Hey all, I'm back in it! After a six month wait, I got another TL! This is my third TL and fourth Acura (see signature) overall, they're just good to me I guess.

Any way I'm starting to do some baby mods and gonna start with the interior visors and bottom door lights. I just don't like yellowish lights on this car. So I checked my old invoice and went to the V-LEDS.com website and they're sold out? Where do you guys recommend I go now for these small interior lights? Did anything change from the 2009 TL to the new 2012 TL regarding wattage or otherwise?

On the 2009 TL I changed out the lamps and got:
1 HID White inverted cone wedge base LED 194 158 168
4 Hi power SMT 3 LED HID 5K white vanity light bulb

Bare with me as I get familiar with the forum again. It's good to be back.

 

I did V-LEDS for the visor vanity lights. However, they can be a bit harsh if you're used to the OE bulbs. A bit difficult to focus since the light is quite bright in the eyes. For me anyway.

 

Do you recall your part number through the V-LED website?

 

I ordered my vanity and bottom door lights from v-leds.com in June 2012:

Vanity Lights
- VLED name: 5K WHITE HI POWER 3 CHIP 2 LED VANITY SUN VISOR LIGHT BULB
- V-LEDS Part ID: VANITY_2_W_5K
- It looks like they are out of stock of this one.

Underdoor Lights
- VLED name: 5K WHITE 4 LED 2 WATT HP FLANK BULBS 194 168 158 | 1 PAIR
- V-LEDS Part ID: 194_4_HPF_W_5K
- Pricey at $25 for a pair, but super bright:

Before:



After:



I have a 2009 SH-AWD, and it looks like the vanity bulbs and the under door bulbs stayed the same for 2012. You can verify this on www.oemacuraparts.com under the part catagories "Roof Lining" and "Front Door Lining". I also have the VLED part numbers for the license plate, center console, glove box, trunk, reverse, and fog lights if you are interested.

 

The TL has underdoor lights???

 

Excellent, thank you for the info si1point6! I too like brighter lights under the door panel, it's worth it in my book. This forum kicks a**, love the positive informative feedback!

And yes, I'm interested in the other lighting enhancements, please post!

 

bmode,

I am glad to help out where I can. Here are the VLED lights I have installed in my TL so far:

Trunk Light
- VLED name: 5K WHITE 1.5W 3 LED HIGH POWER UNIVERSAL DOME LIGHT BULB 31-36MM ADJUSTABLE
- V-LEDS Part ID: 3136_3HP_W_5K
- This photo was taken at night in my neighborhood with no street lights around, with no moon out, and without using the flash on my iPhone






Fog Light
- VLED name: 5K WHITE 28 LED 13W FOG LIGHT BULBS H11 | 1 PAIR
- V-LEDS Part ID: H11_28_W_5K
- Unfortunately, they do not appear to be in stock anymore. Also, while they look nice and white when looking at them from outside the car, the fog lights are overshadowed by the HID headlights when looking at the road from the driver's seat.






License Light
- VLED name: 5K WHITE HIGH POWER LICENSE PLATE MAP PARKING LED BULBS 194 168 158 | 1 PAIR
- V-LEDS Part ID: 194_HP_W_5K




Reverse Light
- VLED name: 5K WHITE 19 LED 8W HIGH POWER BULBS 917 918 920 921 922 923 579 | 1 PAIR BULBS 194 168 158 | 1 PAIR
- V-LEDS Part ID: 921_19_HP_W_5K




Glove Box and Center Console Light
- VLED name: 5K WHITE 3 LED WEDGE BASE DASH LIGHT BULBS 37 74 | 1 PAIR
- V-LEDS Part ID: 74_3_W_5K
- Unfortunately, they do not appear to be in stock anymore

 

Sweet, thanks for the info and pics! Too bad they're out of stock. Does anyone have any other website links that have these parts?

 

http://www.ddmtuning.com/

Ebay
Amazon

ive bought a few LEDs off of ebay, and they were pretty good.

 

Did you need 1 pair per door? Thank you

 

what about the lights in the front foot area? I know there was a post on how to brighten those lights. Are those bulbs replaceable too?

 

Nevermind, I re-read your initial post and found it. How well do the reverse lights work?

 

Here was the thread on that. It makes the opening bigger to allow more light through. The bulb was not the issue.

https://acurazine.com/forums/4g-tl-2009-2014-123/make-under-dash-lights-brighter-783070/

 

Are these the same for the 2010 TL Tech? I hope so. I just ordered a pair.

 

Glove Box and Center Console Light
- VLED name: 5K WHITE 3 LED WEDGE BASE DASH LIGHT BULBS 37 74 | 1 PAIR
- V-LEDS Part ID: 74_3_W_5K
- Unfortunately, they do not appear to be in stock anymore


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I was taking a look at the glove box and center console/glove box lights and snapped the white shield covering the bulb off the housing for the light... I thought it was a snap_in-place type covering like all the other coverings... Looks like it was just glued on. idk what im going to do... Glue seems messy and then u gotta hold it in place. How did you do it? Changing the bulb and getting the covering back on?

 

I installed my license plate lights but they won't light up. No matter how I have them installed. Is there something I am missing or are they defective? Thank you

 

I was taking a look at the glove box and center console/glove box lights and snapped the white shield covering the bulb off the housing for the light... I thought it was a snap_in-place type covering like all the other coverings... Looks like it was just glued on. idk what im going to do... Glue seems messy and then u gotta hold it in place. How did you do it? Changing the bulb and getting the covering back on?[/QUOTE]

Adrian,

The same thing happened to me - that white cover is not attached to the bulb housing very well. What I did to fix mine was I put a tiny bit of super glue to the edges where the black bulb housing meets the white cover and held it together with my fingers for about a minute. That did the trick. But, my bulb harness slipped to the back of the glove compartment. I had to remove some of the passenger side trim as well as loosen the glove box hinge to get to the wire and fish it back through the opening. If this happened to you too, let me know, and I'll get you more detailed instructions on how to do it.

 

My bulbs went in with no mods to either the bulb or the bulb socket. I suggest you test them on either your underdoor, front turn lights, or back turn lights. If they still do not light up, you may have some bad LEDs on your hands. Also, your stock license plate bulbs still work, right? If not, maybe you have a blown fuse to the license plate lights?

 

Do they run on a light sensor to only light up when it is dark enough outside? Thank you

 

so how do i get the leds in? i was able to pop the stock bulbs out but can't seem to get the angle to pop the leds in. do i need to remove the assembly? please advise. thanks.

 

I found it easier to remove the puddle light assembly for the install. Thank you

 

ok got it. was able to put the leds in. i think i broke one of the assemblies cuz it would no longer work. will see. thx!

 

I took it out very gently with a flat-head and disconnected the cable. It made it a lot easier for me.

 

I figured it out and boy do I feel dumb. I forgot to turn on the lights. I initially thought the license plate lights had to be on all of the time by law.

 

Glad to hear the LEDs are working now. What do you think of the license LEDs at night?

 

Icy,

When I installed mine, I had to do a minor mod to the bulb housing since the LED buib is a little wider than the stock bulb. I had to file down the sides of the metal guides for the bulb to fit as shown here:







You can use a small, round metal file to get the job done. I have a Dremel, so I used a tungsten carbide cutter to make room for the bulb. Someone else on Acurazine simply bent the guides to the side to make room for the bulb. Here is the LED bulb installed after I filed down the metal guides:

 

The light is nice and white in color. If you are looking at it, it looks bright. As for how well it actually projects and lights up items at night, I think the light it projects lights up the image on the back-up camera a little better than the stock bulbs. I'll try to post a pic of the backup camera screen with the reverse LEDs on soon. During the day, it is very noticeable. When I was reversing my car in the direction of a business with tinted windows, I could see the reflection of the reverse lights, and they really stood out.

 

They look great. A big improvement over stock.

 

yup, i had to bend one of the guides to make room for the wider LED housing. so now i do have the LEDs in but they don't seem very bright. i think i may have to play (wiggle) the bulbs a bit so they get good contact with the metal connections of the housing.

 

Icy,

When you installed the LED, are the LEDs pointing in the direction of the clear housing lens like in my photo? When I first installed mine, I had my installed the opposite direction, and I too noticed that it was not very bright.

 

So... Super Glue? Yeah, my bulb harness and housing slipped in too =( pain in the neck. Share those details with me man, I took off the bottom most part, where the floor light is to see if there was a quick fix... doesn't look like it. Looks like you have to take some of the hex bolts off and more of the passenger side trim to get to the harness. I'll have time to check it out this weekend.

 

are you going to change out your side markers too?

 

Adrian,

When it happened to me, I followed these instructions in the service manual to get me through it:

Remove the trim on the right side of the center console
These are all held in with push tabs. Start from one end, and pull the trim straight out and away from their attach points.



Remove the passenger side trim
Similar to the other part above, these are all held in with push tabs. Pull the trim straight out from its attach points.




Remove the passenger side dashboard trim
Similar to the other parts above, these are all held in with push tabs. Starting from the right side, pull the trim straight out from its attach points.



Remove the passenger side dashboard undercover trim
Similar to the other parts above, these are all held in with push tabs. pull the trim straight out from its attach points. Be careful not to damage the footwell light harness.



Remove the glove box compartment cover
This will require a phillips screwdriver. Remove the 3 screws on the top and the 2 screws on the bottom. Then remove the cover and set to the side.



Remove the glove box compartment
This is the trickiest part in rerouting your glove box light. You remove the glove box by pulling it straight out to release it from the two hooks. When you have the glove box in your hands, try to fish the glove box light back into the glove box. It will be tricky as there will not be much room to work with. Also, the trunk lid lock will be in your way. Once you fish the wire though, install it back into your light bulb housing, and then install the bulb housing in to the glove box. Then reinstall everything in reverse order.

 

Dang, so what happens if you short out the housing for these things? My Lens housing won't light anything now?

 

Here's a new one, a new LED that I put in, won't turn off?

 

I used the flank style bulbs which actually has 4 LED's that point down towards the lens. All of the light output is directed downwards.

http://www.v-leds.com/5K-WHITE-4-LED...25900-1-2.html

 

I have those too Treblig, however one of them won't turn off? WTF is that all about?

 

If you put the stock bulb back in does it do the same thing?

 

Haven't tried that yet, however the more pressing issue is why the driver side door won't light up with anything bulb or LED now? (as posted above). At least the passenger side door lights up so I know the circuitry is good there although screwy that the LED won't shut off? I also lost the trunk now too? All other electrical functions work everywhere else? Is it just the fuses for that power source? How accessible is the fuse box?

 

Sorry old post but finally updated. I shorted the fuse box apparently. Either way back up and running!