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Hello everyone, like others I was disappointed in the factory ambient lighting. It was too dim and did not allow color changes. I decided to look more into this and found some options for us.
First,there are two types of LED lights used for ambient lighting (I did not mess with the upper dome light so this project is not about that one), there are two footwell lights that use part 34760-TJB-A01 and a center console light and two front door handle lights that use part 34750-TJB-A31. Both of these lights use the same housing which will give you some options I will talk about momentarily.
The first part of this project was to work on the footwell lights. You can access them easily, on the drivers side you only have to turn the light housing to unlock it from the plastic holder but for the passenger side you have to remove the lower panel. This is easily done bu pulling down on the front edge to release the clips and then pulling towards you to release the rear tabs from the slot they are inserted into. Once this is done I unclipped the wiring harness from the light so I could remove the whole panel which made it easier to work on. The LED's are small SMB style and are removable from the housing with a small flat head screw driver. You can pry them out rather easily. After a little searching I found a LED that would fit into the housing and replace the factory ones. I sourced them from a company called Superbrightleds (link below). We choose the blue color (part #LD1-B) but there are many other colors including white to match the factory look you can use.
With a little work and some minor soldering you can replace the factory LED with these new ones. You have to remove the clear covers off the housing which are held on with tabs on the sides. I used small flat head screwdrivers to release the tabs. Once the clear cover is off you will have access to the LED itself and can remove it from the housing (I just pried mine out with the same small screwdriver). The trick is to be careful with the housing not to break it and to not damage the pins that the wiring harness connects too.The pins are mounted to a separate plastic piece that can come out of the housing and be reinstalled - This makes it easier to solder the new LED wire leads onto them. These are polarity sensitive so you have to wire the positive and negative correctly for them to work. If you get it wrong that just means you will have to re-solder them correctly (I had to do this once) The trick to making these work as direct replacements for the factory light housings is to remove the tabs from the clear housings near the wiring connector so the new LED wiring has a place to exit the housing (See my pictures below). Once the wires are soldered to the pins you can reinstall them them into the housings. The new LED's come with small adhesive backing which I just pushed onto the wire leads in the housing itself. When you put the clear covers back on it hold everything into place nicely anyways. Just make sure you have the new LED positioned properly in the housing to match up with the lens in the clear cover. Once this is done you just reinstall the lights back into the holders on the panels in the car (Same method as removal with twist to lock) and reconnect the wiring harness (You will see a tie wrap used in some of my pics, do not use any as it makes it impossible to remount the light housing). The new LED lights are noticeably brighter than the small factory LED's (you can see the size comparison in my pics) and are controlled by the car just like the factory LED lights.
Factory ambient light LED components of both ambient LED lights from factory Factory LED compared to new LED Factory LED with connector pins removed from housing New wire leads soldered to connector pins and reinstalled into housing Clear housing, factory on left and modified on right Finished ambient light with new LED installed
Next step was the center console ambient light. For this one it uses a smaller LED (part 34760-TJB-A01). This one is not hard to get to either. The side panels of the upper center console trim are held in by just clips. If you start to pull by the cup holders and work your way forward that was easiest. The clips by the glove box and steering wheel are mounted in a different direction so once most of the trim is loose you should see how they pull off towards the side of the car to release. Once this is done the console cover that the ambient light is attached to is also held on with just clips. Since you will have access to the actual clips with the side trim already removed I found it easy to just use a trim removal tool on the clips themselves to release the cover. I did not remove the cover completely, just enough to tilt it down and get access to the ambient light module. Again, release the wiring harness and then pop out the light housing from the panel. As before, you remove the (smaller) clear cover from the housing to access the LED. Remove the factory LED being careful with the pins. Solder the new LED wiring to the pins and reinstall into the housing. Trim the tab off the clear cover before reinstalling it to give clearing for the new wiring to come out of the housing. Reinstall into the console panel and reconnect the wiring. Reinstall the console cover and then reinstall the side trim.
Side trim removal Center console cover panel removal, you can see the ambient light attached in the middle of the panel Center console ambient light New wires soldered and mounted to connector pins, modified clear cover is below Factory ambient light below with new ambient light above
Okay, some other thoughts. Since the housings for all of these lights is the same there are some other options. First, you can use the factory footwell lights in the center console just by swapping out the clear covers. This will give you a slightly brighter light for that area since the footwell LED is bigger. The other option which I am still waiting on parts for (so no pictures or install notes yet) is to do this for the door handle ambient lights as well. We decided for those lights we would prefer only a little brighter and not in blue so we will use the footwell LED lights for them. If you wanted to though, you can use the same method to upgrade the LED's to brighter and different colors like the rest as the door ambient lights are the same as the center console. Here are some pics of the finished result.
Drivers side footwell new ambient light Center console new ambient light Passenger side new footwell ambient light Passenger side new footwell ambient light Center console with new ambient light Door open view of new ambient lighting
By the way, my iPhone camera seems to make the lighting seem brighter than it actually is. This is a nice upgrade that is not too overwhelming for the vehicle and you can pick whichever colors you want to use including white.
Whew, that was a lot of typing and I am sure there may be questions on this. All of this is easily put back to stock if you buy replacement factory ambient lights. I actually ordered new lights from Acura Curry Parts and modified them first so I still had factory lights in case something went wrong. The good news is for the 3 lights I upgraded they are working great and function just like factory.
Once I get the extra set of ambient lights for the door handles I will update this post with that part of the project. David
JB, if you are interested I could make a set for you. Just send me the parts. 😊
I can test them on our RDX before sending them to you. Now that I have perfected my assembly skills it only takes about 10 minutes per light. ?
WOW! You are too generous! Thank you for the offer. Your write up is so good that I can probably do it, if I get to that point. Most of my spare time now is driving our RDX to visit with our new grandson... 7 weeks old... (oh yeah, and his mom and dad!) Giving them a break for a few hours is what they need.
Okay, finally did the doors... because the Acura light output design uses a small slit for indirect lighting you don't get the full LED output.
Changing this to another color is just like I posted for the center console light. Because the new LED's are higher output you will get a little more diffused light.
Including some pics comparing the stock to the new blue lighting.
Last edited by WunderWagen; Aug 10, 2020 at 10:24 PM.
Taking the door panels off is actually pretty easy. There are three screws to remove, one under the arm rest and two behind a trim panel inside the door handle area.
Once you get the screws removed the door is just held on by clips around the perimeter. I found it easier to start pulling at the front lower corner near the door hinge area. Just pull straight from the door itself. Some clips may stay on the door, just remove them and replace them on the door panel before reinstall.
Once loose from the door you just have to unclip one wire harness connector and pop off the door handle assembly.
The ambient light is mounted just above the door handle assembly.
Just did my foot well lights and center console this afternoon. They look way better than the stock ones and we’re pretty easy to swap out. Make sure you take care to not break any clips and take your time. Sorry I didn’t take more pictures but it was hot in my garage even with the door open and fan going.
Stock light passenger side before. Passenger side after. Driver side after. Center console after.
I like the lighting! Just curious if you know how to remove the rear door panel? I see the two screws behind the door panel. How do I access the one in the arm rest? Looks like there is something that lifts up on the handle to pull the door closed? Any help would be appreciated!
I like the lighting! Just curious if you know how to remove the rear door panel? I see the two screws behind the door panel. How do I access the one in the arm rest? Looks like there is something that lifts up on the handle to pull the door closed? Any help would be appreciated!
There is no ambient lighting in the rear door so nothing in this thread would cover that.
I followed WunderWagen's lead and also modified my footwell lights. The only difference is that I used the LED core extracted from Philips Ultinon 194 LED.
Originally, my intention was to see if the LED module from TLX/MDX IconicDrive ambient light can be retrofitted within reasonable effort. I soon realized it was impossible - the IconicDrive module has a slave IC to receive the so-called LIN interface control signals from the main ambient light control unit, so unless I can extract the 6-pin RGB SMD LED from the IconDrive module, there is no way to drive it using the 2-pin power/ground plug in pre-MMC RDX.
Here is a picture of the IconicDrive footwell light module:
So I moved back to the original module. The light module looks over-engineered, and honestly I don't understand why Acura went through all the troubles to create a unique module. They could use off-the-shelf 168/194 LED light. The factory LED is incredibly dim, as the red light on the IconicDrive RGB LED is easily two to three times brighter. The resister is 9.33k ohms, translating to a current about 12mA to the LED, which seems conservative as from what I researched, SMD LEDs usually can take 20mA. In comparison, the resistor on the Philips LED is around 8.5k ohms.
I thought about switching the LED from the Philips core to factory one, but my soldering skill/tool was not up for the job. The only thing I achieved was melting the plastic surrounding of the LED. So I changed course and try swapping the Philips core into the factory housing. The procedure was fairly straightforward once I knew the power/ground of the connector and the core. I used electric tapes to cover the exposed wires, then wedged a 3M double-sided tape between the two wires to further prevent any possibility of short-circuit.
Installation is also straightforward. Just plug the housing into the connector first, then feed the Philips core into the connector. The only twist is the cable to the connector on the driver side is very short, so the only way to install the module is to install the light cover first, then clip the housing into the cover. The end result is similar to kboo74656's. Personally, the light is too bright as-is, so I will probably blacken the light cover to tone down the brightness.
Hello everyone, like others I was disappointed in the factory ambient lighting. It was too dim and did not allow color changes. I decided to look more into this and found some options for us.
First,there are two types of LED lights used for ambient lighting (I did not mess with the upper dome light so this project is not about that one), there are two footwell lights that use part 34760-TJB-A01 and a center console light and two front door handle lights that use part 34750-TJB-A31. Both of these lights use the same housing which will give you some options I will talk about momentarily.
The first part of this project was to work on the footwell lights. You can access them easily, on the drivers side you only have to turn the light housing to unlock it from the plastic holder but for the passenger side you have to remove the lower panel. This is easily done bu pulling down on the front edge to release the clips and then pulling towards you to release the rear tabs from the slot they are inserted into. Once this is done I unclipped the wiring harness from the light so I could remove the whole panel which made it easier to work on. The LED's are small SMB style and are removable from the housing with a small flat head screw driver. You can pry them out rather easily. After a little searching I found a LED that would fit into the housing and replace the factory ones. I sourced them from a company called Superbrightleds (link below). We choose the blue color (part #LD1-B) but there are many other colors including white to match the factory look you can use.
With a little work and some minor soldering you can replace the factory LED with these new ones. You have to remove the clear covers off the housing which are held on with tabs on the sides. I used small flat head screwdrivers to release the tabs. Once the clear cover is off you will have access to the LED itself and can remove it from the housing (I just pried mine out with the same small screwdriver). The trick is to be careful with the housing not to break it and to not damage the pins that the wiring harness connects too.The pins are mounted to a separate plastic piece that can come out of the housing and be reinstalled - This makes it easier to solder the new LED wire leads onto them. These are polarity sensitive so you have to wire the positive and negative correctly for them to work. If you get it wrong that just means you will have to re-solder them correctly (I had to do this once) The trick to making these work as direct replacements for the factory light housings is to remove the tabs from the clear housings near the wiring connector so the new LED wiring has a place to exit the housing (See my pictures below). Once the wires are soldered to the pins you can reinstall them them into the housings. The new LED's come with small adhesive backing which I just pushed onto the wire leads in the housing itself. When you put the clear covers back on it hold everything into place nicely anyways. Just make sure you have the new LED positioned properly in the housing to match up with the lens in the clear cover. Once this is done you just reinstall the lights back into the holders on the panels in the car (Same method as removal with twist to lock) and reconnect the wiring harness (You will see a tie wrap used in some of my pics, do not use any as it makes it impossible to remount the light housing). The new LED lights are noticeably brighter than the small factory LED's (you can see the size comparison in my pics) and are controlled by the car just like the factory LED lights.
Factory ambient light LED components of both ambient LED lights from factory Factory LED compared to new LED Factory LED with connector pins removed from housing New wire leads soldered to connector pins and reinstalled into housing Clear housing, factory on left and modified on right Finished ambient light with new LED installed
Next step was the center console ambient light. For this one it uses a smaller LED (part 34760-TJB-A01). This one is not hard to get to either. The side panels of the upper center console trim are held in by just clips. If you start to pull by the cup holders and work your way forward that was easiest. The clips by the glove box and steering wheel are mounted in a different direction so once most of the trim is loose you should see how they pull off towards the side of the car to release. Once this is done the console cover that the ambient light is attached to is also held on with just clips. Since you will have access to the actual clips with the side trim already removed I found it easy to just use a trim removal tool on the clips themselves to release the cover. I did not remove the cover completely, just enough to tilt it down and get access to the ambient light module. Again, release the wiring harness and then pop out the light housing from the panel. As before, you remove the (smaller) clear cover from the housing to access the LED. Remove the factory LED being careful with the pins. Solder the new LED wiring to the pins and reinstall into the housing. Trim the tab off the clear cover before reinstalling it to give clearing for the new wiring to come out of the housing. Reinstall into the console panel and reconnect the wiring. Reinstall the console cover and then reinstall the side trim.
Side trim removal Center console cover panel removal, you can see the ambient light attached in the middle of the panel Center console ambient light New wires soldered and mounted to connector pins, modified clear cover is below Factory ambient light below with new ambient light above
Okay, some other thoughts. Since the housings for all of these lights is the same there are some other options. First, you can use the factory footwell lights in the center console just by swapping out the clear covers. This will give you a slightly brighter light for that area since the footwell LED is bigger. The other option which I am still waiting on parts for (so no pictures or install notes yet) is to do this for the door handle ambient lights as well. We decided for those lights we would prefer only a little brighter and not in blue so we will use the footwell LED lights for them. If you wanted to though, you can use the same method to upgrade the LED's to brighter and different colors like the rest as the door ambient lights are the same as the center console. Here are some pics of the finished result.
Drivers side footwell new ambient light Center console new ambient light Passenger side new footwell ambient light Passenger side new footwell ambient light Center console with new ambient light Door open view of new ambient lighting
By the way, my iPhone camera seems to make the lighting seem brighter than it actually is. This is a nice upgrade that is not too overwhelming for the vehicle and you can pick whichever colors you want to use including white.
Whew, that was a lot of typing and I am sure there may be questions on this. All of this is easily put back to stock if you buy replacement factory ambient lights. I actually ordered new lights from Acura Curry Parts and modified them first so I still had factory lights in case something went wrong. The good news is for the 3 lights I upgraded they are working great and function just like factory.
Once I get the extra set of ambient lights for the door handles I will update this post with that part of the project. David
Cant you just unplug the old housing from the connector and install the new LED?
Not sure what you mean? I reused the housing to install the new LED's. What method are you referring to?
i mean like isn't there a direct replacement LED that we can buy and just remove the old LED and put the new LED without soldering wires. Do you know what kind of LED is the factory LED? I tried looking at the photo but can't see anything staying whether its a 194 or T10 or T20
i mean like isn't there a direct replacement LED that we can buy and just remove the old LED and put the new LED without soldering wires. Do you know what kind of LED is the factory LED? I tried looking at the photo but can't see anything staying whether its a 194 or T10 or T20
i mean like isn't there a direct replacement LED that we can buy and just remove the old LED and put the new LED without soldering wires. Do you know what kind of LED is the factory LED? I tried looking at the photo but can't see anything staying whether its a 194 or T10 or T20
Not to my knowledge, these are not standard light modules. The pictures should clearly show that. The LED is surface mounted to a small PCB with wire attachments soldered to it and then mounted inside a custom housing.
Not to my knowledge, these are not standard light modules. The pictures should clearly show that. The LED is surface mounted to a small PCB with wire attachments soldered to it and then mounted inside a custom housing.
So for example, that small black factory LED, did you just pull it off or you had to solder it off? Cuz i was under the impression that you just pop it out. And if we can just pop it out then theoretically we can get a different LED and just pop it in and use the same housing.
So for example, that small black factory LED, did you just pull it off or you had to solder it off? Cuz i was under the impression that you just pop it out. And if we can just pop it out then theoretically we can get a different LED and just pop it in and use the same housing.
Did you not read my post and look at the pictures? That is what I did, remove the old LED and install a new one in the same housing. This is not a standard bulb replacement type install. You have to use the wiring connectors from the old LED assembly in order to plug into the factory harness. That is why I did the soldering. Not sure why you are so confused on this.
If you think there is a better way that works please do it and share on a post.
Yes, I only compared the IconicDrive footwell module and the 19 A-Spec one, but under the same voltage, the IconicDrive one is a at least 2 to 3 times brighter. On a side note, the Philips LED module that I swapped in is another 2 to 3 times brighter than IconicDrive one.
Yes, I only compared the IconicDrive footwell module and the 19 A-Spec one, but under the same voltage, the IconicDrive one is a at least 2 to 3 times brighter. On a side note, the Philips LED module that I swapped in is another 2 to 3 times brighter than IconicDrive one.
So I get a set of 22's and plug and play right? for improvement?
The Mods seems nice but my issue is why is the cable length so long? I just want to be able to put one in that doesn't have extra cable folded up or have to put 2 way tape or wrap electrical tape to hold it together.
1. The wire length is annoying but it is a small case so I'm not sure you can find something that would fit inside unless it was a custom board.
2. If the power wires come out through the clear plastic, like in the original example, it makes it a bit difficult to install. They are built to be inserted and then twisted into place so the wire is pinched between the LED case and the panel. A better option would be to drill a hole through the top of the case and feed the wires some other way.
3. I actually think these might be a tad too bright. The floor lights do not bother me so much but the tray LED is kind of distracting and really highlights all the crap I put in the tray. If I get motivated enough I might try another LED with lower lumens for the storage tray LED.
Hey, i did the upgrade to the front 3 lights and it really does look amazing, the pictures on this thread capture it perfectly. If you plan is to augment the factory red lights, the footwells match the brightness of the door handle light, it really does bring it together. I used the red leds from wunderwagens link.
i do recommend drilling a hole in the back of the housing to let the wires out so you don’t have to cut up the plastic part is my only suggestion
Thanks again for the write up, it’s one of those thing you wouldn’t really know how to tackle without some instructions!
I do wonder if i can splice off the center console light to get some lights under the front seats to illuminate the rear footwells. Anyone taken apart enough of that to know if it’s possible, can’t imagine the current of a couple of LEDs would really be too much for the wiring either.
Hello everyone, like others I was disappointed in the factory ambient lighting. It was too dim and did not allow color changes. I decided to look more into this and found some options for us.
First,there are two types of LED lights used for ambient lighting (I did not mess with the upper dome light so this project is not about that one), there are two footwell lights that use part 34760-TJB-A01 and a center console light and two front door handle lights that use part 34750-TJB-A31. Both of these lights use the same housing which will give you some options I will talk about momentarily.
The first part of this project was to work on the footwell lights. You can access them easily, on the drivers side you only have to turn the light housing to unlock it from the plastic holder but for the passenger side you have to remove the lower panel. This is easily done bu pulling down on the front edge to release the clips and then pulling towards you to release the rear tabs from the slot they are inserted into. Once this is done I unclipped the wiring harness from the light so I could remove the whole panel which made it easier to work on. The LED's are small SMB style and are removable from the housing with a small flat head screw driver. You can pry them out rather easily. After a little searching I found a LED that would fit into the housing and replace the factory ones. I sourced them from a company called Superbrightleds (link below). We choose the blue color (part #LD1-B) but there are many other colors including white to match the factory look you can use.
With a little work and some minor soldering you can replace the factory LED with these new ones. You have to remove the clear covers off the housing which are held on with tabs on the sides. I used small flat head screwdrivers to release the tabs. Once the clear cover is off you will have access to the LED itself and can remove it from the housing (I just pried mine out with the same small screwdriver). The trick is to be careful with the housing not to break it and to not damage the pins that the wiring harness connects too.The pins are mounted to a separate plastic piece that can come out of the housing and be reinstalled - This makes it easier to solder the new LED wire leads onto them. These are polarity sensitive so you have to wire the positive and negative correctly for them to work. If you get it wrong that just means you will have to re-solder them correctly (I had to do this once) The trick to making these work as direct replacements for the factory light housings is to remove the tabs from the clear housings near the wiring connector so the new LED wiring has a place to exit the housing (See my pictures below). Once the wires are soldered to the pins you can reinstall them them into the housings. The new LED's come with small adhesive backing which I just pushed onto the wire leads in the housing itself. When you put the clear covers back on it hold everything into place nicely anyways. Just make sure you have the new LED positioned properly in the housing to match up with the lens in the clear cover. Once this is done you just reinstall the lights back into the holders on the panels in the car (Same method as removal with twist to lock) and reconnect the wiring harness (You will see a tie wrap used in some of my pics, do not use any as it makes it impossible to remount the light housing). The new LED lights are noticeably brighter than the small factory LED's (you can see the size comparison in my pics) and are controlled by the car just like the factory LED lights.
Factory ambient light LED components of both ambient LED lights from factory Factory LED compared to new LED Factory LED with connector pins removed from housing New wire leads soldered to connector pins and reinstalled into housing Clear housing, factory on left and modified on right Finished ambient light with new LED installed
Next step was the center console ambient light. For this one it uses a smaller LED (part 34760-TJB-A01). This one is not hard to get to either. The side panels of the upper center console trim are held in by just clips. If you start to pull by the cup holders and work your way forward that was easiest. The clips by the glove box and steering wheel are mounted in a different direction so once most of the trim is loose you should see how they pull off towards the side of the car to release. Once this is done the console cover that the ambient light is attached to is also held on with just clips. Since you will have access to the actual clips with the side trim already removed I found it easy to just use a trim removal tool on the clips themselves to release the cover. I did not remove the cover completely, just enough to tilt it down and get access to the ambient light module. Again, release the wiring harness and then pop out the light housing from the panel. As before, you remove the (smaller) clear cover from the housing to access the LED. Remove the factory LED being careful with the pins. Solder the new LED wiring to the pins and reinstall into the housing. Trim the tab off the clear cover before reinstalling it to give clearing for the new wiring to come out of the housing. Reinstall into the console panel and reconnect the wiring. Reinstall the console cover and then reinstall the side trim.
Side trim removal Center console cover panel removal, you can see the ambient light attached in the middle of the panel Center console ambient light New wires soldered and mounted to connector pins, modified clear cover is below Factory ambient light below with new ambient light above
Okay, some other thoughts. Since the housings for all of these lights is the same there are some other options. First, you can use the factory footwell lights in the center console just by swapping out the clear covers. This will give you a slightly brighter light for that area since the footwell LED is bigger. The other option which I am still waiting on parts for (so no pictures or install notes yet) is to do this for the door handle ambient lights as well. We decided for those lights we would prefer only a little brighter and not in blue so we will use the footwell LED lights for them. If you wanted to though, you can use the same method to upgrade the LED's to brighter and different colors like the rest as the door ambient lights are the same as the center console. Here are some pics of the finished result.
Drivers side footwell new ambient light Center console new ambient light Passenger side new footwell ambient light Passenger side new footwell ambient light Center console with new ambient light Door open view of new ambient lighting
By the way, my iPhone camera seems to make the lighting seem brighter than it actually is. This is a nice upgrade that is not too overwhelming for the vehicle and you can pick whichever colors you want to use including white.
Whew, that was a lot of typing and I am sure there may be questions on this. All of this is easily put back to stock if you buy replacement factory ambient lights. I actually ordered new lights from Acura Curry Parts and modified them first so I still had factory lights in case something went wrong. The good news is for the 3 lights I upgraded they are working great and function just like factory.
Once I get the extra set of ambient lights for the door handles I will update this post with that part of the project. David
reviving this old thread, I just did this upgrade on my 2020 RDX A-spec the door lights are definitely brighter but it almost seems as if the floor lights and cubby light are equal or just barely brighter than the oem ones. Wonder if there is something different with the 2020 version of the RDX? Maybe an operator mistake somewhere along the line that I didn’t properly do. All of the lights work they just don’t seem to be very bright or much brighter than before I changed them. Any thoughts?
I'm also considering doing some of this work to swap out the colors, as I don't like the color options that are OEM in my 2025 Advance. I assumed w/ alllll the 'scenic drive' modes, there'd be a nice, neutral warm light but I can't seem to find one. They all have blue or purple or red or orange or green. We have a Volvo XC90 and it has a pleasing warm white option - I'll see if I can find a light above at those links to match/get close.
Ambient Lighting upgrade
