Rear View Mirror LED Install Completed!
02-17-2005, 04:55 AM
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Rear View Mirror LED Install Completed! Well, got bored once again and decided to rip apart my rear view mirror to change out those nasty orange and green LED's in there. To my delight, I found that it was a pretty simple swap with little risk involved. Here's the break down:
Tools Needed:
(12) Super Bright LED's
Soldering Gun/Iron
Liquid Flux
Small gauge solder
Small Screwdriver
Step 1: Unplug electrical connection at the rear of the rearview mirror to cut power to the LED's.
Step 2: Using a small flathead screwdriver, gently pry the lens covering the LED assembly at the bottom of the mirror. The retaining clips are on either side of the lens. Be patient so as not to damage the surrounding plastic. Note the orientation of the lens as it only goes back in one way.
Step 3: Using the small screwdriver gently remove the LED assembly. Once it's out of the mirror housing, unclip the attached electrical connection. Note the electrical connection is towards the mirror side of the assembly.
Step 4: Observe that the LED connection's are marked on the assembly. If you have a hard time figuring out which side goes where, look inside the LED for the larger of the 2 diodes....that's the positive leg.
Step 5: Heat up your soldering gun and get to work removing the stock LED's. You will need to heat up the connecting solder from the rear of the board. Once you see that it is liquifying, gently pull the LED lead out of the soldered connection Repeat this for the other lead. Remove all of the LED's. Note the mounted height of the LED's as you want to try to match that height upon re-installation of the new LED's.
Step 6: Time to prep the new LED's for install. I installed Super Bright White's from in place of the orange LED's and Super Bright Blue's in place of the green LED's in the stock mirror. I took out 4 white's and 2 blues, and trimmed them accordingly so as to match the stock mounting height. Apply liquid flux to each of the leads from the LED's and get your solder out (just in case).
Step 7: Fire up the soldering gun again. Pick a starting point and start melting the solder. Note: you should not have to use more solder. The residual solder from the stock assembly should be enough to securely fasten the new LED's. The positive lead of the LED should be opposite of the connector housing.. Once the solder is melted reverse the removal steps and install 1 of the shortened LED leads. Repeat this step for the other lead. Heat the solder and adjust the lead height to make it as close to the stock mounting height as possible. Repeat this process for all of the remaining LED's.
Step 8: Time to re-install the LED assembly. Believe it or not, this was probably the most tricky part of the procedure for me.....by the 2nd side, I realized this is the way to go: Seat the LED's into the lens. It should be a pretty snug fit. Re-attach the electrical connection to the LED assembly and make sure to push the connecting wire far up into the mirror to make room for the LED assembly. Once you have adequate room, slide the whole assembly back into the mirror and snap the lens back into place. Once it's re-installed, plug in the electrical connection at the rear of the mirror to test for functionality. You should be all good!
Step 9: Repeat steps 1-8 for the other side of the mirror.
Step 10: The final step.....Take plenty of pics and post them up!
BTW, props to Spdklz for getting the LED thing going in the first place! Thanks for getting me started bro.
Aloha, Dave
Tools Needed:
(12) Super Bright LED's
Soldering Gun/Iron
Liquid Flux
Small gauge solder
Small Screwdriver
Step 1: Unplug electrical connection at the rear of the rearview mirror to cut power to the LED's.
Step 2: Using a small flathead screwdriver, gently pry the lens covering the LED assembly at the bottom of the mirror. The retaining clips are on either side of the lens. Be patient so as not to damage the surrounding plastic. Note the orientation of the lens as it only goes back in one way.
Step 3: Using the small screwdriver gently remove the LED assembly. Once it's out of the mirror housing, unclip the attached electrical connection. Note the electrical connection is towards the mirror side of the assembly.
Step 4: Observe that the LED connection's are marked on the assembly. If you have a hard time figuring out which side goes where, look inside the LED for the larger of the 2 diodes....that's the positive leg.
Step 5: Heat up your soldering gun and get to work removing the stock LED's. You will need to heat up the connecting solder from the rear of the board. Once you see that it is liquifying, gently pull the LED lead out of the soldered connection Repeat this for the other lead. Remove all of the LED's. Note the mounted height of the LED's as you want to try to match that height upon re-installation of the new LED's.
Step 6: Time to prep the new LED's for install. I installed Super Bright White's from in place of the orange LED's and Super Bright Blue's in place of the green LED's in the stock mirror. I took out 4 white's and 2 blues, and trimmed them accordingly so as to match the stock mounting height. Apply liquid flux to each of the leads from the LED's and get your solder out (just in case).
Step 7: Fire up the soldering gun again. Pick a starting point and start melting the solder. Note: you should not have to use more solder. The residual solder from the stock assembly should be enough to securely fasten the new LED's. The positive lead of the LED should be opposite of the connector housing.. Once the solder is melted reverse the removal steps and install 1 of the shortened LED leads. Repeat this step for the other lead. Heat the solder and adjust the lead height to make it as close to the stock mounting height as possible. Repeat this process for all of the remaining LED's.
Step 8: Time to re-install the LED assembly. Believe it or not, this was probably the most tricky part of the procedure for me.....by the 2nd side, I realized this is the way to go: Seat the LED's into the lens. It should be a pretty snug fit. Re-attach the electrical connection to the LED assembly and make sure to push the connecting wire far up into the mirror to make room for the LED assembly. Once you have adequate room, slide the whole assembly back into the mirror and snap the lens back into place. Once it's re-installed, plug in the electrical connection at the rear of the mirror to test for functionality. You should be all good!
Step 9: Repeat steps 1-8 for the other side of the mirror.
Step 10: The final step.....Take plenty of pics and post them up!
BTW, props to Spdklz for getting the LED thing going in the first place! Thanks for getting me started bro.
Aloha, Dave
Last edited by phantomzer0; 01-17-2008 at 09:32 AM.
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02-20-2005, 09:39 PM
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Originally Posted by FBDYLVR
Can we F-Body guys do this too?? That looks really awesome!
03-12-2005, 11:46 AM
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Originally Posted by Diesel
Absolutely, I did my cousin's 2002 SS a while ago....the interior looks killer and the gauges combined with the red needle look sick!
03-16-2005, 04:51 PM
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Originally Posted by 2MuchRiceMakesMeSick
Looks really good. You replaced the lights in your door pannel (for the locks/windows) too?