Changing to led's

[mikegigabyte]

well my puddle light is definitely different then yours. its spade connectors
I was curious if my mirrors are heated I have that symbol on the mirror too so I guess they are
I still probably wont try to take the mirror out, cant risk snapping it.
You see how I said my stereo was a 04 harness, I wonder if my lights are too for some reason, like maybe mine was changed halfway through in the factory or something

but I will post a pic tomorrow
I apologize for the lack of pics, usually im good with that but it was raining at the time

 

[ELVATO]

Live a little, take out those mirrors Should make replacing the bulbs easier.

As for the heated mirrors, they only activate when your turn on the rear defrost and work rather quickly.

I hear ya on the audio deal. Since I have an early build 03, my stock radio is the older looking one, with the cassette and CD player. Also, I have the older looking cluster.

 

[jmciver]

well I already got the 55w. I will aim them correctly and not be a dick like some people, im sure they arent even aware how annoying they are. I will put a mark on the garage how it is now, and try to stay under that mark after I installed them and then do a few tests. I have a hard time seeing at night thats why I use extra lights but if these are bright enough I wont have to use the extra lights.

hopefully the heat wont be an issue

Well, the nice thing about living in San Diego is that you can pick up your order locally from DDM (which is what I did, and I think you said you will do) so you can change your order right there . You shouldn't have any issues with heat in your headlights though. Heat is only a potential issue in smaller enclosures like fog lights according to the DDM site.

 

[mikegigabyte]

Live a little, take out those mirrors Should make replacing the bulbs easier.

As for the heated mirrors, they only activate when your turn on the rear defrost and work rather quickly.

I hear ya on the audio deal. Since I have an early build 03, my stock radio is the older looking one, with the cassette and CD player. Also, I have the older looking cluster.

this is what I had before

I put in a touchscreen navigation unit, with backup camera

 

[ELVATO]

This is what I had.



What the one set of the rear plugs looked like

 

[mikegigabyte]

I guess yours was the cd changer?

here is the back side, I ordered the navigation unit from crutchfield, and was excited because they sent an adapter then when it came it was way different. They sent me the website for the pin diagram so then I had to cut it all out and butt splice everything, its a big mess inside but its holding up for about a yer now. they told me I have 04 harness

the wide plug had all the circuits in it, the small plug was never used for my application

 

[mikegigabyte]

Here is what I was sent, I used this for my dads explorer too you just type in the vehicle info, but this is the link to my wire harness maybe it could help someone else one day so save it

http://crutchfield.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/crutchfield.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=4912&p_created=1185986393&p_sid=Hv89R-Dj&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=4944&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9NzIsNzImcF9wcm9kcz00NjkmcF9jYXRzPSZwX3B2PTEuNDY5JnBfY3Y9JnBfcGFnZT0xJnBfc2VhcmNoX3RleHQ9MjAwNCBmb3JkIGV4cGVkaXRpb24*&p_li=&p_topview=1

 

[mikegigabyte]

well I got the hid's out in today, ran into problem with them. they wouldnt come on. looked at my wiring and my light connector is wired different then the hod connector, so at the ballast I had to flip the plug over to line up positive and negative. called them and they said that was normal for hondas and gm, they didnt think it was a problem on fords but who knows maybe mine is weird. But thankfully to my electrical expertise I figured out by myself then called and asked if that was normal.

also found out in the store they sell all the led's I just ordered from china and they also warranty them, so I wish I would of found that out earlier.

is still not dark yet but here are some pics

So far it looks to have a flat pattern, not a scattered one, same height as stocks

 

[mikegigabyte]

here is a pic of my puddle light, as you can see its slid plastic with only a removable lens somehow
ignore the blue tape I put that on there

 

[mikegigabyte]

Those hid's work great, whats nice is how much lower they light up everything too. Come out pretty flat so I dont think im blinding anyone. Almost a daytime white color which is what I wanted.

Now I know what to get for some x mas present for people

 

[jmciver]

here is a pic of my puddle light, as you can see its slid plastic with only a removable lens somehow
ignore the blue tape I put that on there

Did you figure out how to remove the lens or is it not removable? My 2007 has the same type (at least it looks like it based on your pic). I have replaced all of my lights with LEDs (including the parking, turn and brake lights) but was not sure if the bulbs were replaceable in the puddle housing.

 

[mikegigabyte]

when all my led's come in from china I will attempt to remove the lens, either by blade or heat. I just want to make sure I have the correct lamp first. Im guessing I can glue it back on. Sucks its like that, and im praying I dont break it.

 

[mikegigabyte]

looks like my puddle light led's came in today. Not sure if I will attempt them yet. Some reason they look fatter then I thought, so im going to have to check to see if these are for the puddle lights or wait until the other order comes in with all my interior dome led's

either way even if I have to solder them in I will use them, the only hassle will be trying to get the puddle light open somehow without ruining them.

 

[mikegigabyte]

Small update...
Took apart the puddle lights, its very easy to do now that I know how. At first I tried heat gun, then razor blade but nothing. I then saw through the lens that it has an internal ring. So last resort dremmel with those thin cheap cut off wheels. I melted the black housing all the way around, then used a small awl and popped the lens off. At first this was very hard, second light went very fast so its really easy now.

Here are some pics
Here is the cut and the lens popping out



Inside shot, note lens has plastic feet that pop down to help hold in bulb


LED installed, slight angle to shoot light away from door





Daytime view



I used super glue to put on the lens, and I will also go around the outside too just to make certain its all glued in. Im guessing the black housing is abs, and even though I have abs super glue I used the regular stuff because im not sure what the lens is made from.

Hopefully my dome lights show up soon

 

[mikegigabyte]

checked them out tonight, look good. Have more light hitting the door then what I would like but its too late to do anything about that. Very bright and white and lights up good. one day I will try to get a night pic

Also they fade off so im guessing the inside ones will too, which is cool

 

[mikegigabyte]

Well all my dome light led's came in today so hopefully later tonight I can get them installed. I may attempt to take a pic using a good camera and tripod no flash so maybe it will have a long shutter speed and show the most light.

 

[mikegigabyte]

Got the lights installed. The domes arent as white as my puddle and license plate but they look good. Slight blue tint but more on the white side.



Some reason the puddle light pic looks green, but its white


But you can tell the light color difference in the pics

I found this pic, I think the camera added more blue in the other images, this pic looks whiter


In real life it looks really good and crisp light. Also I had the map lights on too

 

[johnplus8]

They look nice!

 

[mikegigabyte]

another plus to all led's is if you have bad door switches. Years ago my hatch back switch went bad and it took me a while to figure that out after having 3 dead batteries in a row. So I cut the wire, or grounded it out can remember.
Ever since I have those lights turned off on the dimmer but now I can use them again because the led's will draw such little power I dont think I run the risk of draining the battery if another door switch decides to go bad.

 

[Grizzly2009]

LED interior lights.

I know this is 4 years later, but I was wondering how the LED's held up and if you were happy with them long term. I am considering doing the same with my '09. I'd like to get the LED puddle lights and the LED interior lights. Are the dome lights easy to swap out? I have not looked really closely to how the lenses pop off in the back.