How-To: LED Interior / Reverse / Licence plate lights
- Thread starter jam_asian85
- Start date
ok I read the entire thread and I didn't see this so I figured I'd let you guys in on the easiest way to get the trunk light in... if you're looking at the light, below and to the right, there is an access panel for the tail light bulbs. if you remove that, you can reach up and pop the whole fixture for the trunk light completely out. that way, you're not in any danger of dropping the bulb down into the depths of your trunk.
just FYI.
just FYI.
jam_asian85
Member
- :
- Mazdaspeed 3
looks good
jam_asian85
Member
- :
- Mazdaspeed 3
nope don't think so, the economy/college got me straped for cash. how bout you?
I just did mine today.
all cool white
did the 6 leds for the maps and glove box
did the High Power 2-LED Festoon bulbs for the dome and trunk (these suckers are BRIGHT)
did the 5 leds for the license plate lights. They look good, plenty bright without looking like underglow.
Did the amber LED rear turnsignals so the back lights are all LED now except the reverse. Had a PITA doing the resistors cause of the goo they put inside them for conductivity. I had to really mash the plastic down a few times to get the splices to take. Had hyperblinking for a little bit til i mashed the blue splice boxes down enough. I'm a little pissed about the lack of wire to use for the turnsignals but they're blinking right. I hope nothing comes loose, the resistors seem to be pretty solid though.
Overall a nice improvement from the stock bulbs in my opinion.
Friday is tint day so that should look good too. Probably going 20% all around for that unless it looks too light, then i'll do 5% for all the rears and 20% up front. 20% will probably be fine on black mica speed3 though
all cool white
did the 6 leds for the maps and glove box
did the High Power 2-LED Festoon bulbs for the dome and trunk (these suckers are BRIGHT)
did the 5 leds for the license plate lights. They look good, plenty bright without looking like underglow.
Did the amber LED rear turnsignals so the back lights are all LED now except the reverse. Had a PITA doing the resistors cause of the goo they put inside them for conductivity. I had to really mash the plastic down a few times to get the splices to take. Had hyperblinking for a little bit til i mashed the blue splice boxes down enough. I'm a little pissed about the lack of wire to use for the turnsignals but they're blinking right. I hope nothing comes loose, the resistors seem to be pretty solid though.
Overall a nice improvement from the stock bulbs in my opinion.
Friday is tint day so that should look good too. Probably going 20% all around for that unless it looks too light, then i'll do 5% for all the rears and 20% up front. 20% will probably be fine on black mica speed3 though
danmowchan
Member
- :
- Mazda 3s
Awesome and easy
I saw this post and could not help myself.
Ordered the LEDs a week or so ago and they came in the mail today. Boy was I excited. Took some quick pics to show it off.
I showed a friend of mine and my mother -- guess what? They both want them for their cars. Ordered them LEDs today -- theyre in Civic's though.
I saw this post and could not help myself.
Ordered the LEDs a week or so ago and they came in the mail today. Boy was I excited. Took some quick pics to show it off.
I showed a friend of mine and my mother -- guess what? They both want them for their cars. Ordered them LEDs today -- theyre in Civic's though.
myzoomzoom3
Member
Lights to be changed out:
- Glove Box light
- Dome light
- Map light
- Trunk/Cargo light
- Reverse light
- Licence plate light
LED bulbs need:
- WLED-x6 OR WLED-x5 Wide Angle LED bulb (either or, doesn't matter, 6 however I think might be brighter)
- 3022-x9 LED Festoon bulb
- 7440-xLX3 Luxeon LED bulb
You will need TWO of the WLED-x5/x6 Wide Angle LED bulb (white of course) for the licence plate light, THREE more of the WLED-x5/x6 Wide Angle LED bulb (color of your choice) for the glove box light (1) and map light (2). TWO 7440-xLX3 Luxeon LED buld (white of course) will be used for the reverse light. TWO 3022-x9 LED Festoon bulb (color of your choice) for the dome light and the trunk/cargo light.
Please note: Bulbs may be different for sedans, as the following pics were from a hatch. The bulb you (sedans) will need for the trunk is the WLED-x5 Wide Angle LED bulb
I am in no way affiliated with this website,
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/commerce.cgi?product=CAR
It's merely a link to where I bought my LEDs
Installation is straight forward just light changing a bulb at home, no add wiring of such sort is need, just swap out the stock bulbs and replace them with your LEDs.
Glove Box light:
Open your glove box, to remove the center strip
Pull the center strip from the bottom, starting from left to right
Pull of the door sills (if that's what its called) thing with the mazdaspeed written on it, don't be scared to yank on it, it just pops right off
Then, remove the kick panel, there's the snap in "screw" thingy, which is easily removed with a flat head screw driver, just pry it in there and pull it out
Then, take a phillip head screw driver and remove the TWO screws holding the glove box in place.
After removing the two screws, pull on the glove from the bottom in order to get it out, be careful though, dont pull too hard or the wiring for the bulb might rip. After you pull out the glove box it should look like this, sitting in your lap.
Then just pull on that little sucker holding the light bulb, then simply replace the factory bulb with your LED, then put everything all back in reverse steps.
Map Light:
Get a good grab in there, and just pull on it, dont pull too hard or you'll damage the wiring harness.
Once that's done, it should look something like this. You will see TWO knob looking things holding the factory bulb in place. With a simple twist they come out, then just switch the bulbs with your LEDs and put back the map light housing in place. Be sure to check if the LEDs are working before you put back the housing, if not then just simply take out the LED and put it in the other way.
Dome Light:
Using a flat head screw driver just pop off the clear lens
Then just pull out the factory bulb and replace it with the LED, again, test to see if it works, if not just remove and flip the LED around and put it back it.
Trunk/Cargo Light:
Just pull on the clear cover and it'll just come out.
Replace the factory bulb with the LED you bought.
Reverse Light:
There should be a panel looking like this one the left and right side of the hatch, remove it and reach in for the bulb housing
With a simple twist it just comes right out. Replace the factory bulb with the LED
Licence Plate Light:
Look underneath the bumper, but right above the licence plate and you will see a clear cover being held by two hook thingys
Just push on the hooks and the light housing will come out, with a twist the bulb will come out, once again just replace the fatory bulb with the LED
Finish product should look like this with LEDs installed
the cabin
the trunk
white led reverse light
what color white did you use for the tag lights cool white natural white or warm white???? THX
So a few months ago my dome LED light went out. Good thing I ordered 2 of each!
I switched it out and a few weeks ago, the new one went out too!
Lasted 3 weeks each.. tops. kinda sad.
So I ordered yet more replacements for the dome light.
This time, it only lasted 1 day.
WTF?
I'm using 3022-x9 LED Festoon bulb and they keep going out
Also, one of the WLED-x6 I used for the rear license plate started acting like a disco strobe light. I thought it might've been a short, so I took it out and plugged it back in. I noticed that a few of the LED bulbs were out, so I ordered 3 more replacements just in case I needed for future use.
When I installed them, I noticed the white was a different tone than the ones I had gotten a few months ago. This was another huge dissapointment, so I had to switch both of them out cuz of the change in tone although both were "cool white".
sigh... this hasnt been worth the hassle... I hope this s*** stops soon
hatchkidgt
Member
- :
- Graphite Mica 2010 Mazda 3s GT
I wonder if this will work with the 2010
So I ordered yet more replacements for the dome light.
This time, it only lasted 1 day.
WTF?
I'm using 3022-x9 LED Festoon bulb and they keep going out
Also, one of the WLED-x6 I used for the rear license plate started acting like a disco strobe light. I thought it might've been a short, so I took it out and plugged it back in. I noticed that a few of the LED bulbs were out, so I ordered 3 more replacements just in case I needed for future use.
When I installed them, I noticed the white was a different tone than the ones I had gotten a few months ago. This was another huge dissapointment, so I had to switch both of them out cuz of the change in tone although both were "cool white".
sigh... this hasnt been worth the hassle... I hope this s*** stops soon
I can't say I was super happy with SBL bulbs, he replaced them, but thye need replaced again. I am currently using the Universal PCB LED Kit with Miniature Wedge Base for the dome light because and it looks really nice. But I have replaced my troublesome bulbs with higher quality ones from v-leds.com and haven't had a problems since. They are alot more, but the quality is better and there far brighter as well.
