DIY: Led Lights under door that turn on when doors open
05-27-2013, 07:37 PM
#1
Member
SL Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Bakersfield
Posts: 63
DIY: Led Lights under door that turn on when doors open
Ok so I decided to post this DIY because no one has. I googled searched SL posts and thread titles, no one has posted it. Some have mentioned,"oh just tap into such and such and you will have door illumination."
So basically all you will need is a some 18g primary wire, some electrical tape, solder, and an iron. Some wire strippers, a small long skinny screwdriver, wont matter if flat or Phillips. Also a razor blade or knife. And last but not least a wire clothes hanger, this you might need to get from a grandparent cuz you know we don't use these anymore. Lol
Start out by pulling the side panels, and the kick plates. Then open up the doors all the way.
Pull out the rubber boot from each side. Near the kickplate should be three harnesses that can be unclipped on both sides of the car. One is a squarish blue one, a small yellow one, and a rectangular white one. Push those through the hole between the door and the sidewall. At the end of the wire bundle there is some electrical tape, unwind it all the way down till its just the wires that are together. Take your razorblade and on the door side near the bottom of the rubber boot make a small insertion. Take your clothes hanger and bend it straight, and at the end make a small hook. Take the hanger and push it through the sidewall side all the way to the notch, hook your leds leads to the hook and pull them through. Now adjust where the led strip will go so that you don't have to pull the wire through the sidewall again. Tape up the rubber boot again, push all the wires back through the sidewall including your new led leads. Adjust the boot so that its hole down. Put the boot back in both sides. Plug back in all the wire harnesses that you unplugged earlier.
Now pull on the front of the dome light closest to the windshield. It should pop out. Then do the back side. Let it hang for now. So now your going to need to run the primary wire from the dome light hole to the door through the headliner. This is where the wire hanger comes in.
Pull back the weather stripping from the top corner all the way down to the front corner of the door.
Take and stick your hanger through the side of the door between the headliner and the airbag. Fish it through. Make a loop on the end of your primary wire. If your good you can do this with both loops at the same time, and save a little time and frustration. Hook the loops and pull them through the door sill. Now run both wires down the door sill in the gap that is hidden under the weather stripping, this is where the small long screwdriver helps. Starting from the top of the door push the stripping back in. When you get to the bottom your wires should be sticking out of the weather stripping. Strip both wires and take them end to end, twist, and then solder them to the led leads. Take your electrical tape and tape them up. Take and put your kickplate back on and then the side runners.
Last but not least remember that leds are polarity sensitive. If they don't come on then just reverse the wires. Now all that is left is to strip the ends of all four wires that should be hanging through the dome light hole.
Take your wires and connect the positive to the one with the arrowhead, and the negative to the opposite side of the bulb. Easiest way to do this is the unscrew the bulb counter clockwise and put your wires under each side of the bulbs then screw them in. Now you can leave the light in the on position or door position and it might help to get the polarity right. Once done just push your dome back in and enjoy.
Ok so here are the finished pictures.
So basically all you will need is a some 18g primary wire, some electrical tape, solder, and an iron. Some wire strippers, a small long skinny screwdriver, wont matter if flat or Phillips. Also a razor blade or knife. And last but not least a wire clothes hanger, this you might need to get from a grandparent cuz you know we don't use these anymore. Lol
Start out by pulling the side panels, and the kick plates. Then open up the doors all the way.
Pull out the rubber boot from each side. Near the kickplate should be three harnesses that can be unclipped on both sides of the car. One is a squarish blue one, a small yellow one, and a rectangular white one. Push those through the hole between the door and the sidewall. At the end of the wire bundle there is some electrical tape, unwind it all the way down till its just the wires that are together. Take your razorblade and on the door side near the bottom of the rubber boot make a small insertion. Take your clothes hanger and bend it straight, and at the end make a small hook. Take the hanger and push it through the sidewall side all the way to the notch, hook your leds leads to the hook and pull them through. Now adjust where the led strip will go so that you don't have to pull the wire through the sidewall again. Tape up the rubber boot again, push all the wires back through the sidewall including your new led leads. Adjust the boot so that its hole down. Put the boot back in both sides. Plug back in all the wire harnesses that you unplugged earlier.
Now pull on the front of the dome light closest to the windshield. It should pop out. Then do the back side. Let it hang for now. So now your going to need to run the primary wire from the dome light hole to the door through the headliner. This is where the wire hanger comes in.
Pull back the weather stripping from the top corner all the way down to the front corner of the door.
Take and stick your hanger through the side of the door between the headliner and the airbag. Fish it through. Make a loop on the end of your primary wire. If your good you can do this with both loops at the same time, and save a little time and frustration. Hook the loops and pull them through the door sill. Now run both wires down the door sill in the gap that is hidden under the weather stripping, this is where the small long screwdriver helps. Starting from the top of the door push the stripping back in. When you get to the bottom your wires should be sticking out of the weather stripping. Strip both wires and take them end to end, twist, and then solder them to the led leads. Take your electrical tape and tape them up. Take and put your kickplate back on and then the side runners.
Last but not least remember that leds are polarity sensitive. If they don't come on then just reverse the wires. Now all that is left is to strip the ends of all four wires that should be hanging through the dome light hole.
Take your wires and connect the positive to the one with the arrowhead, and the negative to the opposite side of the bulb. Easiest way to do this is the unscrew the bulb counter clockwise and put your wires under each side of the bulbs then screw them in. Now you can leave the light in the on position or door position and it might help to get the polarity right. Once done just push your dome back in and enjoy.
Ok so here are the finished pictures.
Last edited by CelestialxOne; 06-03-2013 at 08:27 AM.
06-02-2013, 05:10 AM
#4
Member
SL Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Bakersfield
Posts: 63
Re: pictures
Sorry guys, I took pictures the same night, but for some reason SL doesn't like me trying to upload from my phone. I work 12 hrs Monday through Saturday and only have Sunday off. So I'll post them tomorrow.
Edited..
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
VCUBoy714
Scion tC 1G ICE & Interior
2
01-05-2015 08:46 PM
sithscripter
Scion xA/xB 1st-Gen ICE & Interior
9
09-26-2003 05:27 AM
