middle. Removing this cover helps you find the switch plug which is taped against a big harness on the left side. You would probaby not be able to reach it from the glove box side. When you find the plug, just pull on the plug and the weak black tape will part and release its harness from the main harness.

2. The instructions say to remove the left sill cover and the cowl cover in front of it. The sill cover just pulls off. The cowl cover begins to come off from the door jamb, and that as far as I could get it, because I could not figure out the front attachment near the floor. If you do not remove things this far, you may have to eventually, if you drop the relay down behind the cowl cover. With the cover loose at the bottom, the relay just falls to the floor instead of being trapped.

3. The fuse panel access door, really a box that might hold a cell phone etc, pulls out with a firm tug.

4. The instructions are not clear on what you are to do at the fuse panel. You are supposed to remove the second thing from the bottom, on the left side of the fuse panel. This thing is a socket with a harness going to it, and it is clipped onto the fuse panel. The holes in this socket, into which the relay must plug, face the front of the car, so you can't see them. To access the holes, the instructions say to unclip the socket from the side of the fuse panel, so you can turn it around and see the holes. This nobody seems able to do - me included.

5. The alternative is to leave the socket in place, and insert the relay from the hidden front side, by feel. Use your right hand. I tried for a very long time to do this by reaching around the right side of the fuse block from under the dash. It is probably not possible from that side, as I could barely even reach and feel the plug holes. Then eventually I succeeded by going in through the access opening and reaching around the left side - much better access that way. The instructions barely show, and my fingenail could barely feel from the socket, that the relay goes in with the horizontal prongs on top.

Total time groping around the fuse panel fumbling with the relay in hand while sitting on the pavement: almost an hour. If I was to do someone else's car, it would probably be 10 minutes.

 

How does it look was it that hard?

 

Yeah, who ever wrote those instruction is a nerd...we did the same about the relay...wanted to scream....
finally got it