Comfy

I'm getting bored by the really dull lamps at the vanity mirror, door puddle lights and cargo lights. I'm sure some has done lighting upgrade to those. I just couldn't find those threads. Can anyone help me out. Thanks.

lt8d

Have you seen this thread?

https://acurazine.com/forums/2g-rdx-...-bulbs-939083/

Brown13

I bought from ebay rdx interior light kit | eBay

Acura604

I learned to live with it with respect to the internal lights...i mean, yah you can change out the rear dome light to some nice pure white LED...but the 2 front map lights are soldered in or something...completely unchangeable...well...if you want to chance it and take it apart...wasn't worth it...so no point having a incabin light mismatch.

Comfy

Thanks guys for all the help.

Comfy

I hear you on the interior dome lights. I'm not particularly wanting to change the dome lights, (since I don't want to disturb sleeping kids ) but the other auxiliary ones I mentioned before. Are the door puddle lights, cargo lights and vanity bulbs difficult to access? Any DIY info would be helpful. Thanks.

chickdr

Extremely easy to do. The lens on the bottom of each front door is released by pressing on the upper edge and tilting out. Bulb comes out easily. The rear hatch lights are the same design. Very worthwhile upgrade(especially the rear hatch lights which are so much brighter with LEDS)..The reverse lights can also be swapped to LED which is are much brighter.

Comfy

Thanks a lot. I'll let you guys know when I do it. I presume I need to access / remove the rear tail lamp assembly to access the reversing lights...isn't it... if so I'm not particularly inclined to do that (until my warranty expires in another 5000 miles ).
Also I read somewhere that the OEM halogen reversing lights put out more usable light compared to after market LEDs simply because of the optics / reflector. LEDs even though brighter may not illuminate the area you need to see (ground behind the car) as good as the OEMs. Now don't quote me on that, but I'm sure I saw that with pictures of the output on the floor and wall in some other car forum. Anyway I'll dwell on it for a while.

chickdr

There is an access panel to swap out the reverse lights. Also pretty easy. You can do the license plate lights as well if desired. No concerns about warranty issues for any lights.

Comfy

Okay. I bought a set of 12 RDX interior LEDs from eBay (not VLEDS) and changed the bulbs I wanted to. I must say that the color is much better than the yellow halogens. The brightness is marginally improved (and I'm okay with it) except for the vanity mirror lights. Those seem a little too bright so much that I find it difficult to see my face.... I'll check during the daytime, may be it'll be better. I didn't change the dome light and want to keep it that way. Now I have two more bulbs unused which are a different type which I presume are for license plate lights along with the dome bulb and another spare vanity mirror bulb.
12 x Premium Xenon White LED Lights Interior Package Kit for Acura RDX 2013-2014 | eBay

I nearly broke one of the cargo area lights while trying to open before I realized that they are not symmetrically installed. In my car both the light covers have to be opened from the left side (driver side) of the car since the wiring comes from the right side.
Now how do I access the license plate lights. I checked from outside and they look nearly impossible to open since the light cover seems bigger than the opening in the plastic cladding. Thanks for all the help.

chickdr

There is an access panel on the inside of the rear hatch. Pop it off and you can get to the bulb holders. I will tell you they are a pain in the rear to get back into place. They come out easily but note the angle and orientation of the holder as you have to put it back exactly the same way.

sixsixfour

I changed the rear cargo lights from the access panel. the plastic cladding comes off and you can access both the license plate and cargo lights from there with minimal hassle.

Comfy

I opened the access panel and can touch and feel the lights, but they don't seem to come out of the hatch. So how do you change the bulbs without seeing it? Or can you actually pull them outside the hatch so that you can change the bulb under direct vision?

sixsixfour

when you pop the access panel, you will see the two license plate lights. the gray housing they are on can be removed. unplug the connector first to get it out of the way, then pinch the housing and pull. it should come off and you can just pull the bulb out afterwards.

Ed Hughes

Hello,

The wife picked up a used 2017 RDX this week. I upgraded the interior bulbs with Sylvania LEDs. Was I suppose to use can bus bulbs with the chipsets or is a basic LED bulb okay? Thank you!

Gadgetjq

Hi Ed,
Do you remember how you accessed the dome light bulb (over the back seat)? I'm trying to pry the lens out of the roof but it's resisting my efforts so far. Just wondering if I'm missing something or just not pulling hard enough.
Thanks!

Gadgetjq

Got it so, in the interest of assisting anyone who needs this information in the future:

To replace the dome (over the back seat) light bulb you need to remove the plastic lens NOT the thin metal trim around it. Unless you have a very very VERY thin plastic panel removal tool you'll have to dig a little deeper into the ol' toolbox. Grab the thinnest jewelers flat blade screwdriver you have or can borrow. Very carefully insert the blade between the trim and the lens at the FRONT of the lens. Pry a bit a little off center to make a large enough opening to fit your smallest, thinnest panel removal tool into. Insert the panel removal tool to the door side of your screwdriver (there are tiny tabs there). Use that to pry upward on the trim (toward the headliner) and downward on the lens. It's going to come flying out of there so be ready.
Replacing the lens is (literally) a snap. Insert the slightly larger rear tabs on the lens into their slots then press upward on the front. It'll click into place. Done!

sixonemale

I did exactly as stated but the bulb would not come out. Any further advice would be appreciated. TIA

Gadgetjq

There are release tabs on both sides of the fixture (see photo). Squeeze them and the fixture comes right out. If you can't squeeze hard enough try releasing one side at a time by pressing one of the tabs and lifting that side a tiny bit then release the other side.

sixonemale

Thanks for the photo. I was able to get the bulb housing out, but once out I could not pull the bulb out of the housing. I was at the point I thought the bulb would break if I pulled with more force. I was tempted to use a tool but did not want to damage the housing.

Gadgetjq

The bulb (should) pull straight out. Try wiggling it side to side while pulling. If you have something made of soft rubber (like a jar lid remover) use that to get a little more traction on the bulb. As a last resort use pliers. You risk crushing the bulb but it isn't going to hurt the socket.

sixonemale

I tried using soft rubber but did not work and yes, my next thought was pliers coupled with rubber or cloth when I decided to put a pause on it. I actually ordered a bag of LEDs from eBay that matched the year of our RDX and believe out the many LEDs sent there are license plate lights in the bag, certainly looked like they matched. The puddle and rear hatch lights were very easy to change out as mentioned above. Once I get this task done I want to do the reverse and dome lights. I took a look at the front dome light after removing the cover and at first blush don't see a match in the bag, but if I get the light out there probably is one that will fit. I need to reread this thread since the bulb within the dome doesn't look all that easy to remove. Thanks for your input.

scheung87

Hi, I have a 2015 RDX, and managed to change most of my interior lights WITH the exception of the front dome lights. They don't appear to be bulbs. Is there anyway to change these?

Thanks in advance!

Alex Medeiros

I'm in the exact same situation. I'd love to know as well.

Gadgetjq

The front map lights are already LED but they're COBs (chip on board) and can't be easily changed.

Alex Medeiros

So they're essetially not able to be replaced with a bulb? That's a bummer, but I can live with it.

DadJoke73

Just got done doing mine! What I don't think ANYONE has mentioned - but I quickly figured out - is that the LEDs only work going one direction. I put two in only one worked; I pulled the non-working one out, turned it 180^ and it reinserted...worked fine.

FYI, I used this kit: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Luckily I also got a few of these, just in case: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The cheap ones worked great for the dome light, the cargo lights and the puddle lights. I used the second type for the license plate since the cheap ones are too long for the lens area. I also put the more expensive ones in the back up lights since it's a clear lens so you'd be able to clearly see the cheap LEDs soldered onto a circuit board that the cheap ones are.

DadJoke73

Should have mentioned that the "kit" does not include any for the vanity mirror lights - these are on order now:

Gadgetjq

Hi DJ,
You're right, the LED orientation doesn't get mentioned very often. The it matters because an LED is really just a diode so electricity can only flow one direction. There are exceptions and sellers will usually let the buyer know polarity doesn't matter. A quick way to check polarity is with a multimeter. Most have a diode check mode (usually an arrow). Connect the leads to your LED and if there's no indication current is flowing flip the leads and check again. Obviously another way is to install and see if it works. There's always a 50/50 chance.

Thmanx

I got my vanity mirror LEDs from Diode Dynamics. those 28mm fuse-style ones are a bit harder to come by. I mainly chose them because I didn't want BRIGHT AS FAWK lights in my face when using the mirror, and they offer an OEM style 3K (though more like a 4K) version. Does better when looking at your face when you want decent CRI.


I did all my interior/map/dome lights in the 4K range, but outside such as reverse, licence, front switch backs, and the door puddle lights, in a 6K color.