The owners manual gives very little info, so I'm going to make a list with the exact part numbers. I will add-on as I go, feel free to submit as long as you verify first.

Headlight (low beam): D2S
High Beam & DRL: HB3
Front Turn Signal & Parking Light: Unconfirmed.
Front Side Marker: 168
Fog Light: H11
Rear Turn Signal: WY21W (21w bulb, which I believe to be the same as a 7440, can anyone confirm?)
Back-up Light: 921
Rear Side Marker: 168
License Plate: 168
Trunk: Festoon bulb, have not confirmed length yet.
Door Courtesy: Unconfirmed.
Vanity Mirror: Unconfirmed.

 

Yo Mr. Clean, can you break it down for the newbies here. Where do we cross reference these? D2S, 921, 168, HB3? It's all foreign to me? I'd love to change out the dome LED lights and especially the vanity lights, ugh!!!

 

The part numbers I listed are generic bulb part numbers. Head into your local auto store and have a look, it will make much more sense. But here is my personal favorite site for picking out car bulbs, they carry everything.
http://autolumination.com/

And why would you want to change out the overhead map LED lights? Their awesome. Or are you referring to the blue LEDs that light up the center console from overhead at night?

But yes, I'm going to check out the vanity bulbs next chance I get. I can't stand yellow.

 

I see, okay thanks. Yes the vanity bulbs, must go. The map lights are brilliant white, a little too white for me. I see it works well with my instrumentation which is white too, but a hint of blue like the head lights would be jiggy. I see the little blue LED too, I thought it would be cool to compliment those little blue LED's? I just noticed that there are floor lights too, I can see my shoes! The inside of the 09' TL is just sick!

I didn't want to take my baby out yesterday do to the Southern california fire situation, there's ash every where in LA! It really sucks. My thoughts go out to those who lost their homes. Truly sadness, and it's November for **** sake!

 

these are all simply the wedge type bulbs. not that hard to find good LED replacements


these are likely wedge type as well. i dont see a reason why acura would change those and spend a bit more. i think its quite possible one type of bulb is standard across the board for most of the 4G's bulbs.

 

certain wedge bulbs don't make sense to do LEDs... the high heat can be problems and/or the car will fault a bulb out indicator if it's not experiencing enough resistance. for stuff like courtesy lights and vanity mirrors this isn't an issue. for stuff like running lights/side markers/license plate lights that see a lot more 'on' time, i prefer to go with a bulb. my past acura (01 CL) had what i call 'fuse' bulb in the vanity mirrors which made replacements to something 'whiter' a bit harder to find.

 

probably, but i beg to differ - I have had LEDs in my license plate lights for over a year now with no issues. they are on every day for like 10-15 mins on my way to work in the morning (its quite dark), and thats only for a few months out of the year. i doubt thats enough time to burn them out.

that "fuse" bulb now has an LED replacement:

http://www.v-leds.com/Shop/Control/P...id/0/SFV/32481

you should give in and try it

 

Yea, license plate bulbs are probably fine as LEDs, took about 3 years to burn out on my last car. But turn signals and brakes are too much of a PITA imo.

Have you tried that brand LED for the fuse bulb? Looks very purple in that picture. The website I posted has it as well and they tend to come out very white. But the site you listed is cheaper.

 

I never changed my signal marker bulbs. I agree, they are too much of a PITA to do. leaving them stock is fine by me. but everything else i can change (domes, vanity, door, trunk, license plate and reverse), i did.

i personally am thinking about that fuse bulb for our Montero. it has a frosted lens cover so i think it would be alright. the 3G's vanity is a wedge that Ive long since replaced. it says its the more brighter LED so i may just give it a shot.

 

cool, i'll have to check it out, if your 3G is using wedge, i would guess the 4g is too.

 

Updated:

Headlight (low beam): D2S
High Beam & DRL: HB3
Front Turn Signal & Parking Light: Unconfirmed.
Front Side Marker: 168
Fog Light: H11
Rear Turn Signal: 7440)
Back-up Light: 921
Rear Side Marker: 168
License Plate: 168
Trunk: Unconfirmed.
Door Courtesy: 168
Vanity Mirror: 31mm x 5mm Festoon

 

CleanCL - did you get a 4G? Im curious to see the paddle shifters at night. I read somewhere they are illuminated.

 

They're not illuminated in my 3.5 with Tech package other than the blue overhead center console hits it a bit. It's not like you really need to see them anyway, their at your finger tips? I really had a chance to try these out the other night in the canyon, it's not bad but you have to have both hands on the wheel at shifting times, which makes it like F1 racing for sure. I'm still holding on to the center console shifter at times to down shift, oops, it's a hard habit to break after 4 years.

Thanks for the update on the lights CL!!! Can I call you CL Smooth?

 

Hey thanks alot this is really usefull, However, i've looked on sylvania.com and autozone.com and it says for the foglights they are "9006" no the "H11" are those interchangeable or something? cuz i'm buyin replacement bulbs and don't wanna snag the wrong ones, thanks alot

 

Hey sixsixfour, sorry about that, the steering column paddle shifters are slightly back lit, but not illuminated. It's so subtle but all you see is a plus on the right, and a minus on the left.

 

There is a MINUS sign on the left shifter, and a PLUS sign on the right shifter, the + and - are illuminated. I have the AWD model, so maybe that's why mine light up?

H11 is straight from the manual. The 9006 is for the 3G TL... sylvania's website does not even have the 2009 option available yet. DO NOT use 2008, that is the 3G.

No worries man, I've already changed out my license plate, door courtesy, and vanity lights with nice white LEDs. Also got rid of the yellow look in the rear turn signal with a chrome amber bulb. Next up is the front lights. If you haven't noticed I hate yellow.

 

ah thats what i thought it could be. i have the brochure from the 4G launch and it said it there.

pretty interesting. thanks for checking!

 

Back lit and illuminated are two different things in my book. I program remotes for a living, so back lit is internally lit, and illuminated is referred to as "spotlit" if you will. Are you telling me there's a dedicated light for the paddle shifters on the SH-AWD? In the diagram it looks like your shifters are silver and black, now that looks cool. Mine are just black.

Can you post pics on the light modifications? I'm curious on the external lights and how it looks. The vanity lights look really easy to swap too. It would be sweet if someone put together a package for replacing all ugly lights. LOL.

 

It seems weird, but yea, I think there is an LED in each paddle. Take a look at this picture, the - and + signs look transparent for light to pass through. Call it what you want, back lit or illuminated, at night they light up just like the rest of the buttons on the steering wheel.



I'll try to get pictures of the changes I've made... the vanity lights are REALLY bright, almost too much. I may leave 1 bulb out.

 

Okay, so they are back lit the same way then in the Base model tech package, except for your paddle shifters have the silver grey tutone thang, ours are just matte black.

Really, vanity lights too bright? Thanks for the tip because I was going to change them out today. I'll see if there's any alternatives with a lesser wattage. The yellow really is ugly, I don't understand why Acura would make nice bright white LED in the center overhead, but leave the vanity mirrors ugly dull ass yellow? Odd. I also just notice there are no door lights? Hmm. The trunk light has to go too! Thank god this are easy to access.

 

I might use the LEDs for the vanity, but spray a thin coat of tint on the lenses to deaden it a bit, but still show up nice white like the overheads.

I have door lights... their under neath facing down. They pop right out. Only on the front doors though.

Trunk light is some type of festoon bulb but I did not have the ruler with me to measure the correct length and width. That's coming soon.

Soon up... LED DRLs and Fog Lights.

 

Oops, sorry CL, I meant the back doors have no lights, just the front. :-(

 

CL, where do you find the LED's because I couldn't find them at my local stores?

 

OK, I finally got all of the part numbers.

Headlight (low beam): D2S
High Beam & DRL: HB3
Front Turn Signal & Parking Light: 3157
Front Side Marker: 168
Fog Light: H11
Rear Turn Signal: 7440
Back-up Light: 921
Rear Side Marker: 168
License Plate: 168
Trunk: 31mm x 10mm Festoon
Door Courtesy: 168
Vanity Mirror: 31mm x 5mm Festoon

bmode - I've been a little sick lately so I haven't had a chance to take picture, I'm making all my purchases from www.autolumination.com, they make very quality products and they make a lot of variations of things depending on what kind of light output you need. So I'm trying out some things and I'll let you know what I come up with.

 

Sorry to hear that, it's going around it my neck of the woods as well, I've been lucky so far it hasn't hit me. I appreciate you sharing your experimentation with us, that's pretty cool. If I had a little more knowledge I'd get into it as well. Like an idiot, I just wanted to see how easy it is to access these lamps, now the bottom from driver door light won't come back on...LOL I think I bent the bulb metal conductor or something...Oh well, it didn't do much before which is why I want to change it... Hope you feel better CL.

 

Moderators... can someone correct the post? I had a wrong part number in some of the posts... these are all correct.

Headlight (low beam): D2S
High Beam & DRL: HB3
Front Turn Signal & Parking Light: 1157
Front Side Marker: 168
Fog Light: H11
Rear Turn Signal: 7440
Back-up Light: 921
Rear Side Marker: 168
License Plate: 168
Trunk: 31mm x 10mm Festoon
Door Courtesy: 168
Vanity Mirror: 31mm x 5mm Festoon
Glove Compartment: 74
Center Console Compartment: 74

 

Does anyone have instruction on replacing fog lights?

 

Underneath the car there are 3 10mm bolts. Remove those. The plastic piece will slide out. There is 1 pop clip, remove it. The manual says to remove the clips in the wheel well but I didn't. Take a long screwdriver and put into one of the big holes of the under plastic to push down and back (towards the wheel). The plastic will pop down and you can reach up to access the fogs/turns. Then just smash the plastic back up into place.

 

 

It's just molded plastic.

It's pretty hard to get out... and to get it back into place, I just gave it a forceful hit and it popped right back into place. First you slide the forward portion up into the bumper, then the rear section needs to go back into place. Hard to describe but once you see it you will get it. It's not like there is anything to break down there, and I've done it multiple times on both sides with no issues.

 

Thank You CleanCL. As soon as I find the right bulbs to similate HID look, I'll definitely follow your instructions on replacing.

Has anyone replaced the fog light bulbs? If so what kink would you recommend? I'm aware that certain bulbs will burn your sockets after a certain period of time. I'm currently having a hard time finding quality brand H11 HID similating bulbs, I was thinking about Phillips Chrystal Vision but cant find anywhere. Any thoughts?

 

I going to go with the Vled's. I just put some in the RDX and the white backups are brilliant now! I'm going to put some in both the RDX and TL in the spring. They will be a perfect match with the HID's.

http://www.v-leds.com/Shop/Control/P...id/0/SFV/32481

 

I put SMT LEDs into the fog lights. One light has pure white and one has amber. I cannot decide which I like... I will try to get a picture at night. But the pure white does not simulate the HID. And they are also completely non functional as they light up NOTHING but you have to expect that with LEDs.

I hate putting halogen bulbs with blue coatings because I hate the blue it gives off in the housing during the day. Looks cheap to me.

I think I may break down and purchase a yellow HID kit to put in the fogs. Functional and will look good.

The 'yellowish' daytime running lights bother the heck out of me too. I will be trying some white LEDs, but then that makes my high beams nonfunctional.

 

lol CL, we want it all, don't we. I hate the DTRL color as well. What about a Sylvania Silverstar HB3, won't that be less 'yellowish'? And yes the white LED's don't throw light far but will look much better than the regular H11 and even that bulb and fixture design together doesn't throw much useable light on the ground. It's really just about the look and after seeing what the brilliant white looks like in the RDX reverse bulb, I think it will look better anyway. Unless someone knows of a really good quality H11 that looks closed to the HID temp?? I see so many on the web but most are imported and I've had bad luck with those over the years, getting bulbs that just plain sucked...

 

The Silverstars might work but they are coated in blue and I dislike the blue reflection. Right now I have Sylvania Ultras in the DRLs... still pretty yellow (ever so slightly better than the stock bulbs) until you throw on the high beam and it's very white. I've been running the Ultras on my my Ram 1500 headlights and fog lights and their VERY bright and closest to white I've seen without giving off a blue reflection. They are coated but for some reason do not reflect any colors in the housings.

 

I would go with these just concerned about over heating. The last thing I want is to burn the socket. I went on the site and noticed they don't list voltage or watts, in addition they mention that they shouldnt be used as primary source lights, not sure why?

 

LEDs run very cold. Not much heat involved. No primary lighting source because they project no light, they just light up pretty colors. You are better off with a flashlight before using an LED bulb for fog light in terms of what actually lights up the road.

 

I still don't know how to reference these part numbers and get new LED replacements? Could someone break it down for the dork over here?

 

bmode, the correct bulb #'s are above. It's a little tricky because you have to be sure that the dimensions for the LED replacement you want will actually fit in the space where the regular bulb goes. Most of the time there is plenty of space but some of the VLED's are huge and won't fit so you need to scope out which ones you want to replace and see how much area there is to work with. Then see what size the LED is and match it up with the largest one that will fit, because LED's don't really throw as many 'lumens' as incandescent bulbs. They are more for the look so changing the H11 fog lights would look cool but wouldn't light up the lower ground area anywhere near as well as the stock bulbs. I just replaced some in our RDX and they look sharper and brighter but if I hadn't gotten the monster ones for the brake lights it wouldn't have made much a difference. And if you change the turn signals your blinker will blink fast like a little ricer civic. If you don't like it you have to add some resistors in the circuit.

I plan on doing many of mine in the TL but not until spring. If you wait till then I'll be detailing what fits where and how they look etc. But most likely someone else here has already changed many out and maybe they can list what they used and where and maybe post some pics.. Anyone?

 

Much appreciated hogger, thanks. My bottom driver side door light is already out, and I'd like to put in something brighter or at least a better color, so I can't wait that long. Since it's so early, I'm gonna go to the dealer and let them change this one out.