How to install LED light in your courtesy lights and how to remove them(02-05) pics

[ghoster]

I've been wanting to do this for awhile and never found a how to so figured i would do one

First get a really thin flat screw driver to remove the light. You need to push it up in order for it to touch the clip that it has. Then with a slight movement it should come off.
You might have to use some force but don't worry it is necessary to remove it

Once you got it out, you need to remove the wiring hardness. I did not take pics of that but simply press on it and pull, it should come off

Now having the courtesy light out you will need to get your LEDs ready. I use some pre-wired leds because i had them laying around.

Mark where you would like to put the LEDs and start drilling the hole. I first used a really small drill bit to prevent the plastic from cracking

I do not remember off the top of my head what size drill bit i used next but i think its 1/4"

Once that hole is drilled you can check to see if the LED fits and continue to drill the other holes

I was going to put 5 LEDs but i found out that with 3 it was more than enough and alot brighter than the regular light bulb

After putting them you might want to use some hot glue to seal it and to prevent the LEDs from moving or falling off

After that you will need to start the wiring. Connect all the positives together and all of the negatives together. I choose to solder my wires you can crimp them (its really not recommend)

Then you will need something to connect the LEDs to the wiring hardness thats already there. You can simply cut the plug and hard wire it but i choose not to. So i found these connectors in my garage. I crimped them and solder them.

Make sure to use electrical tape on all the connections you do.
Ready to be installed

Checked to make sure all the LEDs were working

My connectors in the OEM plug

Now i must warn you..remember to put you soldering iron on the bracket or on something that will not burn or melt. I forgot and started to smell something burning and saw this

Now to re-install it, its the same procedure as in removing them.

New LED courtesy light installed

Please feel free to contact me for more info.
Hope someone else uses this how to, to make their own LED courtesy light

 

[ghoster]

 

[MustangP51]

Very nice job! You beat me to it actually my LEDs are still in transit from Hong Kong. lol

Are you happy with the light that the 3 LEDs throw? I was planning on squeezing in 6 to 10 LEDs into each puddle light.

Looks Great

 

[ghoster]

Thanks...lol
Well i'm never happy the first time i do something hahaha.
I mean its brighter than stock but i would want it brighter. It was late and didn't feel like doing it again. but yea if i would have to do it again..i'd do 6.
But i dont know..If you really think of it..its worthless to put soo many LEDs b/c they only go on when you unlock the doors...so basically they are on for a few seconds at most

 

[MustangP51]

They have to be at least as bright as the stock bulbs for me, I pretty much rely on those baby's to guide me back to her at 3am. I have actually been trying to come up with a way for the fog lights to come on when you hit the unlock button on the fob, but I am trying to find a timer or something so they will shut off after 10 seconds even if the mirror lights are still on.

 

[JCUZ]

They have to be at least as bright as the stock bulbs for me, I pretty much rely on those baby's to guide me back to her at 3am. I have actually been trying to come up with a way for the fog lights to come on when you hit the unlock button on the fob, but I am trying to find a timer or something so they will shut off after 10 seconds even if the mirror lights are still on.

To do this, all you need to do is install a relay, with power coming from battery, and trigger wire coming from the puddle lights, and of course tap a wire into the foglights - this will then turn your foglights on and off with the puddle lights.

 

[MustangP51]

To do this, all you need to do is install a relay, with power coming from battery, and trigger wire coming from the puddle lights, and of course tap a wire into the foglights - this will then turn your foglights on and off with the puddle lights.

Yea thats the easy part, but I am still trying to figure out how to make the fog lights stay on for only about 10 seconds to keep the battery from going dead.

 

[JCUZ]

Yea thats the easy part, but I am still trying to figure out how to make the fog lights stay on for only about 10 seconds to keep the battery from going dead.

The mirror lights only stay on for that length of time, so by using that wiring as the trigger, when they go off, so will the foglights, just as they would if the trigger wire was an on/off switch etc. I may actually try this myself.

 

[MustangP51]

The mirror lights only stay on for that length of time, so by using that wiring as the trigger, when they go off, so will the foglights, just as they would if the trigger wire was an on/off switch etc. I may actually try this myself.

Still the problem is if the door gets left open for any length of time the fogs will also remain on. Thats what im worried about. Google "555 Timer circuit" thats what im thinking.

 

[Curtis]

Still the problem is if the door gets left open for any length of time the fogs will also remain on. Thats what im worried about. Google "555 Timer circuit" thats what im thinking.

In my 96 I wanted my park lights to come on when I unlocked the doors. My plan was to eventually add puddle lights too but havnt gotten to that yet.

Anyway, I used a "Pulse Relay" - about $20
It powers on like any other relay, but when power is turned off it remains on for a set period of time. There is a dial on the relay to adjust it. I found a relay in the rear jack compartment that was powered when the remote was used to unlock the doors and used this for the pulse relay. I have it timed approx with my interior dome lights.

 

[bigapple]

looks fantastic nice work man... i bet that works much better than a plug-and-play type light... when u buy them urself and do the install like this, u can aim them perfectly and get much more light output... nicely done though... nice connector fabrication... wouldnt have thought of that myself haha

 

[chrisdavis_21921]

looks good im just going to go the lazy way and buy some that just plug into the stock bulb location

 

[Sams01XplrSprt]

looks good ghoster

 

[JCUZ]

looks good im just going to go the lazy way and buy some that just plug into the stock bulb location

I tried that, and a single T-10 wedge style LED is just not bright enough. I used 3 x 5mm blue LEDs, and they cast a nice blue glow down the side of the truck. I ended up pulling a T-10 wedge LED apart and used the base of it as the base for my 3 LEDs, so it's kind of the best of both! Will get a pic up soon.

 

[jwright4]

Is there anything we could do to put the puddle lights on a switch so that they will operate as normal, also so that you could flip them on when you want?? kinda give it that "ground" effect look? I've been curious about that.

 

[bigapple]

Is there anything we could do to put the puddle lights on a switch so that they will operate as normal, also so that you could flip them on when you want?? kinda give it that "ground" effect look? I've been curious about that.

if u rewire a new aftermarket switch with a relay, u could operate it urself as well

 

[Drexxull]

dude, i just did this.. well I did the driver's side. Ill do the other side tomorrow - and I thought i was going to botch it up somehow. Thanks to Jamo's writeup, I nailed it first shot. I love how it looks -JUST what I was looking for as far as brightness.

Frickin sweet...