OK, some people have asked me to do up a “How To” on retrofitting your FJ with LED’s instead of the standard incandescent bulbs in the turn signals, brake, license plate, and position lights. So by request here we go: First off you will need the following type of LED bulbs and parts to make this work nicely (I have done this on my FJ and everything works as designed). There are multiple sources to obtain your parts for this mod, depending on where you go will be the final determination of the costs involved. When you obtain your LEDs, keep in mind they have to be the same color light as the light housing (amber for turn signals/position lights, and red for brake lights). I have listed the types of bulbs followed by a link on where to get them and or the item itself. Keep in mind that the links for ebay, are going to be outdated since they are time related. Get the items below and you are on the way.
After you get your bulbs and flasher in, it is time to start the R2 (removal and replacement). Start with your flasher unit. You will have to be somewhat of a contortionist for this one, but it isn’t too difficult. The flasher unit is located on the back side of the lower left hand fuse panel by the driver’s left knee. There is an access cover just above the hood release latch; the flasher is behind the dash in this location. For ease of identification and to make sure you pull the right relay, turn on your hazard flashers. This will get the relay clicking and make it easier to find the right part to pull. The factory flasher is a bit difficult to remove, as it snaps into place. When the old one is out, pop the new one in and the most difficult part of the project is completed. Next we’ll replace the front turn signal/position lights. Open up your hood and you will be able to see the bulb housing for the parking lights fairly clearly. Turn the bulbs/housing about a ¼ turn and they should come out. With the bulbs/housing out, simply pull out the factory bulb (push down a bit and turn), then insert your new LED replacement (push and turn in), then reinstall the bulb/housing into the light. Do the same for the other side and close up the hood. Moving on to the rear brake and turn signals now might require the use of some tools. Since I have the factory sub-woofer there is an extra step, if you don’t have a sub skip to the next section. To remove the sub-woofer enclosure you will need a 10mm socket and a 6 inch extension. First, pull the front of the sub-woofer housing off. You should be able to get your fingernails under the top edge of the face. The entire front part of the enclosure is going to come off (it is held on by snaps). After you get it off, there is a trim piece on the bottom that is part of the FJ sidewall that needs to be removed. To do this you can use a flat kitchen knife to pry the panel off, it too is only held in place by snaps. Now that the front fascia and trim is off the sub enclosure we need to remove it form the FJ. Disconnect the audio connection that is on the bottom of the enclosure by depressing the tab and pulling the two halves apart. You will see the enclosure is mounted in 4 points, by the 10mm bolts, two on the bottom on each side of the audio connection and two sunk way down in the upper portion of the enclosure. Remove the bolts and set the enclosure aside for now. You will now be able to see a curved rectangular access panel that is in the dark portion of the interior trim. Pop the trim piece off by inserting a flat screwdriver or other small blunt object in the center portion of the curved area (if you make a “U” with your hands and your thumb/wrist is straight, the release point will be where your middle fingertip is). You now have access to the three bulb housings there. Simply remove one type of bulb at a time and replace it with the corresponding LED, when both the brake and turn signal bulbs are replaced snap the trim back in place. If you removed your sub enclosure, make sure you put the tail light trim panel back on, then reinstall your sub-woofer. The left side of the car is just the same, simply remove the trim piece, pop the old bulbs out and put in the new LED’s, then reinstall the trim panel. If you purchased mirror lights we can install those now. First gently push up on the top of the mirror glass; this should move the mirror to the topmost position. Then gently reach behind the bottom center of the mirror and pull up and out a bit. The mirror should pop out and allow you to remove the mirror/glass (you might have to lift it up a bit to remove it once it detaches from the clip on the positioning housing). You will now see the bulb housings for the mirror lights. The bulbs I got from suprebrightleds.com were a bit larger in diameter than the stock glass ones and didn’t fit all the way in the receptacles. To remedy this I got a lighter and heated up the plastic a bit to soften it up and then inserted the LEDs into the housing, this allowed for a formed fit! Just make sure you just soften up the plastic on the LED housing and not completely melt it or set it on fire! Once you have the bulb housing back in place reinstall the mirror. You will see that there are some plastic tab/hooks on the top of the mirror mounts and a corresponding latch area on the mirror. Hang the top of the mirror on the mounts then while holding the top, press down on the center/bottom portion of the mirror to pop the lower mount back into place. Make sure it is securely attached and not just hanging on by the upper mounting points! The License plate lights are pretty easy as well. There are two Phillips head screws that hold the lens covers/housings to the rear hatch. Simply unscrew them and swap out the bulbs, and reinstall the lights/housings and you are finished. If you purchased LEDs to replace the dome lights (I did and found out the LED’s didn’t produce nearly enough light to be useful, and I bought the 3022x9 LED bulbs), pop the diffuser plate off, by inserting a small flat screwdriver, or your trusty kitchen knife into one of the release slots, you can see them on the forward part of the diffuser, opposite of the selector switch, and pop it off. This is the only point in the car where the polarity of the lights matter. If you insert the bulbs and they don’t light up, turn them around and they should work. You have now successfully retrofitted your FJ, with LEDs! I didn’t include pictures here but if some people need visuals , let me know and I might be persuaded into taking some pics this weekend... --dc
Post edited by: dcarrington01, at: 2006/08/24 22:09
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Re:Complete "How To" LED conversion
Date: 2006/08/24 21:20
By: FJ_JK
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YOU DA MAN!
THANKS!
Post edited by: FJ_JK, at: 2006/08/25 04:27
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Re:Complete "How To" LED conversion
Date: 2006/08/24 22:08
By: admin
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Admin
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Great Post!
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Re:Complete "How To" LED conversion
Date: 2006/08/25 18:33
By: FJ_JK
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Posts: 78
Which way does the flasher unit click in. Do you need to push towards the door or away from it in order to remove it?
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Re:Complete "How To" LED conversion
Date: 2006/08/26 20:25
By: WildBillKelso
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Great Post!
Finally gave me the information and confidence in it to order the parts and get started. I'll be doing that today!
Thanks!
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, let me know and I might be persuaded into taking some pics this weekend...
