dome light conversions?, any way to take the ugly yellow light and swap to some kind of blue? Options

[mgnt232]

I have a 94 celica ST and want to change the dome lights out. has anyone done this before? i look started taking out the dome light, and it got dark so i haven't had really a chance to look at it good,but i was thinking maybe i could swap and LED in there?
thanks in advance.-

[Spider77]

I just slapped a blue light up in there. Ive tried with various results to paint the plastic with a transparent blue, but it didnt look right. I havent tried a LED before, but im sure the results would be great!

[mgnt232]

I just slapped a blue light up in there. Ive tried with various results to paint the plastic with a transparent blue, but it didnt look right. I havent tried a LED before, but im sure the results would be great!

where did you get the blue light? im not sure where to go for stuff like that. i know radio shack has LED's but im not sure what kind of light it is. thanks-

[WWSideWinder]

HI

Have a look at my progress thread (Link below my Sig.

I drilled and inserted 2 Blue LED's so I can have the normal white but mostly it's on the blue.

[mgnt232]

HI

Have a look at my progress thread (Link below my Sig.

I drilled and inserted 2 Blue LED's so I can have the normal white but mostly it's on the blue.

where did you get the LED's? and do you think i could splice into the power wires on the bulbs now and put in some 12V LED's? i want them to come on with the door.

[WWSideWinder]

I got the LED's from Dick Smith Electronis in New Zealand

"http://www.dse.co.nz/dse.shop/4a90fa2d012d28b6273fc0a87f3b06b5/Product/View/Z4282" have a look.

I Driled 2 places in the Dome and inserted the LED's, made the drill just a little bit smaller so thay are james in.

I then ran the wiere down the left A-Piller and under the dash to give me the blue lighting on the floor.
I teh joined it to the Return wire for the Light in the door, so now it comes on when I open the door.
PS I also put a switch in the circuit so I could turn it off when working on the car or if I thought it would cause a probled (6 Monthy WOF - Warrent of Fitness in NZ)

Hope this help unfortinatly it was rather late when I got to splicing into the door circuits so I have no photos.

If you hve any questions just give me a shout.

[mgnt232]

I got the LED's from Dick Smith Electronis in New Zealand

"http://www.dse.co.nz/dse.shop/4a90fa2d012d28b6273fc0a87f3b06b5/Product/View/Z4282" have a look.

I Driled 2 places in the Dome and inserted the LED's, made the drill just a little bit smaller so thay are james in.

I then ran the wiere down the left A-Piller and under the dash to give me the blue lighting on the floor.
I teh joined it to the Return wire for the Light in the door, so now it comes on when I open the door.
PS I also put a switch in the circuit so I could turn it off when working on the car or if I thought it would cause a probled (6 Monthy WOF - Warrent of Fitness in NZ)

Hope this help unfortinatly it was rather late when I got to splicing into the door circuits so I have no photos.

If you hve any questions just give me a shout.

yeah i did it differently, but it comes on when the door is opened, and goes off when the door is closed. i plan to also incorporate some waterproof LED's under the car to come on when the door is opened, and also put them on a switch so i can turn them on/off as i please. one question though.
i was wondering my self about the current draw of an LED strip, to the 2 Kinetik batteries i have? how long before they would suck the life out of the battery? i dont think LED's take much power, but just got to wondering?

[Espo]

Okay, this is really easy.

1. Go to your local Autozone.
2. Buy the Super Bright L.E.D. dome lights in the customization section (By all the shift knobs and interior neons and whatnot.)
3. Go home, take apart your dome light assembly, take it all the way out, remove the harness.
4. Open L.E.D. package, choose any size adapter, smash it open with a hammer so the soldering on the wires and metal ends comes apart. You won't need the adapters, they won't fit anyway.
5. Take out the stock bulb, also take out your dome fuse in the engine bay or it will blow - don't ask me why, mine did.
6. Cut the white wire with the loop on it - this is your power wire. Also, cut the black wire going to where the bulb was. This is your ground. Strip those - BE CAREFUL when stripping them, when I did I accidentally pulled out the three way switch and it was a major hassle to get back in and working.
7. Cob the red to the white and the black to the black, wrap it with electrical tape or heat shrink (I chose heat shrink), use the adhesive to stick your lights in, have fun. I'll have pics in a few.

Edit/Pics are uploading to photobucket at the moment, should've resized them in Photoshop first.

Edit/Okay here we go:

Final product/starting point for me:


Remove cover:


Unscrew dome assembly, remove this harness:


I had to squeeze the two wires through the back very carefully before I did this, you can see them coming out from the front of the assembly. Connections already made:


More of same connections - moved my wiring so you can see exactly where they came from and where the previous wires were:


Front side of assembly at this point:


Lights!:


Easy as pie. They are REALLY bright too, lights up your entire car, makes the back trunk light almost obsolete lol - I bought a smaller one from Pep Boys that I'm replacing the trunk light with today.

This post has been edited by Espo: Aug 23, 2009 - 3:13 PM

[mgnt232]

Okay, this is really easy.

1. Go to your local Autozone.
2. Buy the Super Bright L.E.D. dome lights in the customization section (By all the shift knobs and interior neons and whatnot.)
3. Go home, take apart your dome light assembly, take it all the way out, remove the harness.
4. Open L.E.D. package, choose any size adapter, smash it open with a hammer so the soldering on the wires and metal ends comes apart. You won't need the adapters, they won't fit anyway.
5. Take out the stock bulb, also take out your dome fuse in the engine bay or it will blow - don't ask me why, mine did.
6. Cut the white wire with the loop on it - this is your power wire. Also, cut the black wire going to where the bulb was. This is your ground. Strip those - BE CAREFUL when stripping them, when I did I accidentally pulled out the three way switch and it was a major hassle to get back in and working.
7. Cob the red to the white and the black to the black, wrap it with electrical tape or heat shrink (I chose heat shrink), use the adhesive to stick your lights in, have fun. I'll have pics in a few.

Edit/Pics are uploading to photobucket at the moment, should've resized them in Photoshop first.

Edit/Okay here we go:

Final product/starting point for me:


Remove cover:


Unscrew dome assembly, remove this harness:


I had to squeeze the two wires through the back very carefully before I did this, you can see them coming out from the front of the assembly. Connections already made:


More of same connections - moved my wiring so you can see exactly where they came from and where the previous wires were:


Front side of assembly at this point:


Lights!:


Easy as pie. They are REALLY bright too, lights up your entire car, makes the back trunk light almost obsolete lol - I bought a smaller one from Pep Boys that I'm replacing the trunk light with today.

thanks... i guess. but i already did it, and i went with blue LED's. my way... was a bit more simplistic. and comes on when the door is opened, and off when its closed. push the little button the normals are on. but not soo much of ur wiring

[GriffGirl]

This is a GREAT how-to, thanks for that! I vote this should be stickied. The stock dome light is just about the worst feature in our car!

I'm gonna try this too; when I do I'll take pix along the way since my dome is slightly different than yours (I don't have a sunroof, so the assembly is different)

[Espo]

thanks... i guess. but i already did it, and i went with blue LED's. my way... was a bit more simplistic. and comes on when the door is opened, and off when its closed. push the little button the normals are on. but not soo much of ur wiring

These wire up directly to your switch, so you still have door/off/on, just like your stock bulb. I was just trying to provide a way to do it without drilling. Also, the LEDs are blue-ish, you just can't see them with the camera.

This is a GREAT how-to, thanks for that! I vote this should be stickied. The stock dome light is just about the worst feature in our car!

I'm gonna try this too; when I do I'll take pix along the way since my dome is slightly different than yours (I don't have a sunroof, so the assembly is different)

Welcome (: It should be relatively the same for yours, I don't think the dome light would change just because your unit comes without a sunroof, but I could be wrong.