Alarm blue LED mod and short door lock pin mod
09-03-2006, 04:30 PM
#1
Alarm blue LED mod and short door lock pin mod
Got these 2 cool ideas from the board and wanted to share the pics.
The longer door pins bug me too as I like to show off my manly forearms hanging off my window in the summer. Yeah I know my car is not a Mustang, just an ol habit that keeps me in a relaxed posture when driving. I'm tired of getting poked in the arm and it is such a super easy mod. You can't just simply unscrew it as in other cars because it's lower end is broadened.
**TIP!**I read how you have to remove the whole door panel off in order to get the door lock pin off. Yes there is an easier way! Just pry off the "security" light plastic panel and you can get right under to unscrew the door lock pin. Hacksaw as much of it as you need. (Careful! Don't overdo it. It'll be too short. Just enough so you can still be able to pry and unlock the pin with your fingernail as shown.) Yes I know, I know. I got hasty trying to pry it off and chipped some plastic. Not that noticable to anyone but me but it bugs me enough to want to replace it soon. (My car is not even 2wks old yet!) Hopefully it's cheap.
While I was in there I was totally tempted to change that mismatched red LED for the alarm. I have white and blue LEDs throughout the car and just HAD to mod this to blue. Opened this lil circuit board out and broke out my soldering iron and put in a standard blue LED. (Sounds scary and I know hardly anything about soldering but it took just a couple minutes of melting and remelting the solder.) Too easy!! Big difference and looks great at night.
The longer door pins bug me too as I like to show off my manly forearms hanging off my window in the summer. Yeah I know my car is not a Mustang, just an ol habit that keeps me in a relaxed posture when driving. I'm tired of getting poked in the arm and it is such a super easy mod. You can't just simply unscrew it as in other cars because it's lower end is broadened.
**TIP!**I read how you have to remove the whole door panel off in order to get the door lock pin off. Yes there is an easier way! Just pry off the "security" light plastic panel and you can get right under to unscrew the door lock pin. Hacksaw as much of it as you need. (Careful! Don't overdo it. It'll be too short. Just enough so you can still be able to pry and unlock the pin with your fingernail as shown.) Yes I know, I know. I got hasty trying to pry it off and chipped some plastic. Not that noticable to anyone but me but it bugs me enough to want to replace it soon. (My car is not even 2wks old yet!) Hopefully it's cheap.
While I was in there I was totally tempted to change that mismatched red LED for the alarm. I have white and blue LEDs throughout the car and just HAD to mod this to blue. Opened this lil circuit board out and broke out my soldering iron and put in a standard blue LED. (Sounds scary and I know hardly anything about soldering but it took just a couple minutes of melting and remelting the solder.) Too easy!! Big difference and looks great at night.
09-03-2006, 05:27 PM
#4
Senior Moderator
that looks hot, hey leedog, what ever happened to xtin? she never posts anymore
09-03-2006, 06:01 PM
#5
Originally Posted by csmeance
that looks hot, hey leedog, what ever happened to xtin? she never posts anymore
She's here from time to time. Things have come up in RL so she's been busy.
09-03-2006, 08:23 PM
#7
I did this mod a few weeks ago as well. Not to difficult, but requires soldering and such. I'm thinking I'm going to order new door lock pins considering you can't pull them up manually when they're flushed.
I'm gonna order a few of the security buttons and mod them with Blue LEDs.
Anyone want one? PM me.
I'm gonna order a few of the security buttons and mod them with Blue LEDs.
Anyone want one? PM me.
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09-04-2006, 11:28 AM
#12
The LED is a standard 5mm I think? Nothing fancy and it looks exactly like the original red LED. On Ebay dudes will sell them in bulk for a few bucks. I know radio shack sells them for pennies. No need to wire in any resistor for 12v or anything either. It's built into the mini circuit board. I had some blue LEDs sitting around from some old "license plate bolt LEDs" and I cut the LED wiring out leaving just an inch of the leads. You can do white, green, orange, pink, anything dude. LEDs come in any color if search; even UV if you want. The outer diffuser lens on the security panel is clear plastic so color is up to you. I love white LEDs but I think they'd look kinda funny for an alarm LED. Blue complements the interior perfect. The blue is much more deeper and brilliant in person than shown in the pic. It looks baby blue there.
You can pry that black security panel up pretty easy. The clips are on the 2 sides of the panel. I didn't know where to pry so I tried the bottom end. I was doing other mods that day and it was night-time so I was in a rush to finish up. That's why I chipped the panel like a moron. If you take an extra 2 minutes, you won't screw up like me. First see if you can pry up a bit with your fingers and make some clearance. Take a cloth covered screwdriver and just pry a little on the left side, a little on the right, left, right and work it out. If you are more comfy taking off the whole door panel then try that. I hear it's pretty easy to do that. For me this was easier.
Then you gently pry the circuit board from the black plastic security panel and you'll see the LED. Fire up your soldering iron and melt the solder from the 2 lead point of the LED and pull the old LED out. Take your new LED, make sure the polarity is the same way and stick it in the board and remelt the solder. Arm the alarm to test if it's working and presto you're done.
And by the way I cut just enough of the pin off as shown so I can still unlock it with my fingernail.
You can pry that black security panel up pretty easy. The clips are on the 2 sides of the panel. I didn't know where to pry so I tried the bottom end. I was doing other mods that day and it was night-time so I was in a rush to finish up. That's why I chipped the panel like a moron. If you take an extra 2 minutes, you won't screw up like me. First see if you can pry up a bit with your fingers and make some clearance. Take a cloth covered screwdriver and just pry a little on the left side, a little on the right, left, right and work it out. If you are more comfy taking off the whole door panel then try that. I hear it's pretty easy to do that. For me this was easier.
Then you gently pry the circuit board from the black plastic security panel and you'll see the LED. Fire up your soldering iron and melt the solder from the 2 lead point of the LED and pull the old LED out. Take your new LED, make sure the polarity is the same way and stick it in the board and remelt the solder. Arm the alarm to test if it's working and presto you're done.
And by the way I cut just enough of the pin off as shown so I can still unlock it with my fingernail.
09-04-2006, 08:09 PM
#14
I'm obviously not that knowledgable but I think to myself as mcds being like wattage of a bulb. The more mcds the brighter the LEDs. (you'll usually notice the size and internals of the LEDs "beefier".) I know someone who knows more is going to correct me now, but look at a 10,000mcd LED and trust me you'll be blinded for 30 sec.
09-04-2006, 11:05 PM
#15
Safety Car
O.K. , I got another LED ( this one has 2600 mcds) , and I'm much happier with the results.
Thanks rockyfeller
Here's a couple pics of what it took for this mod........
I chose to remove the door panel. I've had it off so many times it only takes me a minute to do now.
This is what you get ( these are of when I was putting it back together, but you get the idea.)
rockyfeller's directions on removing the circuit board are great. This is what you have
Here's a better shot of the security panel. Note the clip on the right that is holding it in. The left side had 2 small fixes tabs.
Just remove the red LED and replace it with the blue one.
Thanks rockyfeller
Here's a couple pics of what it took for this mod........
I chose to remove the door panel. I've had it off so many times it only takes me a minute to do now.
This is what you get ( these are of when I was putting it back together, but you get the idea.)
rockyfeller's directions on removing the circuit board are great. This is what you have
Here's a better shot of the security panel. Note the clip on the right that is holding it in. The left side had 2 small fixes tabs.
Just remove the red LED and replace it with the blue one.
09-05-2006, 01:16 AM
#18
Safety Car
Originally Posted by rockyfeller
Good job with the DIY man! Pictures are right on with what I did. Hopefully everyone will realize how easy it is to mod the LED.
I have been thinking about this for a while and as soon as I saw your pics I went for it.
that's hot
02-07-2007, 02:58 PM
#24
Originally Posted by rockyfeller
Yeah I think that's how LEDs are. Test both sides and see which lead works before you solder it in.
see http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/components/led.htm
02-07-2007, 06:57 PM
#25
Originally Posted by billycuth
looks like you bruised the security clip pretty bad there, rockyfeller. was that from trying to pry it out?
I have since changed the panel...good as new!
09-10-2007, 08:25 PM
#26
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dose anyone know what is the voltage and if it is constant or if it only has voltage only when the factory alarm is arm on the 2 wires that connect to this door security led?
thank you.
thank you.
09-13-2007, 01:46 AM
#28
Safety Car
I would think it only has voltage when the alarm is armed, but don't know for sure. PM Kennedy. He has made several of these, as well as many other LED conversions for our car, and could probably answer your question.
09-14-2007, 12:56 AM
#30
Nice question. I have a fancy multi-meter and all the tools here but I'm a dope just trying to learn on my own. All I know is when I connect 12V power directly to it, it dosen't work. I was trying to do something similar with the memory seat LEDs too recently didn't work like that either.
I literally soldered the LED in while it was still hooked up to the car and that's what worked for me. I would arm the alarm to see if it worked or not and then put everything back together.
I wish I had better knowledge about electronics but my talents are more in depth in the field of medicine.....dosen't help me out much here does it? Someone like Kennedy is the man to talk to.
I literally soldered the LED in while it was still hooked up to the car and that's what worked for me. I would arm the alarm to see if it worked or not and then put everything back together.
I wish I had better knowledge about electronics but my talents are more in depth in the field of medicine.....dosen't help me out much here does it? Someone like Kennedy is the man to talk to.
09-14-2007, 12:58 AM
#31
Originally Posted by ImPoRtHoNdA
what should i be looking for for these lights on ebay?
For the alarm mod 5mm LEDs will work fine, they are easy to find. Memory seat LED has to be 3mm which is a little harder to come by. What sucks is your neighborhood Radio Shack (the most useless store in the world!) Doesn't carry them. You'll have to score a batch from Ebay. Bad news? You'll probably have to buy a minimum of 10. Good news? They're dirt cheap and you can save the rest for other projects. I have blue LEDs on stuff even around the house. I'm pretty much a dork.
09-15-2007, 08:01 PM
#33
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Hey everyone, I want to buy a new one to try this on rather than modding the one in my car (plus I can always switch it back later if I want). Anyway, I looked it up via Owner Link / Honda eStore. Is this the part I circled in red? The description is:
Ref. Part Description View MSRP Your Price Discount Req.
012 INDICATOR, L. SECURITY $4.22 001
048 CLIP, CONNECTOR (NATURAL) $1.57 001
053 CUSHION, WIRE HARNESS (50X50) $3.47 001
Do you think I need all three parts, or will part 12 be the only thing?
Thanks,
Steve
Ref. Part Description View MSRP Your Price Discount Req.
012 INDICATOR, L. SECURITY $4.22 001
048 CLIP, CONNECTOR (NATURAL) $1.57 001
053 CUSHION, WIRE HARNESS (50X50) $3.47 001
Do you think I need all three parts, or will part 12 be the only thing?
Thanks,
Steve
09-15-2007, 08:53 PM
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Originally Posted by rockyfeller
It's just #12.....$4.22? Is that price right? Maybe they make up for it with shipping. I think I paid around $15 at the dealer.
09-15-2007, 09:01 PM
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{EDIT (I waited too long to edit)}
That's the price with shipping to my house. It's free if I want it shipped to the dealership (so that's what I'm doing
since I'm not in a huge hurry for it since I have to wait for the LEDs). Anyway, here's the updated price:
To delete an item, click on the
trash can.
Subtotal
$4.22
Shipping $0.00
Estimated Tax $0.34
Estimated Total
$4.56
That's the price with shipping to my house. It's free if I want it shipped to the dealership (so that's what I'm doing
since I'm not in a huge hurry for it since I have to wait for the LEDs). Anyway, here's the updated price:To delete an item, click on the
trash can.
Subtotal
$4.22
Shipping $0.00
Estimated Tax $0.34
Estimated Total
$4.56
09-21-2007, 04:13 PM
#40
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Hey everyone, so I got my part in from the dealership yesterday 
and the LEDs from www.superbrightleds.com came on Tuesday (super fast shipping).
Anyways, I'm gonna start to work on this...I have always sucked at soldering...so this might be a challenge for me, seeing as when I pulled apart the circuit board, the pos / neg leads are SO frickin close together!
Any tips on keeps the soldering from touching? My brother suggesting trying to put a thing piece of electrical tape in between, then pulling it apart once I finish.
Also, do I risk any danger of frying the circuit board if I heat it up to much when melting the old solder off?
and the LEDs from www.superbrightleds.com came on Tuesday (super fast shipping).Anyways, I'm gonna start to work on this...I have always sucked at soldering...so this might be a challenge for me, seeing as when I pulled apart the circuit board, the pos / neg leads are SO frickin close together!
Any tips on keeps the soldering from touching? My brother suggesting trying to put a thing piece of electrical tape in between, then pulling it apart once I finish.
Also, do I risk any danger of frying the circuit board if I heat it up to much when melting the old solder off?