How To: Make ur foot wells glow

Since this has become a quite frequently talked about subject i decided to post my how to on the tm3 website... this is a guide for the person that know NOTHING about electrical at all i made it VERY simple and over explained everything so.... Enjoy your lights!

Plan..

your going to have 2 main wires

Wire A = POWER
Wire B = GROUND

Ground’s starting point can be ANYWERE best place to have it is the our central location ill talk about later on, ull need at at this location so it can be wired to everyone u want to use the LED’s

Power’s starting point MUST be at the fuse box and than wired to a central loaction so we can tap from it for all the LED’s we want to use.

Okay so that being said lets start off with power!

To get to the fuse box, which can be found on the passanger side under the glove box we must 1st take off the plastic cover like so ...

[img width=576 height=768]http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo31/blankets3/IMG_0046-1.jpg[/img]


Since there are 2 we must obviously take them both off, all you need to do is push the tabs to the proper side and it will come right down.

[img width=576 height=768]http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo31/blankets3/IMG_0047-1.jpg[/img]

Now that we have that off we can now see the fuse box ... well sorta its still being held up by 2 taps that simply twist off as shown below, just remove them and the fuse box will drop down.

http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/o...IMG_0048-1.jpg

now again since there are 2 we’ll need to unscrew them both and it will drop down .

http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/o...IMG_0049-1.jpg

okay so now we have access to our power source. To keep things easy ill just say use fuse 15 it is a constant power meaning when the cars in the lights are on..... Later on ill add how to wire it so it only works when the headlights are on (same way and just as easy!)

http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/o...IMG_0050-1.jpg

I will now explain the coloring i did ...

Red circle is simply just to show u what fuse it is
Green is our wire... what you need to do is pull the fuse out and squish the wire on one “tooth” of the fuse and then plug it back in.

Use some electrical tape to keep it in place so when if we pull on the wire later it won’t rip right out and also just to keep things neat.

feed the wire out into the center console not very hard to do...

http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/o...IMG_0052-1.jpg


to make life easier (this is only for manuals sry i don’t have an auto mby some 1 with a auto knows a way to do this and can chime in) we can pull up the center part. And jam our hands in there to pull the wire to our CENTRAIL LOCATION! Make sure u use tape to keep everything in place and make sure u always have ENOUGH WIRE TO GET TO WHERE U WANT TO GO!

[img width=576 height=768]http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo31/blankets3/IMG_0051-1.jpg[/img]

okay so this is how we remove the plastic to get ur car to look like the pic above!

ull need to 1st unscrew the shift knob and then get ur fingers under the leather and pull directly up it will lift up the center storage and simply lift that part up as well with ur fingers and the cup holder and plastic around the shift knob will come right up, (u can separate the 2 by pushing the plastic around the shift knob down

Okay so now that were all opened up and have fed our power from the fuse box to our CENTERAL LOCATION we can start running power every were (driver passenger + both back seat foot wells)

I personally used the MAIN wire at the driver side because i can than tape the wires up along the center console walls all the way back n make sure it’s all out of the way.


It should look like this...

http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/o...IMG_0057-1.jpg

everything is labeled but ill do it again here.

from FUSE to DRIVER
Tap 1 = passanger
Tap 2 = back seat
Tap 3 = back seat

u can tap from any were along the wire just make sure u electrical tape it so no bare wire is showing!

Now that we have all our power clean up the mess of wires as u see fit i loomed all mine and tucked them along the wall and taped them so they couldn’t pull or get stuck in the shifter.

Okay so we have power but no ground!!!!!!!!!!!

Let’s finish this and get some lights!

okay so for ground we know that all we need is bare metal...
this is where the only actual tool is required. Since we have these fancy shifters we see 4 screws all around it holding it down

[img width=576 height=768]http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo31/blankets3/IMG_00512.jpg[/img]

I have labelld the approx. Location of them off i may be off by a few cm’s no biggy

use anyone i personally used the dark orange it felt like the best choice to me

now again same as we did b 4...

from GROUND to BACK SEATS
Tap 1 = Driver
Tap 2 = passenger

Again make sure the wires are all out of the way from anything like the shifter.... also re member it doesn’t matter where u splice the wire from just tape it up!

CLEAN UP YOUR MESS IT SUCKS HAVING TO GO BACK TO A HUGE MESS OF WIRES IN CASE WE DID SOMETHING WRONG (we didn’t but still better to keep it clean)

Okay so now we have 2 sets of wires running to each footwell all we need to do is attach the leds !

If u used ozonium the copper wire should be ground IF MIX THE GROUND AND POWER UR CALL WILL CATCH FIRE... jk it won’t nothing will happen ur lights won’t turn on all you have to to is switch them.
TIP – don’t stick them up anywhere yet let them dangle and u can now see u have ALOT of extra wire since ozonium give u A LOT! n/p don’t worry about that for now

just twist the wires together power to power and ground to ground and tape it up, again no bare wire showing!!!!!!!

Okay so now we have a complete circuit... now we just need to add power how do we do that some of u may ask?

Well turn on the car!

Since we wired these up to be on as soon as the car starts we should get light as soon as the car turns on
if not review ur wires.. 99% of the time u put a ground to power just switch it ull be okay!

if ur lost ask questions here ill update this as i see fit


PICS OF THE DONE!


Back seats:

My hand

http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/o...IMG_0059-1.jpg

with a laptop down there

[img width=576 height=768]http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo31/blankets3/IMG_0060-1.jpg[/img]

Driver side

http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/o...IMG_0062-1.jpg

passanger side

http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/o...IMG_0061-1.jpg

as u can see my foot and shoe with the lights on them and my other foot and shoe without (in daylight)

Hey great post man u are such a good asset to the tm3 forums!

i just followed ur guide and heres how mine turned out !

http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/o...3/IMG_0083.jpg
http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/o...3/IMG_0082.jpg
http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/o...3/IMG_0080.jpg
http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/o...3/IMG_0079.jpg


...jk guys its still me thoes are just night time pics!










...:whoa

Awesome instructions...I'm on it!:hawt

thx man! might give this a try on '10

good post thanks dude

Great Post but my only concern is this. NEVER tap into an existing fuse from the fusebox. That particular fuse you tapped into is being used and you tapping into it might cause a problem in the long run. Your stealing current from a fuse that can only handle a specific amp. If that ever overloads, you can either cause a fire OR burn that actual part you tapped into (for ex: the ECU or RADIO's fuse). If your LED's ever short circuit (positive and negative touching), whatever fuse you tap into could get damage.

You should get an 10 ga. wire and run it from the battery with a fuse. Use a relay to act as the switch (triggered by your headlight or parking light) OR you can install a toggle switch. This is the safetest way of installing it without having to worry that your car can catch on fire OR damage any other part.

Just my .02

^^^ Umm... no. Just, no. A few LEDs isn't going to overload the circuit. And if too much load IS added....the fuse will blow. That's what they do: protect the wiring from overload.

Ya, whenever you do your own wiring you're responsible for your own mistakes... but if u tap into an existing fuse you can also put in an inline fuse holder with a quick blow 1A fuse or whatever load u require and reduce your chance of stuff blowing up... a 10 ga wire seems a little excessive for some LEDs. IMO

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MRT_MS3

Great Post but my only concern is this. NEVER tap into an existing fuse from the fusebox. That particular fuse you tapped into is being used and you tapping into it might cause a problem in the long run. Your stealing current from a fuse that can only handle a specific amp. If that ever overloads, you can either cause a fire OR burn that actual part you tapped into (for ex: the ECU or RADIO's fuse). If your LED's ever short circuit (positive and negative touching), whatever fuse you tap into could get damage.

You should get an 10 ga. wire and run it from the battery with a fuse. Use a relay to act as the switch (triggered by your headlight or parking light) OR you can install a toggle switch. This is the safetest way of installing it without having to worry that your car can catch on fire OR damage any other part.

Just my .02

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Just don't put in a bigger fuse if the one that is there pops. THAT will get you in trouble for sure.

I agree with Rick, LEDs dont draw up that much power. Fuses if anything will blow so no damage can be caused except the blow fuse.

For my uncle's civic. Im running his fogs powered through his cig lighter fuse and its been half a year and its working fine.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Noisy Crow

^^^ Umm... no. Just, no. A few LEDs isn't going to overload the circuit. And if too much load IS added....the fuse will blow. That's what they do: protect the wiring from overload.

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I had a buddy that did the same MOD that the OP installed and the same way. After turning the ignition, the footwell started smoking and come to find out, he messed up on the wiring and short circuit them. It was bad enough that the FUSE he tapped into that was coloured yellow turned BLACK. He then uninstalled the LEDs, replaced the burnt fuse and his car won't start. He mentioned that the wires were burnt so bad that the only thing thats left was the copper. After brininging it to his mechanic, his ECU was toast. He used the ECU fused and damaged the part.

Its only a suggestion but from what I've seen in the past, I would never TAP into the fusebox. I'd rather spent the extra money and time to be on the safe side.

Quote:

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a 10 ga wire seems a little excessive for some LEDs. IMO

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You can never go wrong with bigger wires. You can always use the same wire if you decide to install more LEDs in the future. :)

Is unhappy the pics dont work.

i second that

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Strongjag

Is unhappy the pics dont work.

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you guy realize that this thread is 2yrs old right?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Strongjag

Is unhappy the pics dont work.

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Maybe its because the thread is 2 years old... :chuckle

Pft, that doesnt change the little red x's into something useful~ Bah! Off to figure it out myself lol

There's a stickied OEM footwell light install here..... read through it and your will pretty much know everything required.... only difference will be that LEDs are polarity sensitive, and you'll how you attach them will depend on the shape /size. of the LEDs.

i hooked my footwells to the cigarette fuse, words perfect, and the i can still use the cigarette power thinger

Planning to do this once my lights arrive :)

What would you guys use for wire taps?
I found this page: http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3...beVB2NDGZBTHgl

And I think: http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3...beVB2NDGZBTHgl are t ones I want, but where would I buy them? 3m sells them 750 at a time for $260 lol

Sayal in Mississauga. Autozone has 'em, too, I believe.

Is there any real issues with running a long length of wire undre the center console to power lights under the seats? The LED strips dont have long leads on them and I cant think of a power source under the center console lol

I know its an old thread, but long length of wire would be fine. On my gio electric bike, I put in led strips with changeable colours, and even 14 guage wire was more than necessary. They only draw about 20-100mA

I'm looking at doing this but all the photos are dead and it's sorta confusing without them, any way we can get them back up? :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MattisBrown

I'm looking at doing this but all the photos are dead and it's sorta confusing without them, any way we can get them back up? :)

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No