tstar

Cool!!! Post up some pics!

Tim

nauticalpsycho

Has anyone done this with the "UV" Blacklight LEDs???

tstar

Yeah I experimented with them, they are extremely dim!!!! Unusable for this application really and they do not perform like a true Blacklight...

Tim

ljthe2nd

Tim you have the underhood light for 98-04's listed and a 516, it's actually a 561. Autolumination.com sell different LED's in the form of a 561 but they are not direct replacements they way they come, because the orientation of the LED's will be 90 degrees off when you hook the rigid loops of the LED onto the brass tabs in the light the LED's will face to the side instead of out. I decided to solder one in place. To do this you will have to remove the light from the hood. It's held on by 2 rivets. You can either drill out the rivet or use a door panel removal tool or a flat blade screwdriver and pry it out. If you pry it out just go slow and be careful and it will pop right out. Then just remove the rivets from the light and your all set. When you go to put it back in just put some wall anchors like you use in drywall in the holes in the hood and use screws and washers to hold it in place


I apologize for the blurry pic.
To solder the 561 LED into the underhood light just set it on the brass tabs, (I bent the tabs to help it sit flat) and solder it in place. I also put some automotive glue (Goop) on the solder joints but this is not really necessary just a little added insurance that it wont come apart with the vibration of being under the hood.



Once completed this is now quite a bit brighter than the original under hood light. Its almost bright enough to work by in the dark, almost but not quite. But if your stranded by the side of the road, this light will be much appreciated over the stock light.

tstar

Larry, Thanx for clearing that up and posting an excellent fix!!!

I'm not familiar with a rigid loop bulb but is that small silver "can" some sort of adapter socket????

Tim

ljthe2nd

Do you mean the round part on the outside, next to the screw holes? If that's what you are talking about, yes that is where you plug in the wiring harness. If you are talking about the round can like thing inside the brass, on the inside of the bulb compartment close to the bulb, actually it would be below the bulb when it is mounted and in it's correct position, I believe it is some kind of switch that will only turn on the light when the hood is in a certain position. If you move the under hood light assembly in a way that it would move as if you were closing or opening the hood you can hear it click as if it is completing or braking the circuit.

tstar

I was talking about the on off "switch", that explains why there is no pin switch to activate the light. So to add additional lighting under the hood we would have to piggyback directly off the bulb... Thanx!

Tim

ljthe2nd

I don't see why you couldn't tap into the wiring that connects to the underhood light, but if you did, the light wouldn't come on until the switch in the light completed the circuit.

DefenderC5

This is a good cliff's notes of the LED monster thread haha.

I'll throw in my 2 cents since I swapped out my lights on my SINGLE zone HVAC, I never put them in the other thread. I also never saw anyone else do a Single Zone HVAC LED swap, or at least put any pics of it up.

Disassembly is easy on the single zone HVAC. Everything is vacuum actuated, so when you disconnect the connectors/hoses in the back... the light hissing noise is normal The dials must be removed to take off the back cover. Once the back cover is unfastened, SLOWLY and CAREFULLY remove the back cover STRAIGHT OUT, do not angle it while removing it. There are some long, thin electrical contacts that are about 1.5" to 2" long. They go through small holes in the circuit board. When seperated, you'll have the skinny contacts on one side, and the circuit board on the other.



The 12v bulbs that need to be changed are circled. I used 3mm blue LED and 510 ohm resistors. Ignore the teal circles, that was for something else. The stock yellow LEDs are for the buttons when they are selected, I left these alone.

I don't have a picture of them lit up on the board, but you will have to cut the leads down to have enough room for the bulbs to fit. However, leave enough of the lead to be able to bend the LED 90 degrees and point it where you most need light. The same soldering/braiding process applies as all the other LED mods.



Sorry don't have a closeup of the finished product... the upper right bulb lost connection after I installed it too... bah!



I'll fix it when I get back from my deployment. I'll try grinding them down to disperse the light better too.

tstar

Awesome!!!!!!!! I was hoping someone would fess up the swap on the Non dual HVAC!!!! I woner if you could shoehorn in some shaved 10mms???? They worked really good on the Rocker switches on the last one I did...

Great job!!!!!!!!!

Tim

DefenderC5

The light output on the 3mm was pretty even, the hotspots were because I didn't shave down the end, I think. There wasn't a lot of room to maneuver the 3mm in there, less than a half inch or so. I'd think a 10mm would be huge! I left the tiny stock yellow LED for the buttons alone because they looked like too much of a PITA.

When I get back, I'll adjust the post to include more dissassembly pictures when I open it back up to fix the one that isn't lighting up.

Next up is the footwells, mirror map lights and cargo area. I still have to finish the T/C button too, I think I'll use the tips I found in this thread.

VetteFTW

I think I read it wrong before and accidently got 3 mm bulbs for the HVAC, will I be ok? I know you said make sure they meet up with the collars, Will it be much harder to the point where I should use 5 mm instead or can I make the 3 mm work?

0TheRadioFlyer97

3mm will work. Just remember to sand off the heads for a more even pattern. ohterwise your illumination will have the chickenpox.

nascar57

You can tell by using a magnifying glass and looking closely at the resistor on the neowedge.The white side with numbers on it is the + side. The black side with no numbers is the - side. Or just use a 9 volt battery and hook it up. If it doent lite switch it around, wont hurt a thing.

tstar

RadioFlyer is right as usual, The Example I pics I have shown of the HVAC are done with 3mms. I ordered the wrong ones, normally I would use 5mms.

I use a Dremel with a cutoff wheel to lop the Heads off the LEDs, then grind it against the blade slightly to make it square, no sanding that way and it's very fast.

FYI I haven't really noticed a difference in light output between the various sized LEDs, or even the SMDs for that matter.

Tim

RJ1AZ

Ok...I knew I shouldn't have started reading this thread. Now I'm hooked and I've gone too far to back out!

I'm installing blue led's and I've done my door switches, adjustable shock switch, and the traction control button (I used the "drilled hole in the middle of the button" method and used the LED from a neo wedge that I'd busted the plastic base on).

Now I'm moving on to the automatic shift light. I just want to make sure I order the right bulb. Tstar, you listed the "194 Matrix Super Star bulbs" for $7.99. Is that the same as this one I found using your link? 194 168 W5W 2825 Matrix Bulbs Emits Light in all Directions
The price on the website is $6.99, so I want to make sure I'm not ordering the wrong one.

Thanks!
Rick

VetteFTW

AAH! So I tested it out with the 9 v battery. And the ones I put in worked. But At first I put it to the orange ones and I think I burned it out. It went tzzz and smoked. Did I ruin all of it or just maybe the one orange one that I did that too!!!??? I'm so mad at myself for doing that. Bad idea!

tstar

It's a damn addiction!

Any 194 based bulb should work in there, the bulb you described sounds like it would work better then the one I listed. I have a MN6 so I relied on other modders!

Tim

tstar

Yep you fried that one! Those LEDs, along with the Theft Red LED in the Radio are not protected by a resistor. Try a 3mm orange LED, hopefully the olor matches, if not replace all em with the color of your choice in 3mm with NO resistor.

Tim

VetteFTW

Ok cool, I'll just replace them with the 3 mm blue ones I ordered originally for the other ones. Oh well, live and learn!