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I am writing this on request of a member who is having the same issues I had with my driver side courtesy light. I didn't take any pic at the time I performed this fix so I skipped some really easy steps. I took my panels off just to take pics and show the way I did it, this is a great site with lots of helpful information and I this is my way to contribute to the site, hope this is helpful for other 4G TL fellows. This is my first DIY-tutorial, english is not my native language and the best I could use was my cellphone camera.
I didn't like the yellow color of it and decided to change the bulbs with leds. I made the terrible mistake of not disconnecting the bulb housing to the connector and decided to pry out the bulb with a flat head screw driver, the blade touched the metal casing and the light went completely out. My guess was that a blew a fuse and took a look at the manual to find the location for interior lights, but it was strange that all the other interior lights were working just fine... The passenger side courtesy light was working with no issues, check the fuses and they were all good... After some research on Acurazine and other Honda pilots forums I found out I was not the only one with the same problem, their cars were still under warranty so they put the stock bulbs back in place and took the car to the dealer where they diagnose the MICU went bad and got replaced under warranty. If you are under warranty this is the first thing you should do but If your car is out of warranty you have to choice of paying around $700 at the dealership to have your driver side fuse box (where the damaged multiplex is attached) replaced. Whoever designed this system and not include the courtesy light as part of the small interior lights wasn't thinking logically, it is way easier and cheaper to replace a blown small fuse then the complete fuse box. The way I fixed it cost me no more than 20 bucks.
I used:
- 8 meters of black speaker wire.
- electrical tape.
- trim removal tools.
- scissors or wire cutters.
- clothes hanger or fishing wire.
Anyways, after some testing with a voltmeter I discovered I was getting power to courtesy light socket but the problem was the GROUND. The light gets power all the time but turns off when the door is closed (it also turn itself off after some time even with the door open) and this is activated but a button we all have on our doors jamb.
BTW, my car is a 09 tech package, the color of the wires may or not be the same. Please attempt this at your own risk, I am posting this with an informative purpose, I will not be liable if you screw up your car even more.
Remove the B pillar. On the back of this button switch there is a connector which carries a single wire, in my vehicle this wire carries the GROUND I needed to fix my courtesy light.
I unplugged the connector and attached a parallel wire. At this point I decided to make a reversible connection by just doing a simple splice.
Secure it with electrical tape and plug it back.
Remove the door sill and route the wire along the door sills towards the front of the vehicle, attach/secure the wire using electrical tape or zip ties to the black plastic tube that is already there.
Remove the kick panel and route it towards the door. Keep using zip ties to do a clean install.
Now the hardest part comes, it was for me, I had to fish it through the rubber boot that connect the door to the car. I used a metal clothes hanger but it is really stiff and not very pliable. I had to puncture a hole on the rubber boot to make things a little easier.
When you are at the door I highly recommend to remove the speaker, this will give extra clearance to maneuver. Keep routing/securing the wire along the harnesses.
Now at the courtesy light connector you will notice it has two wires, again in my case there is a white and a blue wire. White is the positive and Blue is Ground. The White wire carries the POWER and I left it as is, the blue wire on the other hand wasn't carrying ground anymore so I cut it and tape/insulate one end and splice the other end to the ground I brought from the door button/switch. Again make sure your connections are insulated using electrical tape or something better. Sorry for the crappy cellphone pics.
Make sure your connections are secure and the cables are not in the way. I left some excess wire here since I won't be touching this anymore, you can keep routing along the harnesses to make an even cleaner install.
Plug your courtesy light and press the door button/switch to activate/deactivate the light. If everything was done properly the light should work, you can put all the panels back and call it a day. Drink a cold beer and feel proud that did a great job and saved hundreds.
so when i replace the bulb with LED i should have someone press and hold that button on the door while its opened so it will turn that light off and safely replace the bulb without issue then?
this issue happened to me when replacing the trunk light and i just put the bulb back in and went into the dealership for "warranty" issue.
so when i replace the bulb with LED i should have someone press and hold that button on the door while its opened so it will turn that light off and safely replace the bulb without issue then?
this issue happened to me when replacing the trunk light and i just put the bulb back in and went into the dealership for "warranty" issue.
The first thing to do is if still under warranty put stock bulbs back and claim a warranty issue. And the safest way to change this bulb is to unplug the bulb housing from the harness and replace it.
Message for Diamond (your inbox is full)
Hey Manny, Elliot here, I live in Olney, MD. How about you?
My first suggestion is if your car in still under warranty to put the stock bulbs back and drive to the dealer for a warranty fix, just play it cool and tell them you don't know how it happened. Second option is to have a car electronic guy do it for you based on my post, usually places that install remote start and stereos can do this work and have all the necessary equipment/tools. Third, depending on how far you are maybe we can meet up one weekend and take a look at it, I don't have the tools a pro have and it might take longer, the hardest part is routing the wire through the door boot, I used a metal clothes hanger and it was a pain in the a$$.
Hope I can help you in any way.
Take it easy and let me know.
Message for Diamond (your inbox is full)
Hey Manny, Elliot here, I live in Olney, MD. How about you?
My first suggestion is if your car in still under warranty to put the stock bulbs back and drive to the dealer for a warranty fix, just play it cool and tell them you don't know how it happened. Second option is to have a car electronic guy do it for you based on my post, usually places that install remote start and stereos can do this work and have all the necessary equipment/tools. Third, depending on how far you are maybe we can meet up one weekend and take a look at it, I don't have the tools a pro have and it might take longer, the hardest part is routing the wire through the door boot, I used a metal clothes hanger and it was a pain in the a$$.
Hope I can help you in any way.
Take it easy and let me know.
same thing happened to me my light stopped working. Tried pulling the socket with tweezers because light went into the back of the door panel. Im in Virginia i can come out to you and maybe you can help me do what u did to fix the courtsey door light
same thing happened to me my light stopped working. Tried pulling the socket with tweezers because light went into the back of the door panel. Im in Virginia i can come out to you and maybe you can help me do what u did to fix the courtsey door light
Hey man you inbox still seems full, PM me with your cell number, hopefully we will find a weekend to resolve this issue.
Is there a video for this? It just happened to me while changing it I touched the metal fixture with a screw driver and blew the fuse while trying to install LEDs.
will this also fix the alarm trigger? i can open my drivers door and it will not trigger the alarm or the dome light. has no one tried taking apart the MIC....whatever its called and try to repair it? it must come apart some how.
04-13-2016, 12:48 AM
