Unofficial Honda FIT Forums - led hvac DIY w/pics!!!

***just added the same post to page two- so its easier to read with out side scrolling -- just a heads up for yall**

:wavey: hey there.
so a few people have asked me to help them out with this diy and sorry it took so long, first i wanna thank hondasforlife- for letting me use his car to take pics, we chose amber lights for his -any color lights will do- its your own pref. i have blue in mine---

*****if you break your car its not my fault, fit-freaks fault, or anyone else fault but your own! So just have fun and give it a shot*****
also make sure you have your radio security code first!

tools you will need---
*LONG phillips screw driver
*short/medium phillips s/d
*electrical tape
*wire strippers
*hot glue gun (with glue!)
*sharpie marker - same color as your light color choice

Lights you need---
*4 (four) #74 leds, any color
* optional- 2 leds on wires and color
(both avail at superbrightleds.com- i recommend them- leds on wires are found in DIY section of store and the number 74 bulbs are avail in the car bulb section) you can also find HIGH POWER #74s- but i havent used them and will prolly be too bright anyway - you can use them if you want though
these bulbs both come wired ready for 12v operation. be carefull with the leds on wires as if you bend the resistor- it will most likely come off, once you install there are no worries, but you need to be carefull when placing them in

ok here we go:

-- with the glove box closed- take out the two screws underneath with a regular length phillips screw driver

-- ope the box and pinch in the two sides to release the rubber stops and the whole glove box should come out.

http://a822.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...237f73cecd.jpg

looking at the pic you can see whats behind your box, you will see 3 wires wrapped in plastic, a orange, blue and purple..(they are disconnected in the pic already) you need to release them from the white plastic "pegs" -
blue = temperature control linkage
orange = vent selector knob
purple = fresh air or recirculate
the loops on the ends of the wires are locked onto the mechanics, by a little bump on each peg - its very easy to remove - use one finger to press in the little triangle bump and another to slide the loop off. feel around first you will see what i mean- i also tried to make a quick drawing of the pegs shape,
-unclip the orange and purple "straws" from the clamps that secure them
-with the blue straw its easier to unscrew the single screw holding the mounting plate- rather that undo-ing the clamp
they are marked with big red spots

--take a smaller phillips screw driver and remove the single screw under the fan speed knob, (above the cup holders)

--you can either try and pull this piece down from the outside or if you can fit your hand in through the glovebox you can pop it down and out, or you can use a screwdriver and press it out- i recommend your hand even though it might be a bit tight- you can do it! **reach through the hole where the linkage comes through**

once the bottom "3 boobs piece" is off you need the LONG phillips screwdriver

--looking up into the bottom of the radio you can see 2 screws, 1 on the left, and 1 on the right... they are far up there and you need the long screw driver, they are hex shaped too so if you start to strip them use a socket wrench, with a long extender

--REMOVE the 2 wiring harnesses from under the hvac, on goes into the fan speed control, and the other is for the power to the lights, and the relay to turn the ac on automatically when you turn the knob.

-- so now the assembly is mostly free-
there are a ton of clips holding this piece in place so now you have to PULL PULL PULL... work your way around the whole thing starting at the bottom- you might lose some clips but you can reuse them (most of the time) there are so many that 1 or 2 missing wont matter...

-- DONT PULL TOO HARD, there are still a few wiring harness connected to dont think that once the clips are free your whole thing is too, the wires arent that long and you dont want to pull on them too hard,

-- holding the assemble close as you can remove :
3 wire harnesses from radio,
1 wire harness from "pass airbag light"
1 wire Harness from the a/c and defrost switch
the wires for the airbag harness are loomed together and clamped into the frame pinch the bottom of the clip and pull the loom up this will release the wires from the frame.

--now slowly remove the whole assembly- mind the linkage as it can hook onto something so be careful

-- bring the assembly inside or somewhere that you can comfortably work...

http://a929.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...ffff914a18.jpg

--there are 8 phillips screws that need to be removed- they are marked with red dots
-two are pointing towards each other you need to slide out the pass airbag assembly, push in the clip and it goes out the front.. you can remove the ac/def switch ass. too- same way push in the clip and slide out the front
there are also two that are up by the freshair/recirc. switch, you have to unscrew one and slide the switch over to see the other one

-- the knobs need to come off now too-- they are the only thing holding the white plastic hvac ass. to the rest... easiest way is to pull the hvac and the knobs pop off - just pull the white plastic away from the black plastic-- THE KNOBS FLY-- so watch where they go!

http://a904.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...4fae34520f.jpg

-- here you can see the inside there are 4 bulbs with the blue "condoms" on them already, there is also 2 more screws holding the clear plastic diffusers on, they bring light up to the rec/fresh air switch - remove the screws and clear pieces.

-- leaving the black bulb bases in, just pull the bulbs out,
(the leds are like a hair bigger than the filament bulbs, so you cant place the twist lock base back in with the led in them- you have to leave the base in place and press the bulb in... BUT FIRST b4 pressing them in firmly....

http://a682.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...9d9a43e4f1.jpg

the leds are polarized and only work one way, so place them gently in the holes.. go back to the car, and plug in the smaller wire harness into the hvac, turn on the parking lights, and check the bulbs, if one is out, turn it the other way... make sure the polarities are matched correctly...
before you move back inside, to make things easier:
-take a sharpie and make a line on the bulb, and a line on the white plastic that match up, so if the bulb comes out- you can match the lines and get the polarity correct- try to keep the bulbs in order tho as the lines will prolly be different on each bulb...

--i would recommend staring with the two bulbs in the middle, -- as i said before the leds are a bit bigger and the dont "snap" in to the twist-lock base as well as the oem bulbs, so holding the bulbs in screw the clear pieces in, and they will hold the bulb in, the more you tighten the screw the further the bulb will go in as the clear piece has a curved "dome" the bulb fits in.. dont over tighten, go until it stops.

-- get the hot glue gun warmed up

-- place the first bulb in (the one all the way on the outside left) press as far as it will go with your finger and then put a big glob of glue between the bulb, and the edge of the white plastic, you can also bring the glue glob onto the top of the led to make sure it wont pop out, use your finger tip to hold the led in till the glue hardens, test for movement if its good, then do the same to bulb number 4, (the last on the right side) , try to keep the glue contained in the white hvac piece though- and not much higher than the led itself..

------------
-- now we need to get the airbag light and ac/defrost switch to match...
--depending on what color leds you have you can either leave the blue condom on the lights within these small switches, or just pick them off, for isntance if you have blue leds, leave them on, if you want orange look, take them off....

http://a510.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...f1c2f9834d.jpg

here is a pic of the defrost/ac switch assembly- there are 4 bulbs in there all together, two that only light when the switch is activated, they can stay the same color and are located on the top.. and two that illuminate the switches function (that we need to change) if you want to take the gel off these, the bulbs you need are on the bottom of the switch - (notice my assortment of markers teehee - just incase we had to do some color matching...)

-- wether you are keeping the gel on you need to adjust the color a bit more to match- pop the outer switch covers off, and use the matching color sharpie to color the entire inside of the switch cap... - do the same for the words pass. air bag on the other side, the insides are a bit different for each one but the steps are the same, hold the covers up to a light and check to make sure the entire icon is colored, as you have to press the tip of the marker in tightly to cover all the edges...

-- once the icons are colored re-assmeble them but dont put them back into the dash piece yet.

-----------=-=-=-=-

--now this part is optional but most likely desired...

-- the fit has two holes in the "3 boobs piece" that let the ambient light from the hvac lights shine down and into the cup holders... however there is practically no light left over so it is very dim... we will solve that problem

-- in the hvac white plastic piece there are two holes perfectly above the lenses that let the light shine out...

http://a540.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...b64558b8bb.jpg

(here you can see the 2 holes inside)

-- take the two leds on the wires, and cut the wires to about 6 inches, (the wires they come with are about 3 feet - we dont need that much) , to make it a bit easier-

-- connect the 2 red wires to a single red wire (from the scraps you cut)
-- connect the 2 blk wires to a single blk wire (from the scraps you cut)

-- now on the back of the white assembly you can splice the single red, and the single black wires into one of the connecting wires for 1 of the 4 other lights,
(Black from the led goes to Red on the car, and Red from the led goes to green on the car!!)
--once they are connected go back out to the fit and plug the small wire harness into the hvac assembly and turn on the parking lights, if the 2 leds dont work then swap the wires, (remember they are polarized - if it is backwards it wont hurt the car dont worry they just wont work) if all lights work (they should!) unplug and go back inside..

-- tape up your connections and make the splices finalized with the tape...

-- the leds on wires come with 2 types of grommets, you dont need the ones that look like a straw cut, but you do need the other ones,

-- pop the grommets into the holes (from the bottom )so the flat part is on the bottom of the assembly...

http://a403.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...767d406a9a.jpg

run the led wires down the back and up the front and then pop them out through the grommet- you will need to hold the grommet in when you put the led in or the led will push the grommet out (hard to find on a floor so be careful)

-- remember NOT to bend the led's connections as they are fragile , once its in there you wont have a prob with it bending on its own ..

--=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=

so now putting it all back together..

--place the white hvac piece back into the black dash unit carefully (not to snag a wire) place all 8 screws back in and then pop the knobs back on..

-- replace the airbag and ac/defrost things...
--carefully slide the linkage back in through the little hole to the back of the glove box, (watch for snagging anything) YOU DONT WANT TO BEND THESE WIRES

--replace the wires to the radio, and stuff, you dont have to put the 2 hvac wires on yet - just make sure they are not stuck up behind the radio...

-- pop the whole dash piece back on - the clips hold pretty well.. now it might be easier to attach the rest of the wires to the hvac, save the linkage for last--

-- honestly, the 2 screws back on that go all the way up to the radio are a pain in the butt, i could not get them for the life of me and i feel the clips hold well enough- (so i put only 1 in - it works tho)
if you can get them back tho you should, but be careful not to drop them as they will most likely fall onto the gears in the hvac and hinder the knob movement....

-- reattach the linkage (blue/orange/purple) make sure you put them on the correct pegs.... dont clip the "straws" yet, check the movement with the knobs/switch and clip them on with the correct tension = the blue's little mounting plate can be screwed back on now too..

-- place the "3 boob piece" back on - starting with the back and then push the front up ,-- then the single screw can go back in....

-- put your glove box back on, by pinching in the back sides and closing it, this way it will hold itself up so yo can re screw the two screws on the bottom..
make sure the little flap you are screwing in is fitted into the screw holes properly

here is a final pic of mine with blue leds

http://a733.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...af5015b58c.jpg
night shot
http://a846.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...9f6346c5f5.jpg

heres hondasforlive's with amber

http://a66.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/...c4c918dbc1.jpg
http://a695.ac-images.myspacecdn.com...bba68b690e.jpg

heres rexxxxxxxxx with red...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j8...0511081408.jpg

thats it, i hope you have fun doing your own!
enjoy!!!
pm me with any questions if i left anything out or whatever!