Ignition LED Mod Diagram Done!

[redsled]

i am thinking of using this for my alarm led aswell

[jakobe]

the leds that we used for these are ...ok
but they only put light out in one direction

we need leds that give off 360 degrees of light especially to illuminate plastic rings and the climate control.

heres a good DIY write up and some links on where to buy 360 leds

http://www.halfspec.com/services.htm

[Mike_E_P]

ehmmm, does this work on the mkI?

[runabout93]

Originally Posted by Mike_E_P

ehmmm, does this work on the mkI?

You can change any of your regular DC bulb with LED's. You need to know the source voltage, voltage drop across LED or LED's, and the LED target miliamps. If you are wiring multiple LED's... then you need to determine series or parallel. This information tells you what limiting resistor to use. All of this makes a difference. You can start a fire if you are not careful with LED's. Usually fire is the result of not limiting the voltage with the right resistor.

Do a google for LED resisitor calculator. Here's a pretty cool one with diagrams.
http://www.metku.net/index.html?path...calc/index_eng

I did the ignition, lighter, and ashtray in my MR2. I didn't even know there was a write-up for this. I guess I wasn't as orginal as I thought. I started to do the heater control... but, decided it was best to leave it alone. Way too complicated for me! But, I've also done the rear trunk and thinking of wiring up some in parallel in the engine bay (but afraid of heat). I'm doing the frunk next... with either a pressure switch or magnetic swich? Anyway, I'm just trying to say, a lot is possible with LED's. They take a fraction of the power as regular light bulbs, so you don't have to worry about wire capacity or draining batteries... and they last for a really long time.

[Mike_E_P]

tru that, thanks 4 the info

[U-235]

I just wanted to add a little something...

Runabout93 said that he did the lighter in his, but I didn't find anywhere specifically in this thread that had a "how to" for it.

It is very simple though. My car is a '92 NA chassis, but I'd imagine the procedure would be the same for all.

You will need (at a minimum):
-soldering iron
-small diameter rosin core soldering wire
-small leads of some kind... I used some 26 gauge silicon 2-pair twisted together that I had lying around.
-#74 bulb of your choice (I used the 3x LEDs from superbrightleds)
-screwdrivers of the appropriate size (I believe they were all phillips #13)
-power drill and bit set

Steps:
-Remove the big plasic bezel from the center console (the lighter should come out with it)
-Unplug all the accessories plugged into the bezel
-On the lighter portion, looking at the back-side of the bezel, you'll see a black plastic collar that surrounds the metal of the lighter, and the white plastic portions of the lighter.
-Remove that collar. Mine was held in by a single snap. Basically, you're trying to get to the 2-prong plug with small, parallel connectors (the lighter itself has larger, perpendicular oriented connectors.
-There should be another small, black retaining collar around the bulb/plug. It just slides off.
-When you get to the bulb socket, you'll notice that the bulb is actually soldered onto the leads for the plug.
-Remove the bulb. I just clamped down on it with a pair of pliers. WEAR SAFETY GLASSES! IT IMPLODES! AWESOME!


Anyway, at this point you may notice that the #74 bulb doesn't fit all the way in.

Get your power drill and a 5/64" bit. It should fit right into the empty socket. If you look inside the socket, you can see a divider that was undoubtedly used to keep the light bulb's leads from shorting out.

-Drill out that divider.

Even so, my 3x superbrights were still too tall! Look at the outside of the socket- you'll see two "wings" that are used to lock the socket into the small black plastic collar. I just drilled the bottom of those out (remember: the BOTTOM! Not the part close to the top of the socket!), effectively shortening their length. This allows the collar to slide up the plug further.

Alas, there is still one last problem: the leads on the 3x superbrights are on the FACE of the little PCB they come on. The socket leads are on the PROFILE. Get the soldering supplies.

-solder a small wire lead to each of the leads already on the LEDs.
-bend those leads so that they are going up the PROFILE of the LED PCB.
-Insert bulb into socket.

I will note here that my leads, being so small, were actually getting gnarled and nasty the more I had to "test fit" to make sure they'd work and I had to re-solder them a couple times. However, then I had a "duh" moment.

The socket is universal. After you install the LED, if you get the polarity wrong, unplug the socket from the plug and switch it around. The light activates when the headlights are on, so that's how you can test.

-re-assemble everything.

Took me about 30 minutes to prep, and the actual install took maybe 5 tops.

In case anyone was interested in also doing this... And sorry for the lack of pictures.

[runabout93]

wohhh... that's a lot of info. Great job posting it up.

IIRC, I ended up grinding/sanding my LED's down so they would fit ("too tall"). Polished up the faces with some 600(or higher?) grit wet sanding paper.

[U-235]

^Had that exact problem. But being as how I was using the 3xLEDs, I couldn't grind down the top bulb because it's just too small.

Also, if I had tried to grind down the side with the leads on the 3xLED, then the regulating circuitry on the LED PCB would collide with the plastic socket walls, and you wouldn't be able to insert it any further regardless = no gained clearance.

Sadly, the top bulb on my 3xLED died. However, it didn't illuminate the lighter ring that much more than the two sides anyway. If anything, I'm glad it died because despite the ring being dimmer overall, the bright spot from the top LED is gone. So, it's dimmer but more uniform than before. Problem seems to have been a boon.

[mister3]

that LED key illumination is definitly a good idea. just came across this thread and wanted to let folks know we're offering LEDs for the MK1 and 2 interior, cluster, etc. right now have most in stock and should have the rest in shortly.

what's currently in stock are:

194: large cluster lights, trunk light, lic plate lights, marker lights
white
red
blue

74: cluster warning lights, key illumination, ashtray
white

1893: dome/map lights
white
red
blue

MK1 dome light
white only

red and blue 74 on backorder

white samples for the climate control, A/C, door switches on way to test fit find the right ones... then can order in white/red/blue