Flickering Baja fog lights voltage drop

I have a 24 4Runner and I’m on my second OEM battery. I currently have around 16k on the clock. My issue is my Baja fog lights just started to flicker. Checking my Garmin switch I’m seeing around 13.5v while driving when I stop it sometimes drops below 12.9v. When I turn all my lights on (light bar, ditch lights, etc the fogs start to like strobe. I also notice sometimes while braking the fogs will flicker once and the voltage drops. Any advice what this could be?

 

Photo (1) is with truck on, just headlights and fogs. Photo (2) is of all lights on and then me pressing the brakes with the voltage drop below 13v?

 

2nd battery in 1 yr? Thats a problem. Id disconnect each acessory one at a time and retest to find the culprit. Are you running relays to power things? That will help with drops.

 

Sounds like the alternator is overloaded.

 

im running a garmin power switch. The fogs flicker with nothing on but them. As soon as I turn everything on they start to strobe. They worked fine with no flicker for 16k miles on this truck. I ran them on my Tacoma with no issue with the same set up as well.

 

think I have a dying alternator? The wired part is nothing else flickers except the fogs. All other lights and accessories work fine. I’m wondering if there is an issue with the lights as they are the oldest lights on the truck. They are also on their own circuit as the other lights and accessories are ran from a garmin power switch.

 

If you’re on your second battery and suspect an alternator failure on a one year old 5th gen, I’d bet they are not the root cause.

 

yea I’m hoping that it’s the lights as it’s the easiest thing to change out. However the truck is still under warranty, which I would think a new alternator would be covered as the battery was.

 

you have to start with basics. You are being given a clue with the baja lights, disconnect them and see if the problem gets better.

 

bad ground?

 

I plan on isolating the problem by removing the fogs and testing them on my ditch lights circuit to see if they flicker. If not I’ll have to dive deeper into finding the grounds and then possibly replacing the alternator.

 

Not sure where to even start on that. I’ll have to research to see where the grounds are located on this truck.

 

each one of your lights should have their own separate ground. Could be loose

 

Does your Garmin have relays inside? How does it regulate the voltage like a relay does. I know when I was running a high draw electric fuel pump, dual cooling fans on my race car we ran a relay to reduce the amperage hit/demand

 

Awesome I’ll have to find them and take a look.

 

Not sure I assume it does, as you’re probably aware the fogs are not connected to the garmin unit they are plugged into factory wiring.

 

my bad, i thought you had those fogs wired in seperately.

 

Do you have a lead acid or AGM battery?

 

Lead acid.

 

Sounds good. Reason I asked is the OEM 4Runner doesnt put out enough voltage to completely charge an AGM battery without a workaround. But, since you don't have a AGM battery, doesn't matter!