DIY -|- Interior/Accent LEDs [Archive] - Drive Accord Honda Forums

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mnkyman

11-21-2006, 01:01 AM

This is mnkyman's DIY to change your interior lights from the yellow incandescent bulbs to LEDs of your choice of color

Heres my results:
http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01432.JPG

http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01478.JPG

http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01476.JPG

Ok lets start!

1. Get your materials and tools
http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01423.JPG

first of all, you will need to order some LEDS
LED SERIAL NUMBERS
Map light: DE3175
Dome light: DE3175
Step/Courtesy light: 168/T15
All from Sylvania

either from ebay:
http://myworld.ebay.com/motoringmax
or search and you'll find another buyer, but i bought from this one
Offers blue, red, super bright white, and others by request

OR

http://www.tec-toyz.com
I haven't bought from them, but others have and its the same thing
Offers Blue, White, UV Blacklight, Red, Green, and Amber

Tools you will need:
a small Flat-head Screwdriver like this:
http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/screwdriver.JPG

Manuals that might help (but my DIY is good enough):
http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/06_ambient_light_replacement_w_moonroof.pdf
http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/06_ceiling_light_replacement.pdf
http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/2006_ACCORD_-_door_courtesy_light.pdf

2. Lets replace the door lights
Put the screw driver behind these two points and pry the case off

http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01427.JPG

http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01428.JPG

http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01429.JPG

pull out the bulb and replace with LED, if it doesnt turn on, flip the LED
http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01430.JPG

Replace the cover by putting the bottom in first and pushing on the pins at the top to pop back in
http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01420.JPG

http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01431.JPG

3. Lets replace the dome light

This step will be easier to do from the back seat

Put the screw driver behind these two points and pry the case off

http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01441.JPG

http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01444.JPG

http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01445.JPG

pull out the bulb and replace with LED, if LED doesn't turn on, flip it around
WARNING: THESE BULBS GET HOT, so before you change it out to the LED, let it sit and cool for a couple minutes if you had it on

Replace case in reverse order that you took out (part closes to you goes in first, and then pop in the pins on the farthest side)

4. Lets replace the map lights
These are a little harder but its basically the same process

note: it won't be beneficial to unscrew the whole roof unit from the screws inside the flip down sunglass holder, because there are screws behind the map lights holding up the unit

Put the screw driver behind these four points and pry the case off

http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01447.JPG

http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01448.JPG

http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01449.JPG

http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01450.JPG

It will be a little harder to pull these out because the pins also have hooks on them
http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01451.JPG

http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01452.JPG
just play around with it a little and it will come loose

you will want to take off the other case at this time as it will be easier by prying from here:
http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01455.JPG

http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01456.JPG

pull out the bulbs and replace with LEDs, if LEDs don't turn on, flip them around
WARNING: THESE BULBS GET HOT, so before you change it out to the LED, let it sit and cool for a couple minutes if you had it on

http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01457.JPG

replace the covers by pushing them back in and just letting the pins pop back into place
http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01459.JPG

5. Admire Your Work
http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01431.JPG

http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01432.JPG

http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01434.JPG

http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01461.JPG

http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01466.JPG

One with the flash:
http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01471.JPG

http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01476.JPG

http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/mini-DSC01479.JPG

Thanks For Reading

Images Sponsored By:
www.TheOrange-Media.com
Design-Code-Host
http://www.theorange-media.com/honda/light/TOM.JPG

l7h8626

11-21-2006, 03:06 AM

nice write up
overall its an easy work to put those LEDs
=)

faboloso

11-21-2006, 06:29 AM

AWESOME! thanks :thmsup:
gonna order mine soon then hehe

JSM

11-21-2006, 01:34 PM

Good job :thmsup:
I understand that LED's only work at a fixed voltage, so there's no question with map lights and door lights, but regarding roof light, how do these leds perform with the dim effect? I mean, when door is closed the light is not turned off, it is dimmed gradually, so do leds have the same effect or they turn off suddenly??

mwmcginn

11-21-2006, 02:24 PM

WARNING: THESE BULBS GET HOT, so before you change it out to the LED, let it sit and cool for a couple minutes if you had it on

And HOW! Those thing can burn your fingerprints off. For some reason I never learn. I've burnt myself a couple time.

Thanks for the writeup

mnkyman

11-21-2006, 04:02 PM

thanks for comments guys! :thmsup: :banana:

the dome light will still have the dim feature with LEDs

and yes, i learned the hard way that the blubs get hot...didnt think about it when i was pulling it out

faderrific

11-22-2006, 07:44 AM

VTECaddict

11-22-2006, 09:15 AM

mnkyman, how many LEDs were in each of those LED bulbs?

and i cant decide whether to go white or blue for the door courtesy lights. :dunno:

mnkyman

11-22-2006, 10:51 AM

4 leds in each of the map lights and the dome light

9 leds in the door lights

mnkyman

11-22-2006, 10:53 AM

pics right from the ebay auction:

Door Lights:
http://motoringmax.com/Ebay/LED/LEDbulbs.jpg

Dome/Map Lights:
http://motoringmax.com/Ebay/LED/LEDdome.jpg

mwmcginn

11-22-2006, 10:57 AM

I thought with those leds the interior would be brighter. I saw another accord on V6P that the blue leds lit up the entire car. I'm thinking of doing the hyperwhite leds and maybe a blue led for the dome, since I can just turn it on for display and leave it off for daily operations.

A lot of how it looks could be the camera settings. Not much way to really capture that as it changes with the shutter speed.

Azn_Rice_Man

11-22-2006, 07:14 PM

Has anyone tried changing the vanity mirror lights?

mnkyman

11-22-2006, 10:17 PM

BenjiBoy650

11-22-2006, 10:20 PM

why would you want to?....seriously...do you drive around with the mirror open...same with putting bulbs in your glove box

id much rather have white lights in those places than blue, just incase i need to either read something or look for something
Well do you drive around with your door open? Then why are you replacing all those lights? You use the vanity mirror lights to look for something or read something, but you put blue LED's in the map lights, which is actually what most people use to read things...like uh, read a map maybe...hmmm

Azn_Rice_Man

11-24-2006, 06:56 AM

Thanks Benji, for pointing out the obvious.

If u're gonna change the bulbs in your car, u might as well do it completely, not just partially. There's not really any point to changing any bulbs at all, except to make it look fancy, and if you say it's useless to change the vanity mirror lights, well, it's just as useless to change any other light in the car for that matter, as the blue lights aren't exactly the best for lighting... it's just for show.

mnkyman

11-24-2006, 05:18 PM

phoenix

11-24-2006, 05:39 PM

Great write up!

BenjiBoy650

11-24-2006, 06:01 PM

the blue dome light isnt bright enought to light the car, that was the only reason i changed the map lights to blue

was originally going to leave the map lights stock, but dome just wasnt bright enough

...so ricey azn guy..do you open up your glove box and vanity mirrors when you have your car sitting out for show?..didnt think so
So if I got this straight, you went from a regular dome light that was bright enough to light the car, and changed it to blue. Then the blue was not bright enough to light the whole car, meaning that the white --> blue gives less light. So then the idea is to change regular map lights to blue to help light the car better? What in the hell are you talking about? You can't help a fellow member, even worse you have to make fun of him for wanting to do something that you did, but on another level?? :thumbsdow

And once again I ask, do you drive with your doors open? Then why is it that a light being bright enough to light the car so important? What in the heck could you be using it for???

mnkyman

11-24-2006, 06:21 PM

Great write up!
np :thmsup:

-------------------------

..i want blue lights..

BUT...the dome was not bright enough (like the stock was)

so to keep the blue lights and the brightness..i changed out the map lights as well...

Then why is it that a light being bright enough to light the car so important?

thats just for show, with just the dome..the inside of the car wouldnt light up blue enough..it was just kind of dark inside there

Egon

11-24-2006, 06:50 PM

If you're happy with the mod, then fine. To me, it doesn't seem to be terribly practical since the blue lighting will wash out fairly important features on a map at night...like large bodies of water. But if you're happy that it looks cool, then consider it a 'mission accomplished' and move on. :)

Conundrum

11-25-2006, 07:52 AM

I'll probably be doing this down the road...but using white LEDs as I'd just want to get the "yellow" out of the stock lights (probably wait for the first one to burn out though...so it could be a while...lol).

I was considering switching the map lights to red (to maintain night vision), however I got to thinking and red doesn't emit enough visible light, so it would probably be too hard to read under those conditions. I remember hearing somewhere that green is the next best colour to red...however green lights just seem to weird to me...lol.

Egon

11-25-2006, 06:30 PM

Red lighting is actually a very good choice for preserving night vision. Most fire apparatus are equipped with both white and red interior lighting for this reason. But like blue, red lights have a distinct disadvantage: Any red printing on a map vanishes when the reds alone are used. Not sure about green, but the seasonal decorating value when combined with red can't be discounted. :D

Azn_Rice_Man

11-27-2006, 02:18 PM

the blue dome light isnt bright enought to light the car, that was the only reason i changed the map lights to blue

was originally going to leave the map lights stock, but dome just wasnt bright enough

...so ricey azn guy..do you open up your glove box and vanity mirrors when you have your car sitting out for show?..didnt think so

What's it to you if I did have it all open to show the blue that I want, monkey boy? If you weren't a ricer yourself, you wouldn't have gone with the blue inside your car in the first place. If you claim that you want a brighter light, blue LED's are a very poor choice anyways. So if you don't know the answer to the question, why don't you just say so instead of giving off stupid comments like that? I didn't ask for your 2 cents worth; I just said if you knew how to change those specific lights cuz I wanna do it. So back off, assmo!

mnkyman

11-27-2006, 06:46 PM

What's it to you if I did have it all open to show the blue that I want, monkey boy? If you weren't a ricer yourself, you wouldn't have gone with the blue inside your car in the first place. If you claim that you want a brighter light, blue LED's are a very poor choice anyways. So if you don't know the answer to the question, why don't you just say so instead of giving off stupid comments like that? I didn't ask for your 2 cents worth; I just said if you knew how to change those specific lights cuz I wanna do it. So back off, assmo!

i was just gonna leave this thread be and let it die off after reading egon's post :thmsup:

so ..im gonna do that...(had a long post written with a bunch of words that would show up like this *****, but its ok...your not worth my time)

faboloso

11-28-2006, 09:41 PM

oi.... all this over some of interior lights! :dunno:

Cups

11-29-2006, 05:44 AM

Nice DIY and great pictures mnkyman.

Now pray you never get lost somewhere at night and get forced to follow a map. I will end up being blind :D

mnkyman

11-29-2006, 12:01 PM

Nice DIY and great pictures mnkyman.

Now pray you never get lost somewhere at night and get forced to follow a map. I will end up being blind :D

Thanks :thmsup: :D :banana:

lol, true that...if worse comes to worse..just open up the mirror light on the flip down or pull into a gas station :lmao:

princess

11-29-2006, 05:34 PM

If I had mine changed it would be blue....blue LEDs are a pretty color!! At this point I have the blue for the ambient light & I'm happy. If I did more, it would be the door lights.

Knowing me, I'd color match the car.... if I had a red one, I'd go with red lights, green, green lights....tan, gold or sand, amber. With black, white, silvers or grays....whatever fit the mood. :)

Great write up!! :thmsup:

BenjiBoy650

11-29-2006, 05:35 PM

Knowing me, I'd color match the car.... if I had a red one, I'd go with red lights, green, green lights....tan, gold or sand, amber. With black, white, silvers or grays....whatever fit the mood. :)
My lights already match my car color :thumbsup:

princess

11-29-2006, 05:47 PM

Well see, some of us just wanna be as cool as you!!! :D

shigeo

05-04-2007, 08:37 PM

i just finished up doing my interior/accent lights to LEDs. i found this page after i finished the process only took me and my coworker 20 mins. (it was slow in the store and we could not wait till afterwork) quick and easy process.

i ordered the LEDs 5/1 got them today(5/4) USPS from www.superbrightleds.com (really fast I live in hawaii)

all bright white
back dome light
2 map lights
2 door accents
2 reverselights
2 rear turn sig.
trunk
lisence plate

2006 honda accord v6 ex

cant wait till the sunsets

mnkyman

05-04-2007, 09:02 PM

listen to remix

10-26-2008, 08:51 PM

if you wanna go all out on your trunk, put in some trunk cathodes

http://www.driveaccord.net/forums/showthread.php?t=9635&highlight=diy+trunk

you can bypass my button set-up, i just have it so i can switch the lights to stock or to the blue cathodes....i think im going to change that though so that it will be blue or white cathodes depending ont he position of the switch

I already changed my interior lights... howeveer, i would imagine how helpful this diy would be for other people! Thanks.

BTW... can you show me how i can do the trunk mod without cutting wires?

PanzerLeader

11-09-2008, 05:14 PM

You say bulbs get hot, OK are they hotter than standard bulb (OEM)? If so will it screw with the plastic lenses?

berg

11-09-2008, 06:40 PM

omg thats so tacky in my humble opinion

mnkyman

12-01-2008, 12:00 AM

I already changed my interior lights... howeveer, i would imagine how helpful this diy would be for other people! Thanks.

BTW... can you show me how i can do the trunk mod without cutting wires?

cutting wires is the best way...other way is to tape the wires of the cathodes onto where the bulb should go, but thats unsafe, as it can come loose and possibly cause a short

mnkyman

12-01-2008, 12:01 AM

You say bulbs get hot, OK are they hotter than standard bulb (OEM)? If so will it screw with the plastic lenses?

LED's are actually cooler than the regular bulbs....i've had them in my car since the install and no ill effects on the plastic

mnkyman

12-01-2008, 12:01 AM

omg thats so tacky in my humble opinion

Do it with white leds...i got tired of the blue and went with white a couple months later