Mood / Ambient Lighting Mod
 

I got this idea from my parents TL. There are two blue LEDs near the map lights that dimly shine down on the shifter and the cup holders. They come on when the parking/headlights are on, but I wouldn't care if they were on when the car is on. I did some searching, and it seems no one else has attempted this except a 2nd-genner, but I don't know if anything came of it.

I'm thinking about using two LEDs in the map-light housing simply for the ease of the mod. I don't think I want to drill holes for the LEDs. The hardest part (I think) would be finding a wire to tap from.

Anyone have any insight on this? I think it would look good as long as it's subtle like in the TL.

Is this the 2g that you are talking about? I think he has the best strategy...

https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67316

That's not the one I was thinking of, but I like that idea. Tapping off the visor lights would be perfect, I hadn't thought of that. Thanks for the link.

Still not sure if I want to drill into the housing or not. I like the way it looks though.

guessing u have a 98-99. The 97s have a different top console than the 98/99s. I think that's a lot of work for little results.... but it is definitely original. gl with the project if u decide to do it. (yay, this is a lame 1000th post)

My friend also has the blue LED in his 2006 civic. IMO it gets annoying, maybe you should put it on a switch.

Well, the idea isn't for it to be glaring all the time. Like I said, it's really subtle in the TL and just dimly lights up the cup holders and the shifter. Two LEDs shouldn't be that bright, and if they are, all I need to do is add some resistance to dim them.

And yes, I have a 98.

go for it bro i think i will be a good idea from what u r saying. some people are going against what u wanna do but i think u should. but like 97cl2.2motegiM7's said add a switch so that u can control it.. :thumbsup:

check out his sig it states that he has a 98..... :rolleyes:

nice! I might try to attempt this someone on my g1

I did that with 2 projection led's up by my mirror, never thought of hooking it to the dimmer I may change it up :genius:

:werd: 97's don't have homelink :sad: I was gonna put one in, but decided to do something else up there

I have done this mod.. I drilled the headliner, put an led in the hole and the I rewired the two maplights so that they come on using one switch and wired the other switch to the LED, mine doesnt look that good it's too bright and I dont use it very often... I did this mod about two years ago, I got the idea from a tsx...

Mind posting some pics? Just to get some ideas. How hard was it to wire into the map lights?

Very easy to wire, just take out the map light assembly. It's just a few screws, once you take it out you will be able to figure out how to wire, just take the wires from one switch and sauder them to the corresponding wires on the other switch, then just connect your LED the same way the map light was connected to the switch before you removed it... Pics won't really help you because you'll only see the holes in the headliner where the LEDs come out...

BMWs and Audis have had this for some time now. I really like the way it illuminates the console it's helpful if your looking for something too. The Germans use orange/red LED's and it's pretty muted and doesn't mess with your nightvision, which is why blue may be distracting? I know it wouldn't match the interior of your car, just mentioning...

the TSX has one that is orange and my mother in-law has a blue one in her Acura CSX... it doesn't really bother you at night because it is very subtle and it is precisely aimed at the shift knob.