I was troubleshooting why the cargo light in my new-to-me GD3 (2008) wouldn't come on, so I popped out the light, and there's nothing connected to it. WTF? Popped off the side panel along the top and couldn't see anything dangling anywhere. If I have to, guess I can pop off the entire side panel, but was hoping someone could tell me roughly where the connector was coming from.

 

Nevermind. Finally found the cable & connector in the service manual -- it comes off of the driver's side floor harness (I was thinking it would've been coming down from the wire boot on the hatch). Once I pulled off the side panel enough that I could search along the floor, I found it right away. Still not sure why it was disconnected, but that's only one of many mysteries with this particular rig

 

Seems like this cargo light is ripe for an upgrade, yes? I'm thinking some kind of LED light. If there's something out there, please do tell!

 

There are a couple of easy mods. First is to switch out the light for one with a switch. See https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/1st-...ior-light.html . I've got one of those on order -- they're pretty cheap, even brand new. Probably almost nothing if you go junkyard shopping.

A pancake LED looks to be a nice upgrade for the lamp. Among many, the thread https://www.fitfreak.net/forums/3rd-...provement.html is good. It's in the 3rd gen (GK) forum, but the cargo area lens for the GK has the same part number as our GD3 rigs, so the same mod should work.

 

I kinda followed this thread and got this light. Hope it works!

 

Got the light and is a big improvement from the original. Hard to believe they (Honda) went with that weak a$$ light.

I'm going with those pancake lights for the map light now. Which ever is brighter is going to the cargo area.

 

When I installed my switched light back there, I just installed one of my spare 921 lights I use for the brake lights on one of my other rigs (http://www.autozone.com/electrical-a...ni-bulb/165375). Rated at 264 lumens, which is a lot more than the 25-ish lumens of the stock 194 bulb.

I'd like to try a pancake back there sometime, if nothing else because it throws the light out where you want it instead of wasting a lot lighting the back of the fixture, but haven't seen one that throws enough lumens to complete with my current 921 bulb.

 

Sounds like that 921 can get pretty hot if you leave it burning long. Might be something to worry about for someone in warmer climates? You have a switchable lens on your setup?

 

It's 18W vs 4W, so I suppose there could be a problem if I left it on for a long time. But it's my cargo light...not planning on leaving it on for long periods...I just want to see what's back there, and that pissant 194 wasn't cutting it.

The lens assembly just has a little switch on it, so I can turn it on and off. Part number 34265-SFE-003 . It's off an Acura SUV, but the part is common across a lot of Honda models. Check the link a couple of posts back in this thread.