Well boys n girlz, this is the infamous koolkev. I have brought you another great easy do it urself "mod" to ur car (first one was yellow fog light film). This time, it is the Interior light kit that light up the cupholder area on our fit's. These instrucions will make ur cupholders light up really bright and won't cost you $100.

Disclaimer: The following is provided as a GUIDE ONLY, and neither myself, nor FITFREAK.NET take any responsibility for the outcome of someone else doing the following. You follow these steps at your own risk!

Open up ur package. Get acquainted with the parts that i have included. You should have:

1- wiring harness pre-wired with tinned edges
2- mounting brackets with 3m tape already installed
3- strips of electrical tape

You will also need (not included, sorry):

Rubbing alcohol
Cotton swab, pad or even toilet paper

First, remove the screw found underneath the AC controls. It's a phillips:


Then using a soft pry tool, unclip the edges of the plastic panel. If u don't have a soft pry tool (or another soft but sturdy tool), take a flathead and wrap the edge with the electrical tape i have included (1 strip) and use that:





Once u have the panel off, take it to a comfortable work area.

Take a look at the inside. U will find two of these clear panels. U need to remove these. Just slide it off:



Now, take one of the mounting brackets and test-fit how you want the led to sit. The arrows points in the direction you want them to sit:



Flip it over and look through the holes. U want them to sit as FAR BACK as possible. This will keep the LED centered in the cupholder:



Now, once you think you know what ur doing, take ur rubbing alcohol and clean up the tabbed area where the double sided tape will stick:



Clean it throughly! Give it about a couple minutes to dry:


Now, remove the backing tape off the 3m and place them MAKING SURE THE LED IS FURTHEST BACK:



U can move yours farther back then what i have placed it at:



Apply pressure, 30-45 seconds. This stuff is STRONG exterior mounting tape. I didn't cheap out on the tape so u don't have to worry about it coming off by itself.



Now after about a couple minutes after you have mounted both mounting brackets, take your LED and place it in the led holder. You might have to wiggle it in, but it will go in all the way and u can feel it get snug and be difficult to remove:



After inserting the led, take one of the strips of electrical tape and cut it in half. Stretch it and wrap it over the led and the clear plates to keep the led's in place. This is recommended, but not needed.



Here is the completed piece (minus the above step):




Now go back to the car, you are ready to install it into the car. But first, take some electrical tape and cover up the two holes that are already pre-drilled under the a/c controls. This is to prevent any of the original light from shining through:



NOw, disconnect the harness on the left. It's real easy to unclip:

Take ur tinned edges, and insert them into the back of the openings of the oem harness. The polarity colors are done for you in the below pic. OH and led's only work one way, so if it doesn't light, switch the wires around and u should be in business:



Once u got them inserted all the way in, turn on your running lights to check to make sure they light.

ONce you are sure they are snug in there and light, take another strip of the included electrical tape and wrap up the wires to the oem harness. This is to prevent it from coming loose. Remember to STRETCH the electrical tape to activate the adhesive:

Not stretched:


Stretched (should be curly and extra sticky):


Wiring wrapped up:


Now plug it back into the oem harness:


Test it once more making sure they will still light.

Now clip the panel back in, put the screw back in, and YOUR DONE!!!



Hope you had fun following my instructions! It's very easy. If there are any problems, send me a PM!

Remember, if you are interested in getting one of these kits, send me a PM and i'll help ya out!

DON'T FORGET THE + REP!!

 

Wheres the pic of the finished product??

I have no idea where you are talking about

 

I did not want to cut the wiring so i just pushed them in as far as they can go from the back and plugged it back into the AC controls. They didn't fall out from the back and were plugged in pretty solid. I then tested it to make sure it worked. BAM! it turned on and was sooo bright! i could even see it durin the day. I then put the plastic cover back in its place and put the screw in. Adjust the LED and plastic plexiglass as necessary to get the LED to point where you want it, right in the center of the cupholder. Voala ur done! Sorry i don't have a night pic yet but i will get it tonight. I did this on the friday morning (8/18) durin my free time.

i just finished w/ the writeup so i can't take pix of what im talkin about b/c u can't see much during the day. Tonight when you are sittin in ur fit, put ur hand under the AC controls you will see that it lights up JUST BARELY tho. Well i made those lights 10000x brighter.

 

Hehe i believe this is standard on Canadian Fit's? :P

But good work with the DIY!!

 

Badass kevi, Nice write up. I was planning on doing the same mod this weekend.

 

nice write up man thanks

 

Nice job man! Now I have to find some free time to do this

What resistors did you end up using (looks like three black bands on blue?), and what was the output on the LEDs you picked? Might be time to visit Norvac soon.

That, or see what LEDs I have sitting around. Probably green and red or some horrible combination

 

very nice writeup!!! let see those cool night shots with a water bottle!!!

 

.......ttt.....

 

awesome dude.. I hope that I can get the installation instructions for mine.. I dont like cutting wires under my dash..

 

Did my light upgrade last night. I was surprised how quickly it went. The worst part was trying not to slice my hands up while popping the clip that holds the cover in place. I used 2 leds in series with 1 resistor. Worked out pretty good. I might increase the resistor value to dim the lights down a bit but here's what I got:

Components used in the project.


Upclose of the hole covers.


Upclose of LED installed in cover.


Solder job. Note to self, remember to put heat shrink tubing on before soldering. Makes the job go faster.


Assembly of LEDs, resistor, and connector.


Testing LEDs to make sure they work.


Final results.

Also, did the A/C defroster mod while I was in there. That makes it much nicer when running the defroster not to have the A/C running all the time.

 

NICE! Now you can see what you have in the cup holder at night!

 

Thanks. It's a little bright at night. I need to adjust the resistor value to make it equal intensity as the rest of the dash lights. It does make it a world of difference from the stock light.

 

Yeah our canadian fits have little lights there already.They're not very bright.Do us fits not have existing lights?

 

No the US Fits don't have any lights there just the lenses shown in the first post which allows light from the A/C control lights to shine light down thru the 2 lenses which makes for just a little light for the cup holders.

That was the whole point in the mod was to put led lights where none existed. I'm guessing you haven't taken the cover off yet to find out if it is made the same way.

I doubt the Canadian Fits have lights there either and are the same.

 

pretty cool now you should do one for the liscence plate bulbs in bright white

 

For some reason this isn't working for me. I but the ground in the slot with the red w/ black stripe wire and the positive in with the red wire. I doesn't light up, wtf.

 

Kev, thanks for the idea. Good write up too BTW. I just ordered some LED's and holders to do the same thing but in a different color.

cojaro, make sure your leads are getting contact with the wires or the LED's might be trashed. Remember, LED's are static sensitive.

 

yes...its not working for me either but im doing something wrong im sure.

 

can anyone chime in on why im apparently too stupid to get this to work? I bought prewired LED's with a resistor and i'm getting nothing. I know they work, becuase if you hook them up to a 9V, they fire right up. i tried using a test light on the two wires on the connector where im supposed to be getting power and im getting nothing. any ideas, thoughts??