rollingbear
Active Member
Hi there, i just did all the interior lights LED conversion to green on my 2003 expedition and then wanted to do the mirror puddle lights to match, but i found out they are the little pods and you cant easily remove the lens to change the bulbs and they are small 36mm bulbs and wouldn't be very bright to replace them with the available LEDs.(the ones i found that would fit on ebay were only 6 lumens) So i decided to do a custom conversion and share it with you guys here. I ordered 4) 3w green 194 bulbs for $5.30 shipped from china @120 lumens ea. the conversion wasn't hard and only took about an hour.
step1 remove the mirror light pod.
one i was able to do it w/o removing the lower shell from the mirror. just by popping the pod out with a screwdriver the other side i had to remove the lower shell to pop the retaining finger in to get the pod out.
To remove the bottom cover there is a small tang that must be pushed in at the bottom before the cover can be removed. it is about 2/3 out on the bottom of the mirror and can be seen if you tilt the mirror up and look in the bottom with a flashlight. push it in at the bottom..push it forward and down and pull the shell down at the same time. you don't have to completely remove the bottom cover. just pull it down enough to pop it out
step2 gently remove the clear cover.
i used a pair of needle nose pliers around the rim and gently twisted the cover up to break the glue. i was lucky and both popped off easily w/o breaking.
step3 remove the reflector
step 4 drill 2) 3/8" holes
about an 1/8" away from the bulb retainer prongs
step5 glue in the LEDs from inside. i used superglue
step6 wire the LEDs and soldier the leads
I used regular 22ga wire on the first one but ended up using a metal trash bag twist tie instead and it worked great (same size wire as the LEDs)
step7 test and glue the lens back on and install.
it is really bright and matches my interior lights nicely. I am waiting for some 5630 green led strip now and will add a strip under the deck and under the rockers and in the grill to all come on with the interior lights.
step1 remove the mirror light pod.
one i was able to do it w/o removing the lower shell from the mirror. just by popping the pod out with a screwdriver the other side i had to remove the lower shell to pop the retaining finger in to get the pod out.
To remove the bottom cover there is a small tang that must be pushed in at the bottom before the cover can be removed. it is about 2/3 out on the bottom of the mirror and can be seen if you tilt the mirror up and look in the bottom with a flashlight. push it in at the bottom..push it forward and down and pull the shell down at the same time. you don't have to completely remove the bottom cover. just pull it down enough to pop it out
step2 gently remove the clear cover.
i used a pair of needle nose pliers around the rim and gently twisted the cover up to break the glue. i was lucky and both popped off easily w/o breaking.
step3 remove the reflector
step 4 drill 2) 3/8" holes
about an 1/8" away from the bulb retainer prongs
step5 glue in the LEDs from inside. i used superglue
step6 wire the LEDs and soldier the leads
I used regular 22ga wire on the first one but ended up using a metal trash bag twist tie instead and it worked great (same size wire as the LEDs)
step7 test and glue the lens back on and install.
it is really bright and matches my interior lights nicely. I am waiting for some 5630 green led strip now and will add a strip under the deck and under the rockers and in the grill to all come on with the interior lights.
