8th Generation Honda Civic Forum - View Single Post

xtv-sidecar · 06-25-2006, 09:54 PM

I got a wild hair up my, well you know what, and installed some red leds in the si this weekend. I wired them up to the dome light circuit so they fade in and out with the dome light.
Here are some pics tell me what you think...

And the Wifes EX done in Blue, So a DIY is on the way....After all this time.....

Installing LED courtesy Lights in a civic

You will need to get your LED lights that you can find in most auto part stores or on line, I used ElectroPods by Street FX (Complete Motorcycle Kit) and Optx by Street Glow (3” LED strips)for this install.

ElectroPods by Street FX

Optx by Street Glow

You will also need electrical wire, connectors (The type you use is up to you but I used a few types in this install), rocker or toggle switch (optional), tape and Cable ties. Here is some of the stuff I picked up for the install, I had some at the house to start with.

Tools you will need are screwdriver (Phillips and flat head), a socket set, pliers, wire cutters, wire crimpers and a test light might come in handy.

I also downloaded and printed the factory install instructions for the courtesy lights as a guideline.
http://www.collegehillshonda.com/ins...lumination.pdf

For this install I will light the back foot wells, the front foot wells And the two pockets under the radio.
To start take out the drivers side under dash, passengers side under dash, upper pocket accesses panel and the front console pocket. Most of that is in the instructions that you downloaded. Next pull the center console out of the car.

Two screws in the console box under the rubber mat,

I take out all four screws in front of the shifter, you could get by just pulling two but to me it is just easier to pull them all..lol.

Using a small flat head screwdriver pop the push pin fasteners out on the driver side and the passenger side.

Pull the console back and up enough to disconnect the power socket connector on the right side of the shifter

Now you can pull it out of the car and put it to the side.

On to the drives seat. Move the seat as far forward as you can. And remove the bolt caps by pulling out on the front bottom sides to pop them loose and pull the cap backwards.

Now take the bolts out with a 14mm socket wrench.

Move the seat as far back as you can and take out the front bolts.

With the passenger side seat as far forward as you can put it you can tilt the driver side seat on its side without disconnecting all the wires.

I moved the yellow wire cover to the side out of the way to make room for the LED bar.

Using cable ties attach the LED bar to the metal bar the crosses the bottom of the seat with the leds pointing backward.

Now run the wire to the front of the seat cable tying it out of the way of moving parts.

At this point you want to add connections to the wire so if you have to pull the seat out you can with out cutting the wires. To make sure the connection cant be messed up if someone else pulls the seat out I put a male connector on the positive side and a female connector on the negative side. I used insulated connectors to keep the connector from grounding out and shorting out a fuse. I also doubled up the wire as it is so small I wanted to give the connector more to grab as I crimped it.

Now use some electrical tape to tape up some wire (negative and positive) long enough to get to the center console and then some.

Fish the wire under the carpet to the center console, I used a kite stick to make this a little easier you could use a old style coat hanger also.

Run the wire through the plastic protection under the parking break cables. This can be tricky.

Make sure you have enough wire to work with at both ends and cut the wire. Strip the ends of the wire on the seat side and crimp the connectors on the ends. This time use female on the positive wire and male on the negative wire. So you can connect them to the LED wires.

Wrapping the wire around the harness to help keep it out of the way connect the wires together.

Now you can reinstall the driver seat and move on to the passenger seat.(This is a good time to pull the vacuum out if the carpet looks this bad….LOL.)
On the passenger seat. You only have to remove the bottom part of the caps in the back but the rest is the same steps .

Ok you get the idea by now…lol.

After you have the passenger seat installed again and the wires ran through the plastic protection block. It is time to take the wires to the next point, up under the drivers side dash. Pull the wires to the same length and cut them and strip the ends for connectors. Twist the positive wires together.

Now cut a length of wire long enough to route the wire up under the dash.

Strip one end and join the positive wires together with a butt connector, two wires on one end and the long wire on the other.

Tape the connection you just made to keep it insulated from the negative wire.

Now do the same for the negative wire.

And tape the wires all the way to the end of what you cut off or enough to make it up to the drivers side dash.

Run the wires along the factory wire harness and up into the dash cable tie it to the harness along the way. And then over to the drivers side dash and down so you can work with it later.
Note it is a good idea to use the battery that came with the kit to test the lights at this point, so if something is loose you can fix it now.

You can now put the center console back in the car (don’t forget to hook up the wire for the power adapter under the arm rest). If you are adding a light to the front pocket, leave it out to run the wires.

For the front pocket I used the a 3” Optx lights for a low profile. Flip the pocket over and remove the four screws that hold it together.

Get the 3” led strip and find were you want it mounted. Clean the point where you will mount it so the tape will stick to it. Peal the protective skin off of the tape and stick it to your mounting point.

Run the wires so they will not get pinched and put the pocket back on.

Now on to the wires, Do not cut the wire before the resistor…..

Cut and strip the end for connectors and crimp them on, the same way as before, male to positive and female to negative. This time I used bullet style connectors that insulate the connector also, Just to show you a different connector that you could use. Run the wire up the dash and out the access hole in the dash pocket. And install the front pocket.

Cut a length of positive and negative wire to get to the drivers side dash were you ran the other wire and tape them together and strip and crimp the connectors on the end, this time female to positive and male to negative so they can connect again. Run you wires through the dash to the others for later.

On the access panel I did the same thing as I did for the front pocket on the console but leave it out to run the wires from the passenger side under dash panel. I also had to drill a small hole in the panel to run the wire through.

Next for the under dash panels. Take one of the Street Fx pod sets and cut the wires at the point that they join together to separate the pods.

Carefully strip the plastic that holds the wires together back a bit so you can work with the wires inside. Strip the end of the wires for connectors like you did before but do not put the connectors on yet. Using a small flat head screwdriver pop the pods out of the mounting cups.

Pick a location on your under dash panels to mount the cups to. Where you mount them is up to you. On the Si I used the factory courtesy light mounting spots, on the EX I moved them a little closer to the center of the panels. .Mark the holes for the cup and just behind the cup for a hole to run the wire. Use a drill to drill a pilot hole for the screws for the cup and the wire to go through on each panel.
Drivers side

Passenger side

Use the screws that came with the kit and mount the cups to the panels. Run the wire through the panel and push the pods into the cup.
Drivers side

Passenger side

Now you can put the connectors on the wires the same as you did before, male to positive and female to negative.

Cut lengths of wire (positive and negative) to run from the passenger side to the drivers side, center lower pocket to the driver side and a short run for the drivers side to the rest of the wires on the drivers side. Tape them up and strip and crimp on the connectors.
Pop the glove box open and pull on the sides to drop the glove box down to run the wire from the passenger side to the drivers side and run your wire. I ran the wire down from the glove box, Cable tied it to the wire harness and then ran it from the glove box to the access hole , and then to the drivers side.

Pop the glove box back in and close it. Grab the passenger side under dash panel and connect the wires and install the panel.

Run the wire from the lower access hole to the drivers side dash, connect the wires and install the panel.

Now find a spot for the switch if you are installing one. And install it were you want it. I put mine in the small pocket on the left of the steering wheel, Here are the pics from that.

Now cut a positive wire long enough to make it from your cluster of wires on the drivers side to the fuse box. And cut three negative lengths of wire, one to go from your cluster of wires on the drivers side to the place you mounted the switch, one to go from the fuse box to the place you mounted your switch and on to go from the switch to the cars body (metal).
(If you are not using a switch just cut one negative to run to the fuse box.)

Lets work with that cluster of wires next.
We are going to use wire nuts here as there is a lot of wires. Strip all the positive wires and twist them together. (Don’t forget the shot one for the drivers side LED and the one going to the fuse box).twist on the wire nut. Do the same for the negative wires. (Don’t forget the shot one for the drivers side LED and the one going to the switch(do not use the one for the fuse box or the one going to the car body)).

Run the wires over to the switch (negative) and fuse box (Positive(negative to if you are not using a switch)).
For the switch add your connectors to the three negative wires ( the one to the lLEDs, the one to the fuse box and the one to the car body.
And connect them to the switch like the diagram shows.

Run the one wire to the fuse box.
Under the fuse box there is a blue connector, on this connector you will find a light blue wire and a pink wire next to it. On the back side of the fuse box remove some of the electrical tape from the wires to give you room to make connections.
I used 90 degree t-taps here as the space to work with is so tight.
I also had to prestrip the wire as the wire is so small that the t-tap wouldn't get a good connection.
The light blue wire is the Positive lead. Connect your positive wire from the LEDs to this wire. And the pink wire is the controlled ground lead to make the lights dim in and out like the dome lights. Connect the negative wire from the switch to this wire (if you are not using a switch connect the negative wire from the LEDs to this wire).

For the wire from the switch to the car body. Connect a ring connector to the other end of the wire and find a screw that goes to the metal body and attach it there. I used the fuse box screw.

You should only have the wires to the driver side LED loose at this point. Connect them to the LED and install the panel. Make sure the switch is set to one side and see if the lights are on, if not close the door and open it again, the lights should come on. The other side of the switch should turn the lights on no mater what so remember to turn them off when you leave the car or you will have a dead battery….(Switch in the middle position).

The SI

The EX

06-25-2006, 09:54 PM	#1 (permalink)
xtv-sidecar Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Winder, GA Posts: 1,418 Kevin iTrader: 5 / 100%	Si LED Courtesy lights I got a wild hair up my, well you know what, and installed some red leds in the si this weekend. I wired them up to the dome light circuit so they fade in and out with the dome light. Here are some pics tell me what you think... And the Wifes EX done in Blue, So a DIY is on the way....After all this time..... Installing LED courtesy Lights in a civic You will need to get your LED lights that you can find in most auto part stores or on line, I used ElectroPods by Street FX (Complete Motorcycle Kit) and Optx by Street Glow (3” LED strips)for this install. ElectroPods by Street FX Optx by Street Glow You will also need electrical wire, connectors (The type you use is up to you but I used a few types in this install), rocker or toggle switch (optional), tape and Cable ties. Here is some of the stuff I picked up for the install, I had some at the house to start with. Tools you will need are screwdriver (Phillips and flat head), a socket set, pliers, wire cutters, wire crimpers and a test light might come in handy. I also downloaded and printed the factory install instructions for the courtesy lights as a guideline. http://www.collegehillshonda.com/ins...lumination.pdf For this install I will light the back foot wells, the front foot wells And the two pockets under the radio. To start take out the drivers side under dash, passengers side under dash, upper pocket accesses panel and the front console pocket. Most of that is in the instructions that you downloaded. Next pull the center console out of the car. Two screws in the console box under the rubber mat, I take out all four screws in front of the shifter, you could get by just pulling two but to me it is just easier to pull them all..lol. Using a small flat head screwdriver pop the push pin fasteners out on the driver side and the passenger side. Pull the console back and up enough to disconnect the power socket connector on the right side of the shifter Now you can pull it out of the car and put it to the side. On to the drives seat. Move the seat as far forward as you can. And remove the bolt caps by pulling out on the front bottom sides to pop them loose and pull the cap backwards. Now take the bolts out with a 14mm socket wrench. Move the seat as far back as you can and take out the front bolts. With the passenger side seat as far forward as you can put it you can tilt the driver side seat on its side without disconnecting all the wires. I moved the yellow wire cover to the side out of the way to make room for the LED bar. Using cable ties attach the LED bar to the metal bar the crosses the bottom of the seat with the leds pointing backward. Now run the wire to the front of the seat cable tying it out of the way of moving parts. At this point you want to add connections to the wire so if you have to pull the seat out you can with out cutting the wires. To make sure the connection cant be messed up if someone else pulls the seat out I put a male connector on the positive side and a female connector on the negative side. I used insulated connectors to keep the connector from grounding out and shorting out a fuse. I also doubled up the wire as it is so small I wanted to give the connector more to grab as I crimped it. Now use some electrical tape to tape up some wire (negative and positive) long enough to get to the center console and then some. Fish the wire under the carpet to the center console, I used a kite stick to make this a little easier you could use a old style coat hanger also. Run the wire through the plastic protection under the parking break cables. This can be tricky. Make sure you have enough wire to work with at both ends and cut the wire. Strip the ends of the wire on the seat side and crimp the connectors on the ends. This time use female on the positive wire and male on the negative wire. So you can connect them to the LED wires. Wrapping the wire around the harness to help keep it out of the way connect the wires together. Now you can reinstall the driver seat and move on to the passenger seat.(This is a good time to pull the vacuum out if the carpet looks this bad….LOL.) On the passenger seat. You only have to remove the bottom part of the caps in the back but the rest is the same steps . Ok you get the idea by now…lol. After you have the passenger seat installed again and the wires ran through the plastic protection block. It is time to take the wires to the next point, up under the drivers side dash. Pull the wires to the same length and cut them and strip the ends for connectors. Twist the positive wires together. Now cut a length of wire long enough to route the wire up under the dash. Strip one end and join the positive wires together with a butt connector, two wires on one end and the long wire on the other. Tape the connection you just made to keep it insulated from the negative wire. Now do the same for the negative wire. And tape the wires all the way to the end of what you cut off or enough to make it up to the drivers side dash. Run the wires along the factory wire harness and up into the dash cable tie it to the harness along the way. And then over to the drivers side dash and down so you can work with it later. Note it is a good idea to use the battery that came with the kit to test the lights at this point, so if something is loose you can fix it now. You can now put the center console back in the car (don’t forget to hook up the wire for the power adapter under the arm rest). If you are adding a light to the front pocket, leave it out to run the wires. For the front pocket I used the a 3” Optx lights for a low profile. Flip the pocket over and remove the four screws that hold it together. Get the 3” led strip and find were you want it mounted. Clean the point where you will mount it so the tape will stick to it. Peal the protective skin off of the tape and stick it to your mounting point. Run the wires so they will not get pinched and put the pocket back on. Now on to the wires, Do not cut the wire before the resistor….. Cut and strip the end for connectors and crimp them on, the same way as before, male to positive and female to negative. This time I used bullet style connectors that insulate the connector also, Just to show you a different connector that you could use. Run the wire up the dash and out the access hole in the dash pocket. And install the front pocket. Cut a length of positive and negative wire to get to the drivers side dash were you ran the other wire and tape them together and strip and crimp the connectors on the end, this time female to positive and male to negative so they can connect again. Run you wires through the dash to the others for later. On the access panel I did the same thing as I did for the front pocket on the console but leave it out to run the wires from the passenger side under dash panel. I also had to drill a small hole in the panel to run the wire through. Next for the under dash panels. Take one of the Street Fx pod sets and cut the wires at the point that they join together to separate the pods. Carefully strip the plastic that holds the wires together back a bit so you can work with the wires inside. Strip the end of the wires for connectors like you did before but do not put the connectors on yet. Using a small flat head screwdriver pop the pods out of the mounting cups. Pick a location on your under dash panels to mount the cups to. Where you mount them is up to you. On the Si I used the factory courtesy light mounting spots, on the EX I moved them a little closer to the center of the panels. .Mark the holes for the cup and just behind the cup for a hole to run the wire. Use a drill to drill a pilot hole for the screws for the cup and the wire to go through on each panel. Drivers side Passenger side Use the screws that came with the kit and mount the cups to the panels. Run the wire through the panel and push the pods into the cup. Drivers side Passenger side Now you can put the connectors on the wires the same as you did before, male to positive and female to negative. Cut lengths of wire (positive and negative) to run from the passenger side to the drivers side, center lower pocket to the driver side and a short run for the drivers side to the rest of the wires on the drivers side. Tape them up and strip and crimp on the connectors. Pop the glove box open and pull on the sides to drop the glove box down to run the wire from the passenger side to the drivers side and run your wire. I ran the wire down from the glove box, Cable tied it to the wire harness and then ran it from the glove box to the access hole , and then to the drivers side. Pop the glove box back in and close it. Grab the passenger side under dash panel and connect the wires and install the panel. Run the wire from the lower access hole to the drivers side dash, connect the wires and install the panel. Now find a spot for the switch if you are installing one. And install it were you want it. I put mine in the small pocket on the left of the steering wheel, Here are the pics from that. Now cut a positive wire long enough to make it from your cluster of wires on the drivers side to the fuse box. And cut three negative lengths of wire, one to go from your cluster of wires on the drivers side to the place you mounted the switch, one to go from the fuse box to the place you mounted your switch and on to go from the switch to the cars body (metal). (If you are not using a switch just cut one negative to run to the fuse box.) Lets work with that cluster of wires next. We are going to use wire nuts here as there is a lot of wires. Strip all the positive wires and twist them together. (Don’t forget the shot one for the drivers side LED and the one going to the fuse box).twist on the wire nut. Do the same for the negative wires. (Don’t forget the shot one for the drivers side LED and the one going to the switch(do not use the one for the fuse box or the one going to the car body)). Run the wires over to the switch (negative) and fuse box (Positive(negative to if you are not using a switch)). For the switch add your connectors to the three negative wires ( the one to the lLEDs, the one to the fuse box and the one to the car body. And connect them to the switch like the diagram shows. Run the one wire to the fuse box. Under the fuse box there is a blue connector, on this connector you will find a light blue wire and a pink wire next to it. On the back side of the fuse box remove some of the electrical tape from the wires to give you room to make connections. I used 90 degree t-taps here as the space to work with is so tight. I also had to prestrip the wire as the wire is so small that the t-tap wouldn't get a good connection. The light blue wire is the Positive lead. Connect your positive wire from the LEDs to this wire. And the pink wire is the controlled ground lead to make the lights dim in and out like the dome lights. Connect the negative wire from the switch to this wire (if you are not using a switch connect the negative wire from the LEDs to this wire). For the wire from the switch to the car body. Connect a ring connector to the other end of the wire and find a screw that goes to the metal body and attach it there. I used the fuse box screw. You should only have the wires to the driver side LED loose at this point. Connect them to the LED and install the panel. Make sure the switch is set to one side and see if the lights are on, if not close the door and open it again, the lights should come on. The other side of the switch should turn the lights on no mater what so remember to turn them off when you leave the car or you will have a dead battery….(Switch in the middle position). The SI The EX Last edited by xtv-sidecar; 01-10-2008 at 11:07 PM.