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Interior Switches' LED conversion

177K views 374 replies 79 participants last post by  ScottDR 
#1 · (Edited)
This mod happened on accident when the bulbs on my cruise switch went out. When I went to the dealer it turned out for the cost of the two bulbs I could purchase enough LED's to covert all the switches to a more pleasing to me color... ;act028:

Simple mod.

Remove the dash panel and replace the OEM switch bulbs with T3 neo wedge LED replacements.

Any of the on/off type switches can have the bulbs replace.

I also did a little mod taking the little yellow rubber cap off the main lights switch to expose the blue LED already available.

The thermostat control knobs and the LCD display can also be converted. The control panel separates via 4 screws that give you access to the 4 T3 neo wedge that lights up the LCD.

The buttons for the control buttons require 6 T4 neo wedge.

During this mod I figured I might as well take the radio apart to see what’s inside. The bulbs are soldered to the pcm board. They have little blue caps to make the yellow light given off into greenish color. I removed those caps and recolored using a blue sharpie along with all the frosted areas of the plastic light diverters for the buttons on the front panel along with the two for the CD slot.

Finished pictures will follow. I only had my cell phone available at the time... There are some others on the ROC that have also completed this mod... I am hoping they too will share there pics....

The total cost of this mod was under $20...
 
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#277 ·
2006 RTS.

I have been digging through this huge thread to find a conclusive post on what i might need to convert my truck to LED Lights. Can someone provide me with a complete list of what is needed for the RTS?

My goal replace all bulbs, i little brighter then stock, and longer lasting!

Thanks everyone!
Frank
 
#278 ·
If you are looking for a list of LED bulbs for the dash, look at the first page of this thread (post #8 I belileve). There is a list of what you will need. Also, you might want to order a few extra...in case you get bulbs that don't work. I ordered extra bulbs, and I was glad I did, because I got two bulbs that did not work.
 
#280 ·
Agree with the idea of ordering extra. I buy all extremely inexpensive LED's from Hong Kong from Ebay. It takes about a month for them to arrive, but they work - mostly. All of my dash LED's are blue and have not given me any issues at all. On the other hand, I did the door lights, dome, license plate, bed and 3rd brake light LED's and over half of them had gone bad within a year. I bought 20 white and eight red SMD-style LED's to replace all of them and they have all been going strong for a few months now. I also got five white 6-SMD LED bulbs for the map lights that arrived a few days ago. So far, I'm happy with them and I have three extra ones for when and if these burn out. Total cost for every LED I've ever purchased for my truck - about $35 shipping included. I appreciate quality products, but there's NO WAY I would ever spend $50 on one set of LED's from vleds or superbrightleds or any other place like that.
 
#281 ·
Ok i changed most of the lights, a lot of these come in the box and dont work.

Few questions,

How do i get bubs out of the deep shaft that i replaced with LED and are not working on the temp control unit?

Does the latch on the hood light up? If so where is that bulb?

My cargo switch seems to have two light sockets, i am only able to get one of them to light up?

The actual light switch to turn the fog and head lights on, how do i convert the bulbs in that switch?

Thanks,
Frank
 
#282 ·
Ok i changed most of the lights, a lot of these come in the box and dont work.

Few questions,

How do i get bubs out of the deep shaft that i replaced with LED and are not working on the temp control unit?

There are four T4 and six T3 bulbs in that black box. Take it apart and replace them. It is just like four screws and a few plastic clips.

Does the latch on the hood light up? If so where is that bulb?

Don't think so.

My cargo switch seems to have two light sockets, i am only able to get one of them to light up?

One lights up cargo and one lights up the light symbol.

The actual light switch to turn the fog and head lights on, how do i convert the bulbs in that switch?

You talking about the red indication light? I think most of us have left that alone. In regard to the dimmer and parking dial, you have to pop the outer cap off. There is a yellow filter over a blue LED (yellow & blue make green) you need to remove it. Google how to do that - it is real easy.

Thanks,
Frank
Mine in bold
 
#286 ·
Check that you didn't bump the dimmer switch (little rotary knob) to the "always on" setting. The LED's in the steering wheel, just like the ones in the window switches on the driver's door, are soldered to an electrical board. They cannot be replaced easily or cheaply. Plus, it would involve tearing apart the steering wheel, which would also involve removing the airbag. It's pretty dangerous stuff and I would avoid it at all costs. I simply live with the greenish light on the wheel and the doors.
 
#289 ·
I don't know of anyone who's actually done it. I know others have looked at it and basically dismissed the idea after they saw the LED's were soldered into the panels. You might be a pioneer with this if you give it a shot. I wouldn't even know how to tell you to begin. Sorry I can be of more help.
 
#292 ·
I have the same sort of problem with the OFF button on my climate control. I changed my whole dash out with LED bulbs. All the bulbs worked fine for a while. Then, one day, I noticed the OFF button was not illuminated. Then a few days later it was working. Then, a few days later it wasn't.

I had to take the dash apart for another project I was doing, so I took the bulbs out of the climate control switches, switched them around and, lo and behold, all of them were working. I put everything back together and everything worked fine for a couple of weeks, then the same thing started happening with the same switch. The bulb would work, then wouldn't, then quit working altogether.

Next time I need to take the dash cover off, I am going to take that bulb out and put some dielectric grease on the contacts of that bulb and see if that does anything.
 
#294 ·
Ok after reading the entire 30 or so page thread here... First off thanks to everyone who posted information on this project. As many of you, I started with a cruise light out that the local Honda dealership wanted an ungodly amount to fix (along with the dome map light switch, but that's another thread).

Couple of thoughts and or things I did or learned.

first, on polarity. I took a 9v tested and marked the negative side of all of the led's before i started. then when i took off the dash i removed every switch and the climate control mounts so they could be plugged in and hanging from the dash area while i had power attached and the light switch on. At that point i was able to use a multimeter to test voltage across the pins of the lights and mark the negative side on the switch. Then shut it all down and replace the lights. 100% right the first time (minus climate, more on that in a second), and the effort of removing the switches, light dial, and climate control was a nit compared to taking it all apart over and over again.

next, i ordered from super bright leds. the product is nice but i have to agree, the base is soft so be careful torquing them down.

onto the climate control. the four t3's behind the lcd are a little different than everything else. they are actually a part of a transistor controlled circuit and the feed isn't the same voltage as the stock 12v going to every other bulb location. presumably this is to keep it slightly dimmer than the rest.

I believe i've read in this thread time and time again where people believe their bulbs on the LCD aren't working. They are, they are just VERY dim. This circuit doesn't drive the same power and so the integrated resistor value isn't correct for this application.

Based on the voltage reading i was getting from the sockets i expected i should be able to mount a stock LED into one of the spare t3 bases and wire these four direct. It was beautiful for about 3 seconds. :act018: Ok, so maybe not the best idea. The secondary affect this had was to burn out the transistors/circuitry that fed the stock bulb locations (not completely, but now they only received about 1.1v. transistors can be delicate animals).

So onto the "fix" The bulbs to the left and right on the dials are stock 12v sourced. a little care with a file to remove the green coating on the top of the copper traces i exposed + and - and rewired the four LCD bulbs to run off of this power directly. Now that's nice and bright! For anyone who hasn't done this before, be careful. those traces are NOT very thick nor are they "glued' to the circuit board very well. too much pressure of the wrong type and you'll break the trace and have another problem on your hands. so do this at your own risk.

I ended up with all blue except the hazard which i stuck red behind. looks very nice. So again, thanks to everyone for their information sharing here. Think i'm in for around $40 in parts.

I am still a bit surprised that no one has posted their efforts to replace the SMT LED's in the steering wheel, stock HU, and door switches. I'd like to get some feedback on their experience with this before i go at it. I'm not new to soldering and even have a hot air rework station here at my desk for this sort of work. I'll keep watching as time goes by and begin playing. Hopefully someone can provide some feedback. and if not, i'll do my best to add my .02 as i go through it. PLanning on starting with a rear window switch in case things go wrong i'm not terribly affected by it.

thanks again everyone.
 
#298 ·
first, on polarity. I took a 9v tested and marked the negative side of all of the led's before i started. then when i took off the dash i removed every switch and the climate control mounts so they could be plugged in and hanging from the dash area while i had power attached and the light switch on. At that point i was able to use a multimeter to test voltage across the pins of the lights and mark the negative side on the switch. Then shut it all down and replace the lights. 100% right the first time (minus climate, more on that in a second), and the effort of removing the switches, light dial, and climate control was a nit compared to taking it all apart over and over again.
I had the same concerns as you about getting it right the first time. I checked and market each replacement LED first as you did. The added benefit of making sure the new ones all work was worth a little effort.

Then, after removing the dash, laid it out on a table, and as I removed the old bulbs, I noted how they went in and checked them for polarity and their relative position, so I could correctly install the replacements.

I give you credit for your added efforts in getting the Climate display to work. I look forward to reading your further adventures in this area!
 
#295 ·
I have to commend you for an excellent first post. And welcome to the ROC. The steering wheel and stock HU led's are not impossible to change. If you have good soldering/desoldering skills and can source the tiny SMD's to fit the application, you could do it rather easily. What isn't very easy is taking the steering wheel apart. I was a volunteer firefighter for five years and have seen what accidental airbag deployment can do to someone, so that is one of the only reasons I haven't tried it. As long as you're careful about everything and ensure the truck is fully discharged before disconnecting the airbag, you'd be just fine. The stock HU is quite easy to take apart with a tiny screwdriver kit. Just make sure you have steady hands and some patience. There are A LOT of SMD's in the stock HU. I'd guess about 15-20 or so. If you do this, make sure to take plenty of pictures and write up a how-to on it.
 
#296 · (Edited)
Thanks Ian!

Well, on my lunch break today I attempted the first window switch replacement and it was a success. Unfortunately the SMD LED's I keep are smaller than the ones used in the truck, so i need to order a roll of them from Mouser. Will probably wait until i get the headunit face off for a more accurate total count.

Drivers side passenger door is where i started.
- roll down window
- remove trim at rear of window (two slide "in" bits at bottom and one clip towards the rear up higher)
- remove cover behind handle (actually didn't do this, apparently my truck doesn't have one anymore... more on that at the end of this post)
- remove two screws behind handle
- pull handle assembly out starting with "front" first
- unhook cable (slide brown part out off ball, pull green holder out of it's keeper)
- remove door grip rubber matt, and one screw behind it.
-starting at top rear of door, slowly pop the plastic keepers in place not bending the door too much (and don't pull it out too much)
-reach behind and disconnect the courtesy lamp and switch harness
-lift the door up and away
-retrive any plastic clips left in door and return them to the door cover

- remove three screws from window switch (top, underneath, front)
- there are four clips holding a square cover over part of the circuit board inside and two clips holding the blue harness clip
-once those are off you can slowly pull out the circuit board by grabbing the harness and pulling straight up. *note* underneath is a very small slider with delicate bits of metal, be careful not to bend/break them
- use a multimeter to test diode mode and find which side of LED is + and - (mine was - towards the 1 and + towards the L of the silkscreen label LED1. It is found just below the big hole in the center of the circuit board)
- use your favorite soldering technique to remove old LED and replace with an appropriate replacement of your color choice. I have a hot air rework station and variable solder gear handy. The hot air usually works pretty well for this stuff but for some reason it was being stubborn so i had to revert to the classic iron.
- dont forget to use flux to clean up the area for a good connection
- ... and then put it back together in reverse order! easy enough.

now not knowing what was behind the door cover (except the courtesy light) i pulled pretty hard on the cover, which in turn "opened" the window switch for me with pieces falling all over the place. So... learn from that one and be easy! I got lucky that i did no permanent damage.

I guess in theory it's repeat from here. I'll put up a couple pix if i can, one of the switch all apart and one of the finished product (hard to see, but ya, it's blue and working!)

Off topic but to explain the earlier statement about bits missing... My truck came from being in an F5 tornado early in it's life, in Greensburg KS. It escaped relatively unharmed... with blown out glass everywhere and some minor body damage. I picked it up in 2007 after a Honda dealership "fixed" it and had a hard time selling it after explaining it went through tornado that wiped out an entire town. Keep in mind it wasn't totaled, that's how little the damage was really. But as I take apart and tweak things in the truck i notice small things that are always a miss. Like today, the cover missing behind the handle or that both plastic covers in the door grip were on the passenger side on top of each other. :)
 

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#299 · (Edited)
Thx Rollin... I need to tweak the climate control a bit, but haven't gotten to a point where i want to tear out the dash again. Will do that when i get back to the radio LED's. It's quite beautiful and great during the day or twilight when there is light outside but is just a bit bright for nighttime for my taste. Next time i get in there i'm going to toss a resister inline and see if i can dumb it down a bit.

While on the topic. There are three full size (5mm) LED's that handle the status buttons for defrost and what not (orange and green i think.) They are not full round like a regular LED but oval or squarish. I have some oval 5mm led's that didn't fit the light tunnel or i could have made them blue too. I was thinking though of milling down some stock round ones until they fit and changing these out too. Probably Purple just for the heck of it... Anyone try this and if so have any feedback?

I think there is another side effect but i can't remember stock functionality (strange when i've driven this truck daily for 6 years now, putting about 65k of my own miles, that i can't remember something like that!). Seems to me that the stock LED's that light the LCD were on when the truck's lights were not on, similar to the radio. This is likely another reason for the extra circuitry for these four special bulbs. With my "fix" (aka hack) it only comes on with the lights in the truck. good or bad, your choice. I can read the LCD during the day so it doesn't bother me.

Back on topic, i just ordered a couple model blue SMD LED's from mouser (50 each, hopefully that'll cover the need). They are a little larger than what i have on hand, and should match the existing a little better (roughly 3mmx1.6mm). So i'll probably update next when those arrive in a week or so.
 
#300 ·
Excellent point on 'night lighting' (when the headlights are on). That functionality might be easily overlooked if taking a global "pull this one out put this one in" approach. :)
 
#301 · (Edited)
Spent a couple more hours investigating things tonight. The LCD lights driven off the side bulb is pretty and bright but i do miss a light background during twilight. I need to find a source of switched power in the area that i can use to trigger a low resistance feed and then switch to a higher resistance when the headlights are on to dim it slightly.

Also toyed with the Cargo switch a bit. Taking it apart is not terribly difficult. It's actually an amalgamation of a momentary switch with the same internal light pathing of the stateful switch like that found on the cruise, where there is a second led to denote "on". This prevents the light from going to the higher part of the faceplate and lighting the word cargo. Pondering either a bit of dremeling modification or possibly trying to get the internals from a salvage hazard switch where the internals aren't obstructed.

On this same note, the hazard and the cargo switch have a secondary t3 bulb location that is not usable. it's actually wired and ready on the switch side but the harness does not have power to the last pin that would feed the second location. Not sure if it's worth anyones time but it would be possible to jump power from the first bulb's feed pin to the secondary bulbs pin if one were inclined to make use of it for some reason.

Lastly, i never knew there was a bulb in the glove box until reading the ROC forums. Turns out my bulb has been bad since I bought the truck, i had a spare and replaced it but it is now incandescent and not with the theme of the rest of the truck. It's time to find an appropriate blue or white replacement bulb or modify this area. There is a nice flat spot tucked in under the dash area that would hold a nice strip of flexible LED strip. made for 12v and backed with 3m sticky tape it wouldn't take much to put 6-10 LED's across that and light the area quite nicely. I have a small strip of white left over from doing under cabinet accent lighting in my kitchen that would work good. I think i'll give it a shot as time allows and get some pix posted when done.

Back to the window switches, The two models i ordered to try as a better replacement are APL3015QBC/D-F01 and AA3528QBS/D. Mouser has already shipped them and i should get them in 3-5 days. I'm really hoping these are a better fit than the 2mmx1mm led's i have on hand. it's not impossible to bridge the 1mm gap with solder to make them work but it's certainly not as nice as having the right part. fingers crossed. :)

Oh, and on the Airbag bit... thanks for caring and pointing that out Ian. I don't understand what might false trigger them and fear them for good reason I guess. I do have OnDemand instructions for removal and repair of the steering wheel that explain the airbag disconnection process. Hopefully that is good enough for a safe mod there. I guess we'll see.

thanks again everyone for the data in this forum. helped me out tremendously. I must admit i feel a little weird bringing this VERY old thread back to life. :)
 
#302 ·
Not at all. Just because it's an old thread doesn't mean the information is no longer viable. You are adding to the discussion.

Nicely done.
 
#303 ·
You're doing some really wonderful work here. I am overly cautious about the airbag simply because I've seen what it can do. It saves lives when it operates the way it should. It can harm or even take away lives if it comes out at improper times. A guy in my fire company was in a junk yard doing some practice runs on a driver extraction. He had not had proper training on airbag diffusing and cut through the wires in the column. There was still a slight charge in the vehicle battery (that was not removed and should have been) and the bag deployed. It missed his face by a few inches. He had chemical burns for several days after that. If he were in a different position, he could have been badly injured or killed. So, needless to say, I'm cautious. Follow the procedure and don't skip anything. Great work so far!!


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App
 
#304 ·
Ok, i'm at a bit of a loss at this point. I know think i understand why no one has done the radio mod documentation yet. Considering the ease and features of simply replacing it with a new radio, trying to maintain the stock radio and swap to a blue color led based lights in the stock radio is certainly more effort.

basic disassembly instructions
- remove dash, grab and pull, release all switch harnesses and set aside (made easier by putting on emergency brake and shifting into 1st using the key shift unlock on top of the steering column)
- remove five screws around radio and cubby/hazard switch
- disconnect several harnesses from rear of radio.
- on both sides of the cubby/hazard light is a single black screw and two posts. remove the screw and lightly pull apart the brace to release the cubby
- pull silver volume knob away from face
- remove three #1 phillips screws on each left and right of radio face
- *note* before finishing this next step, be aware that lifting the face off the needs to be done carefully, read the step after carefully before tugging the faceplate off! From a simple disassembly process standpoint only, if your careful here, this is your greatest risk at ruining your HU
- use a flat head screwdriver or similar tool to lift three clips on top and bottom of the radio face
- the face is connected to the main unit with a fragile ribbon cable. To remove, lightly pull away from the green circuit board with fingers on left and right of the darker portion of the beige ribbon socket. It will move out about 2mm and release the ribbon, which can be gently pulled out
- now there are 7 screws labeled 1 - 7 around the circuit board that hold the board to the face. screws labeled 8 and 9 hold part of the cd slot and do not need to be removed


Now with the faceplate removed i was surprised to only find around 3-4 actual LED's. The rest are condom covered incandescent bulbs like you find in the T3/T4 units around the rest of the dash switches, except here they are in a small brown square base and soldered to the board. Again we find a green/blue rubber covering to get the light green color to match the rest of the radio.

I'm frustrated or disappointed that these are not stock LED's. It would have made the conversion so much easier (and the life of the radio longer).

I think given the amount of space that the bulb takes up, I can probably rig a SMT resistor and LED together on a small square PCB with two jumper wires to solder back into the main board. The problem is I have no idea what polarity or voltages are being sent to the bulbs... and would need to read this live with a multimeter. But that would mean having the radio connected to power in the truck, and on, with the faceplate attached to the main unit with the delicate ribbon cable while taking measurements.

Again, not completely impossible, but certainly a level of effort i did not anticipate in this process.

Attached will be pix of each of the pieces along the disassembly process so far. I have put the HU back together and into my truck while i ponder options (and hopefully hear feedback from the ROC experts).
 

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#306 ·
Update with Mouser LED order arrival....

APL3015QBC/D-F01 is a a much closer fit to the original window switch LED.

Though i will admit i'm glad i purchased the AA3528QBS/D, and tested that they also work. The square shape looks very nice on projects where this piece is readily visible. I'll burn through the other model and save these for other projects. :)

btw, as a commentary on learning lessons the hardware. I spent more than triple the time it should have taken me to do this mod on the passenger rear switch... mainly because i didn't use my head, rushed it, and installed both LED's backwards the first time before i finally realized what was going on. :act018:
 
#307 · (Edited)
Front Passenger Window/Lock Switch now done.

Same basic instructions as before for taking off the door. Except there are three screws on a brass colored plate that the main grip connects to the door, giving that solid feel.

With it apart, the switch again has clips around that allow it to open up. Lifting slowly on the circuit board inside you gain access to what is actually two 3mm green LED's, with plastic "placement" bits that hold it in just the right location.

On the back of the circuit board you will find silkscreened K and A (K for Cathode in Japanese? Anyway... K = - and A = + (anode))

Desolder with your favorite technique... clean up with flux and ensure there is a nice open hole left in the board. I use a combination of solder wick and a solder sucker.

Now I only had two 5mm round clear blue LED's lying in my stock (time to order more me thinks). Now the 5mm is obviously slightly larger shell then the 3mm, but it actually fits and works just fine in the design of the truck (at least on this side).

Soldered the replacements in, reassemble door. Life is good. :)

{{ On a side note, the guy who owned my truck before decided to cut four grooves in the locking switch on one side, presumably to allow him to feel without looking which side was which? Anyway. It's either that or a tiny version of X-Men's wolverine got mad at the lock... }}

See pix below
 

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