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DIY LED Engine Bay Lights

16K views 32 replies 22 participants last post by  ajw1275 
#1 ·
This is my first DIY so hopefully it is easy enough to understand and follow. After trying to clean up my engine bay a bit I got frustrated holding a flashlight in my teeth or taking up a hand with the light. My work lights bulbs were blown and also I had lots of led strips laying around so I came up with this.



Basically it is just an led strip on the hood and a switch on that metal bar above the radiator which turns them on and off with the hood.
Now on to the DIY:

Materials:
>Philips and Flathead Screw Drivers
>Hood Switch
-Got mine from here: Alarm Hood Trunk Door Pin Switch Viper Universal New | eBay
>Some Wire
>Either a fuse tap, inline fuse, or a wire tap
>Drill and Bits
>Pencil
>Coat hanger or something to grab wires out of the hood
>Washers
>LED Strip
>Butt Connectors (optional)
>Great Stuff foam(optional)

Step 1: Remove the plastic in the front of the engine bay. To do this pop the two clips on either side then unscrew the two snap screws that are near the headlights.

Clip and Screw shown:


Remove Both the screw and the screw base. That plastic thing the screw goes in needs to come out. To do this I loosened the screw half way then pulled it and the plastic mount out. Alternatively you can just remove the screw and pry up on the plastic mount.

Once everything is unscrewed and removed pull the plastic out and wiggle it around the hood latch setting it aside for a moment.


Step 2: Now we need to find where to locate the switch. The switch is basically just a plunger which disconnects the ground when it is pushed down. I found the only two spots to put it without drilling metal were on the far sides of the front beam. The holes are the only two that continue straight through the beam. This will allow the button to disconnect with enough clearance to avoid issues. I put mine on the left of the engine bay to avoid breaking it if changing a battery.

Here is the hole I used with the switch inserted:


Step 3:Now that you have found the hole you are using put that plastic cover back on without the clips and screws. Take the pencil and from under the beam through the holes trace out a circle where you will drill the plastic to allow the switch to pop through. Once you have your mark take the cover off again and drill it out with the size bit you see fit. I used a 9/16" bit I think. Be careful not to crack or melt the plastic too much when drilling. I intentionally drilled from the bottom up so there would be a bit of a lip on the edge kind of like the rest of the holes in the plastic.

Drill:


Step 4: Now its time to put the switch in. First scrape up the area around the hole so the switch can make good contact. Insert the switch with washer in the top of the hole. This next part is hard to explain and I couldn't take pictures either. You need to slide the nut and washer into the beam from one of the holes on the back of the beam. Position them such that it will be easy to push them up with a screwdriver or pencil onto the bolt part of the switch. This is very annoying to do and took me a while to get right. Once you connect the nut and washer tighten it up and make sure the switch depresses freely.

Here you can see the holes in the beam you will need to use and also the switch mounted in its final position:


Step 5: Mount your leds. I had one long strip go almost all the way across the hood. I located them right below the black rubber seals on the hood so they were projecting mostly downward. Take into account how you are going to run the wires through the hood.

LEDs. In the end I cut the strip a bit shorter and used a hole right under the rubber seals for the wires:


Step 6: Run the wires. Hook up your LEDs and feed the wires through the hole in the hood down toward the hinge. The best way is to just push the wire slowly while jiggling it so it won't get caught eventually you should be able to see it through the other hole down by the hinge. Use a coat hanger or other hook type thing to grab the wire and pull through the slack.

Hanger:


Step 7: Run the wires. I ran the positive wire through the fender into the cabin where I hooked it up to an existing fuse tap I had, I followed the DIY for running power to the trunk to get the wire inside. Alternatively you can just tap the engine bay fuse box or attach directly to the battery using an inline fuse. I don't recommend going directly to the battery as if a wire ever shorts out it can ruin your battery or worse. For the negative you want to run it to the switch. I pulled off the side trim which is held on by two clips then ran it under that then through that front beam, out one of those holes by the switch then connected to the switch allowing enough slack so the switch can be depressed. Sorry for the lack of pics on this part.

Step 8: Test out the lights and switch then replace your plastic trim and clean up your wires making sure they wont be snagged on any moving parts.

Step 9:Shut the hood and see if the lights shut off. If they do then you are done unless you are concerned that over time the black rubber thing will compress and no longer depress the switch. I was so I took some great stuff and sprayed it in the foam seal where the switch contacts. I allowed it to harden for the time specified and now it won't flex in over time.

Great Stuff on the rubber seal:


Hope this was a helpful DIY.
Enjoy not holding a flashlight when doing simple stuff in your engine bay, and also if you break down at night this should make diagnosing engine problems much easier.:wheee:

Here are some more pics:


 
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#13 ·
I have this as my trunk light (pic below). It's a 2.8w 48 led panel with double stick mounting tape on the bottom. I can probably use the same for the engine bay. I'm going to have to look for a good place to mount it bc the Si's have an insulator under the hood.
 
#17 ·
Nice.

I have a strip of 12 LED's connected to a weather proof mercury switch and powered by an 12v constant from the under hood fuse panel. It's been trouble free for well over a year now and provides more than enough lighting to check fluids, etc.

For those that have the hood insulator, it's a non issue. There's plenty of room with it installed.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
 
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