DIY: FD Civic Interior Accent Lights

[jpestrada115]

Disclaimer: The following is provided as a GUIDE ONLY, and neither myself nor Ozhonda take any responsibility for the outcomes of someone else doing the following. You follow these steps at your own risk!

Aim: To install interior accent lights similar to the OEM Honda blue accent lights and to install accent lights at the rear footwell as well.

Required:

(1) 2 sets - 4 LED lights set
(2) Flat head screw driver (for prying out clips)
(3) 2mm flat head screw driver
(4) Cutter blade

Steps:

I quite like the look of the original OEM Honda accent light as the blue lights match the blue instrumentation lights. Don't want to spend a lot of money to have this. I saw a $26 4-LED light set in KMart and gave me an idea to do a cheap DIY accent light for my FD. Here's a pic of the LED lights set. I bought 2 sets so I can put in lights for the rear foot wells as well. The LED light sets include longs wires and requires 12 volts supply so no special wiring and power supply would be needed.

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj108/jpestrada115/LEDset.jpg

Before I did any installation, I tested the LED light set by directly tapping onto the battery quickly to check if everything will light up. Better to do this quick check rather than installing everything then finding out in the end that a LED light is busted!

(1) Remove the red/black wires from the connector provided in the LED lights set. This is where you'll need the small 2mm screwdriver. Run this wire from the engine compartment. I removed the plastic trim to the right of the battery so that I can run the wires within the front guard.

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj108/jpestrada115/wirenearbattery.jpg

(2) Undo the clips on the plastic fender guards and run the wire over it. Undo the left cheek light and pull the end of the wire from that hole. I ran it to here as I've used the existing grommet behind the left cheek light to bring the power cable of my amplified sub-woofer into the car (from the battery then within the fender guard). I tape the end of the wires to a stick so I can poke it into the hole on the grommet to bring the wire into the car.

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj108/jpestrada115/wirethroughfenderguard.jpg

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj108/jpestrada115/wirewithstick.jpg

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj108/jpestrada115/wirethroughgrommet.jpg

(3) Wires can now be pulled from inside the car. You can pull this from the grommet behind the glove box. The pic shows the wire with the glove box out of the way.

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj108/jpestrada115/wiringin.jpg

(4) Lay down the wires and lights. This will make it easier comes installationof the lights in the car as you can pull the wires easily without tangles.

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj108/jpestrada115/LEDwire.jpg

(5) Screw the red/black wires back to the connector of the LED lights set.

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj108/jpestrada115/connected.jpg

(6) Back in the engine compartment, tap the red wire to the parker. To do away with splices/tapper on the parker supply wire, I simply pulled out the parker socket and inserted the red wire in the (+) female socket and clipped it back on to the parker light (sorry I forgot to take a pic of this). I did this on the driver side parker as there's more working roomto reach the parker socket. Accessing the passenger sde parker would need the removalof the battery first so would be more difficult. The black wire then has to be body-grounded. There are bolts near the battery so just ground the black to one them. Alternatively, tap the blackwire to the (-) battery terminal. Turn on the parker lights and check if the LED lights will light up as well. Mine lit up on the first try. :D

(7) Run the wires inside the car to preferred locations. The LED lights come with double adhesive mounting tape so can simply be stuck to where you want it mounted. Here are pics of where I installed the LED lights:

2 under the steering wheel (front driver side)

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj108/jpestrada115/frontdriverside.jpg

2 under the glove box (front passenger side)

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj108/jpestrada115/frontpassengerside.jpg

1 in the center console under the aircon controls

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj108/jpestrada115/centerconsole.jpg

1 each under the front seats and 1 on the bottom of the rear of the center concosle/armrest

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj108/jpestrada115/rearleftcenter.jpg

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj108/jpestrada115/rearrightcenter.jpg

(8) Lights on! :D

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj108/jpestrada115/lightson1.jpg

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj108/jpestrada115/lightson2.jpg

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj108/jpestrada115/lightson3.jpg

[jpestrada115]

Pic of OEM Honda interior accent lights from online brochure posted for comparison.

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj108/jpestrada115/BlueLight_600x300.jpg

[ktvin09]

Nice post man. One question, what seat covers have you got there? How much are they, looks pretty good!

[jpestrada115]

Nice post man. One question, what seat covers have you got there? How much are they, looks pretty good!

OEM honda neoprene seat covers mate. price PM'ed to you (i don't think it's allowed to post that here).

[.k.]

looks good but are they always on? is there an on/off switch that could be integrated into the system?

[tiksie]

looks good but are they always on? is there an on/off switch that could be integrated into the system?

Ofcourse!

[jpestrada115]

looks good but are they always on? is there an on/off switch that could be integrated into the system?

no separate on/off switch for mine. i tapped to the parker lights so the LEDs turn on whenever i turn the parkers on. parkers off, LEDs off as well.

would be easy if you want to install a on/off switch for these though - just put in a switch along the power supply wire.

[markCivicVti]

Nice, I got the Accent lighting when I bought my car... yours is better than what Honda would have given you... except I have a push on push off switch thingy.. but yours still looks better.

[.k.]

is it annoyingly bright at all while your driving around?

[jpestrada115]

@ markCivicVti: that's good to know. and i'm quite happy with the results. and it just costed me $50 plus a couple of hours for DIY install. i won't mind not having a on/off switch at all.

@.k.: not at all. the LEDs are bright enough to give the blue glow under the dash (and at the rear as i did). no annoying blue glare from it at all.

[jdmEG5]

that is GG! lOLOL

thats awesome, i'll probably try this on aunt's car LOL

[Uncle George]

Here is mine, with LED light strip. a little tooo bright.

It's hooked up to the interior light, so can be turned on and off if I wanted to, but also comes on when the doors are open.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~wombo/IMG_5829 copy.jpg

[curtis265]

Nice job!

[black8thgen]

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj108/jpestrada115/wirethroughgrommet.jpg

did u have to drill a hole into this grommet? or is there already a hole there?

nice write up btw!

[HotKgon]

I'm thinking of doing this mod as well, but I don't know which cables for the dome light. Could anyone shed some light for me? (no pun intended @_@)

I'm thinking it would be one of the cables near the fuse box but there's a huge bundle and I have no idea! Epic fails for me.

[jpestrada115]

sorry guys. i thought this thread has been buried. anyway, to answer your questions:

@ black8thgen - no hole on that grommet yet. no need to drill mate - jsut ahve to poke it as the grommet is rubber. I would suggest using something thinner than the wire to poke the grommet so that when you pull your wire through, the grommet will still be snug around it.

@ HotKgon - sorry mate can't help you with the dome light wiring. that's why i tapped mine to the parkers.

@ curtis365: thanks mate. :)

[black8thgen]

ahh i see. sweet. cheers mate. btw is taking off the glove box a tricky job or is it quick and simple?

[jpestrada115]

ahh i see. sweet. cheers mate. btw is taking off the glove box a tricky job or is it quick and simple?

it's easy as mate. just open it, pull the 2 sides towards the middle then it should pop out. you won't actually taking it off - it will still be hanging by the hinge. but it should give you enough room to work. cheers mate.

[black8thgen]

ahh i see. cheers for the help mate.

[black8thgen]

hey uhm do u reckon you could take a pic of the way u inserted the red wire to the female parker socket? i was looking round just then and im not sure where to put it so the socket can still fit inside the headlight compartment.

thanks mate

[jpestrada115]

hey uhm do u reckon you could take a pic of the way u inserted the red wire to the female parker socket? i was looking round just then and im not sure where to put it so the socket can still fit inside the headlight compartment.

thanks mate


i don't think i'll be able to do that mate coz it's quite tricky to insert the wire to the socket. what i did was strip about 25mm of the insulation of the red wire (from the LEDs), inserted the bare copper wire end to the (+) terminal of the female socket then plugged it back in. that way, there are no taps or splices onto the wire - all can be back to stock after you remove the mod.:thumbsup:

[black8thgen]

Hmm, so is the copper wire like sitting inside the headlight housing basically? but you just squeezed it through the gap with the socket? i think ill try that.. thanks mate!

btw is the socket ur talking about the GREY piece that comes out or the black piece connected to the red/black wire of the parkers.

[jpestrada115]

Hmm, so is the copper wire like sitting inside the headlight housing basically? but you just squeezed it through the gap with the socket? i think ill try that.. thanks mate!

btw is the socket ur talking about the GREY piece that comes out or the black piece connected to the red/black wire of the parkers.

mate sorry for the very late replies. been very busy lately.

nope, not inside the headlight housing. you have the parker bulb holder yeah? then the socket to this bulb holder can actually pulled-off from it. that's where you insert the copper wire - in the female (+) slot in that socket that plugs to the parker bulb holder. hope you undestand mate. i'm sure you'll figure that out when you're already working on it.

by the way, i tapped on to the passenger side parkers as there's more working space there. i tried tapping to the driver's side parker and man, it was a hassle! have to take the battery out or move it slightly out of the way maing everything harder!

cheers and good luck on the DIY.:thumbsup:

[black8thgen]

ah all sweet. got it done =D. haha thx mate, lots of help!

btw i think u mean u worked on the drivers side? cos the battery is on the passenger side =D

[joe.teg]

COOOOREEEEEE ive wanted to do this mod for so long just havnt got around to doing it, i wonna do it on my dc2 with red lights :D

[jpestrada115]

ah all sweet. got it done =D. haha thx mate, lots of help!

btw i think u mean u worked on the drivers side? cos the battery is on the passenger side =D

you're right - worked on the driver's side. got confused lol.

post pics when you've done yours mate.:)



COOOOREEEEEE ive wanted to do this mod for so long just havnt got around to doing it, i wonna do it on my dc2 with red lights :D

go for it mate. it can be done in an hour or 2.:thumbsup:

[NZFD2]

@jpestrada115: My FD has the side indicators on the side mirror so I havent got that hole from the cheek light on the fender..do you think it's still easy to access the grommet just by unclipping the fender guards?

[black8thgen]

at NAFD2: i found a new way of feeding the wires from engine bay to interior as i also have a sport so i dont have the cheek light - there is a little gap in where the door opens, and if u open up the fenders in the wheel arch you can access that little hole, u can feed wires through there very easily and up into the engine bay via the wheel arch fenders, this is how i did mine, very easy and i can take a pic if anyone really wants. the only problem is you need to cover up the wires as when u open the door they become visible, but i dont think anyone really cares tooo much about that, it saves having to find your way through that little hole above the fuse box (almost impossible to get i hear).

heres some pics of my install - interior footwells and strips in the front grille:

btw sorry for the blurryness... took them in a rush =/.

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/6425/img5513a.th.jpg (http://img200.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img5513a.jpg)

http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/6767/img5511.th.jpg (http://img190.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img5511.jpg)

[jpestrada115]

@ NZFD2: sorry i saw your question too late mate. black8thgen's solution seems easier. to answer your question though, i think you would still be able to access that grommet if you take out the plastic fenderliner. would be tricky to poke a hole though as you will just be using your touch and not actually see it.

the way i did it is not really the best way (i.e., tapping for power from the parkers in the engine bay and running the wires back into the car). i'm doing some research now to draw power from the underdash fusebox (from a spare slot). that way, all wirings will be inside the car, the LED circuit protected by a fuse and no wires to see in the engine bay! i'll post up pics and details on this post when i've done this.

anyway, i hid the wires (from the driver side parker light) under the metal frame infront of the radiator though so they're not visible at all. stealthy so the dealer won't see it when the pop the bonnet.:D

@ black8thgen: top job mate!:thumbsup: i think yours actually came out better than mine. did you install LEDs for the back seat footwells as well?

[NZFD2]

@jpestrada & black8thgen: Thanks guys for the answer. I'm quite keen on getting this done too sometime soon. btw black8thgen, did you use teh same leds as jpestrada? I'm really liking the blue as it's probably not that bright but still illuminate the footwells nicely

[black8thgen]

@ nzfd2: nah i used 30cm blue LED strips from ebay =].
@ jpestrada: nahh didnt install for rear seats yet, planning on doing that very soon!
and yeah i also hid my wires in the engine bay with some tape and under the metal barrier thingy lol. - and yeah i was researching on how to wire it to the spare slot in fuse box but didn't get very lol, so went for the quick easy fix =D. in the end though i need to use the parker power as my grille LEDs are all on the outside and run through the engine bay anyway.

[NZFD2]

@black8thgen: cool..I've looked at some led strips on NZ's 'ebay', might grab some up sometime soon..thanks again

[curtis265]

black8thgen, that looks great!

[jpestrada115]

@ black8thgen: sweet mate!:thumbsup: yours would probably be a lot brighter as they are quite long LED strips. aren't they annoyingly bright while you dirve at night?

just saw the pic of the LEDs on the grille. looks cool. :D but don't it get unwanted attention from the police?

@ NZFD2: post up pics when you get yours done mate.

[black8thgen]

ah shit sorry for the late reply.. been busy on exams for a few weeks.

uhmm nah they aren't annoying while im driving at night, and my front grille ones i put a on/off switch in between the circuit.. so i can turn it on when i want, because yeah i think cops will definately try defect me on it, so i just turn it on while im driving in back streets i know are cop-free, and just to show mates etc haha =].

[jpestrada115]

ah shit sorry for the late reply.. been busy on exams for a few weeks.

uhmm nah they aren't annoying while im driving at night, and my front grille ones i put a on/off switch in between the circuit.. so i can turn it on when i want, because yeah i think cops will definately try defect me on it, so i just turn it on while im driving in back streets i know are cop-free, and just to show mates etc haha =].

lol. cheers mate. anti-defect switch ftw!:D

[tkbuild]

Great DIY, thanks for sharing. :D

[philip_pc]

sorry just a quick question.
if you were to draw the power for the lights from the car battery AND want to integrate a switch so you can turn it off at will (for authorities sake) is it as simple as integrating the switch into the line that feeds power to the lights?? like this:

BATTERY---------SWITCH---------------LIGHTS------GROUND

i read somewhere that you need a fuse inline with the 12V line coming from the battery so prevent accidental fires. is this true? do you really need a fuse?

BATTERY------FUSE-------SWITCH--------LIGHTS---------GROUND

[philip_pc]

anyone???

[jpestrada115]

you can do it that way but it's not the right thing to do really mate (tap straight to battery). to answer your questions though, yes to both.

best way is to tap power from the spare in the interior fusebox. i'll do mine this way but haven't got the time yet. the way i did mine was just the quickest, no wire splice solution and i never had a problem with it so far.

[curtis265]

So you'd be creating a new circuit - would u be using fuse taps and all that?

[philip_pc]

i preferrably wanna run a wire from the battery and draw power from there.
im not too familiar with drawing power from the under-dash fusebox so i want to avoid that if possible.

[curtis265]

Theres ways - read this.
http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/lighting/17835-diy-interior-illumination.html

This guy uses the under-dash fusebox

[black8thgen]

i powered my leds from the battery, just run a wire from the battery to a switch inside the cabin then to the leds =], and a fuse holder/fuse of course

[philip_pc]

i powered my leds from the battery, just run a wire from the battery to a switch inside the cabin then to the leds =], and a fuse holder/fuse of course

this was the part i was lost on.
would you be able to explain this part?
whats the fuse for?

[philip_pc]

Its ok, a bit of googling and i came up with this, fully understood now =)
fuse acts like a circuit breaker, just in case there is a surge the power is cut off at the fuse so your accessories remain safe.......pretty much a surge potector

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/1851/maebdg.jpg

and the most convenient type of fuse to incorporate into the circuit seems to be a fuse holder...just solder it onto the circuit

http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/6961/largeinlinefuseholder.jpg

and if unluckily enough you do get a surge of current, the fuse filament just snaps, easy to replace and cheap as peanuts......less than a dollar supposedly

http://img35.imageshack.us/img35/6456/ist24721173blownautofus.jpg


hope this info helps others like it helped me:angel::angel:

[hiepness]

Looks heaps nice... might give it a go further down the track.

[yellowrush]

Thanks heaps for this DIY.. I used the same lighting kit that I bought off Amazon, but I tapped directly into the headlight switch instead (I couldn't find the right fuse for the life of me). The end result is still the same though.. Looks beautiful. :)

http://img138.imageshack.us/img138/9207/img1849b.jpg

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/4198/img1848c.jpg