LED conversion-PUDDLE LIGHTS

[Alax7]

A lot of people have trouble or dont think they can take apart the puddle lights. A few pictures a just snapped for future people seeking to do the puddle light.The whole process is very simple.






One side of the puddle light has a black tab and the other side has a hole. In this hole is a clip that you have to push in, towards the center of the puddle light, to release the puddle light from the mirror assembly.Push this in and with another flat head pull down from the opposite side.

Once you release the side with the hole, the other side might still be held on like in this picture. Push up the released side a little to level the puddle light in order to be able to release the other side.

Here you see a resistor I welded in place to keep the light off when there is no power to the puddle lights. I used a 4300 ohm resistor because I had some extra laying around since I used these for the interior light circuit as well. I had to wrap some wire around the bottom of the two clips to be able to soldier the resistor on, it would not grab on the two clips.




Just pull the two wites off and the puddle light will be off the rear side view mirror.

The first time I did it, I used 2 pliers and just pulled off. One broke a little but it got the job done. The other side came off a lot easier. You can also use a flat head and make your way around it trying to pry it open. You can also just cut them open with a dremel.

This is the side that broke last time. You can see where the clear plastic part has some black broken pieces attacked to it. Broken or not, as long as you have all the pieces to seal it up completly, it still works. This is not very delicate part so dont worry too much, but dont break in into pieces either. Just use your choice of glue to seal back up when you're done.

Pictures of the puddle light off the car

This is the piece that push in to releae the puddle light when you stick the flat head in the hole

 

[PMJJ]

Make a clear circle lens, it emits 3 times the light.

 

[Alax7]

Yeah. True. I'll add that to the mods list

 

[trifelife]

Thanks for this, Alax. Looks very straghtforward.

 

[BrklynExpress]

Thanks for the writeup.

 

[Andrizzle]

Yea the frosted/hazed lense really hinders output I'm sure. Have you actually tried putting a custom lense over it?

 

[MO'S 04]

Thanks, been lookin to do this 4 a while, u know how hard the interior dome lights are to switch?

 

[Andrizzle]

Not very, unscrew inner visor screws. Pull down headliner @ moonroof (granted u have one). Then work the overhead console loose and it will hang and give u access to the lights.

 

[Alax7]

I just pulled the dome lights down. They are held in by clips I think.

 

[Rich88LSC]

Thanks for the write up bro. I didn't want to be bothered since I thought you had to pry them open but since it's easy I am def going to swap them. I might try doing red.

 

[DENNISJR60]

Has anyone thought about using the LED that lights on both sides or is the regular one sided LED bright enough? I know they make LED bulbs that light up on both sides which I'm guessing would work good for housings that have reflectors inside.

 

[Alax7]

The LED bulb I have in the trunk has light on both sides. The puddle light doesn't have a reflector bowl, its just the plastic so it wouldn't really add anything.

 

[DENNISJR60]

The LED bulb I have in the trunk has light on both sides. The puddle light doesn't have a reflector bowl, its just the plastic so it wouldn't really add anything.

OK for some reason it looks like it does in one of the pictures, but if not then forget it...

 

[Alax7]

oh........ooops. I guess it does my bad.I dontknow why I thought it was just the plastic. Yeah then I guess if you find one small enough to fit there, it'll output more light.

 

[Onefreshls]

what bulb did you put in the puddle light

 

[Bullschmidt]

You need a felstoon type bulb like this one

http://www.v-leds.com/Interior-LED-Bulbs/Dome-Map-LED/White-LED/V-LEDS-5K-WHITE-2W-4-p8761206.html

 

[Alax7]

Yeah ^^^^

 

[Alax7]

By the way, this was before I had a dremel so you can just cut it open and epoxy it shut.

 

[M4rk]

Definitely use a dremel for a clean incision.

These are bright, off V-Leds..

 

[PMJJ]

Yea the frosted/hazed lense really hinders output I'm sure. Have you actually tried putting a custom lense over it?

Yes, it works wonders for light output, which is what we need up here in new england right now.

 

[mlara1129]

sorry to bump an old thread...

Hey Alex,
since you're one of the innovators in the community thats still around, i was wondering if you ever considered doing something like the new mustangs have now in their puddles.

Maybe something that projects "LS" or the Lincoln star?

i think it would be a cool mod.

fast foward to 2:33 to see what im talking about if you havent seen it yet.
2013 Ford Mustang GT 1st Drive - 420 HP of Fury! - YouTube

 

[Yar1]

I like the mod.. always a big fan of LED conversions.

Why did you wire a resistor in there?? If there is no power to the lights wouldn't they be off already?

 

[Alax7]

That's pretty sick. I'll see what I can do.
@yar1- there is some residual power after you lock the car so the leds stay on but are dim. The resistor makes it turn off right away

 

[Yar1]

^ Gotcha.. Makes sense.

 

[Stopsign002]

How hard should it be to get the puddle lights out? I tried to take them out earlier today and was pulling pretty hard on them. The side without the hole seems to be really stuck in there.