"How-To" Upgrade Your Interior Lights To LED's (2010 MY)....

[bpd1151]

Below are the steps I took to convert over my entire interior from the standard, factory installed incandescent type bulbs, over to LED's.

 

Now I opted to order up LED replacements as they last 10 times longer than the standard/stock/OEM bulbs, draw signifigantly less power, and operate at cooler temperatures.

 

Needless to say, I am very happy with the overall outcome!

 

It goes without saying that the LED's are much brighter than the halogens, but the specific LED's I ordered have a wide angle dispersing effect so I noticed the light coverage overall was more 'complete'.

 

Particularly in the inside of the car / interior cabin area(s).

 

Below are some pics of tools you will need. Steps to take. What you can expect before and after.

 

This was a relatively easy swap, so I'm sure any of you can do it. Total time took me approximately 45min. Any questions or w/e, just ask or pm me.

 

 

Some basic tools you will need are as follows:

 

1. Small & Medium sized Philips Screwdrivers

2. Putty knife (or other similiar flat edged prying tool)

3. Pair of needle nosed pliers (slightly bent on the end)

4. Couple of cold beers on standby for when you finish the job.

 

 

Here's a couple of pics of the yellowish looking, standard/stock/OEM bulbs. These were/are located in the front map/courtesy area where the switches are at for the sunroof.

 

 

 

Here's what they look like after the LED's are installed:

 

 

...... it was pretty easy swapping out these bulbs.

 

Essentially, using your putty knife, work all along the edges of the clear plastic, GENTLY prying the tabs downward. The entire clear plastic piece will eventually dislodge, allowing you access to the bulbs themselves.

 

I next used the needle nose pliers to aid in removing the bulbs as I couldn't get my fat lil fingers in the hole enough to grasp them and remove them using my own bare hands. Simply replace the bulb with the L.E.D. & wallah!

 

Moving along to the three overhead lights (one is stationary, the outer two are mounted in swivel pods for aiming/directional use). You will once again need the putty knife to remove the clear plastic piece. Repeat as above by gently prying the tabs downward 'til the piece comes off.

 

Next, you will have to remove the pods by aiming the light all the way to one side, then use your putty knife to pry the pod itself out from the hole it swivels within.

 

After removing the swivel pods, there are two tiny arse screws that hold the outer plastic shell and reflector lens to the "basket" where the bulb itself is located in.

 

I can't tell you how many times I dropped those stupid lil things onto the carpeting. I suppose if you had a magnetized screwdriver, that might even be better. But regardless, after a few attempts, I finally was able to get 'em back together. Here's some pics:

 

 

 

 

Here's a pic (re-post) of those swivel pods apart---- notice the reflector housing. It actually sits inside of the plastic outer shell and is held together by these PITA lil screws:

 

 

 

A couple of post install pics of the interior illuminated in all LED:

 

 

 

Rear License Plate Light(s):

 

 

Interior Visor Vanity Light(s):

 

 

 

Here's a pic of what the standard/stock/OEM bulb looks like side-by-side in comparison to the LED:

 

 

I hope that this "how-to" thread has been of some use to those of you who may be considering performing this mod.

 

For those that are familiar with the process already, I hope at least you enjoyed the pics :thumb:

 

As far as part numbers of bulbs, etc. each mfg'er will use their own charts and part #'s.....

 

Autolumination will cue you in to what you need to buy, but below is a general, overall list of bulbs from Sylvania.

 

Some of these bulbs will cross list / reference with LED's, but the crappy thing is that that some LED bulbs don't fit at the base, are too long, etc.

 

If you don't buy from a reputable seller, there can be SIGNIFICANT variations in color of EACH bulb.

 

I have consistently ordered from here when buying LED's:

 

http://www.autolumination.com

 

Here is that general list of bulbs, sizes, etc:

 

 

High & low beam headlamp

HID-D3S

 

 

Parking light

3457A

LED

 

 

Front turn signal

3457A

 

 

Rear turn signal

992 (7440A)

 

 

Tail light

3057

916

 

 

Stop light

3057

 

 

High mount stop light

LED

 

 

License plate

168

 

 

Back up light

7440

 

 

Front sidemarker

168

 

 

Rear sidemarker

916

 

 

Map light

2825

 

 

Dome light

2825

64111

 

As always, comments are both welcome and appreciated.

 

Happy modding y'all :thumb:

 

----------------------------------------Mike

[First-SHO]

Nice and great job on the write up!

[mjhpadi]

Just a small "heads up" to anyone doing this mod. Be aware that when I did this mod, I had to get different LED bulbs then Mike lists. My car was a late Nov. build and Ford had changed the fittings from the type that Mike has in his car. Hence I needed to use a shorter length bulb then Mike, as I had less total height inside the interior fittings. If anyone needs the info PM me and I will be glad to give you a list of the bulbs I purchased.

[bpd1151]

Yes, good info to know (and be made aware of) Mark.

 

I recall, depending on the build date(s)/time(s), that different types of housings were used and/or spec'd by FMC.

 

The bulbs I used correlate with the housings pictured within my thread. The same install concept applies if your housings may have changed slightly.

 

Thanks for providing the updated info Mark :thumb:

 

***This post sent from my DROID3 using the 'Tapatalk' App***

[mjhpadi]

Thanks Mike, I am really surprised at the change, since my car was built on 10 days before your car. So apparently your interior lighting fixtures are the newer type and mine are the earlier version. At least we have stumbled onto the time frame that Ford made the change in the fixtures.

[qwiksilvertrav]

Wow this looks absolutely great. I'm definitely doing it.

 

Do you by chance have a exact part number from the site you linked? It looks to me like you use ALL 10 or 11 LED 360 style LEDs? Does this include the license plate light as well? I'd like to have mine look just like your pics but I'm not to confident if I'm "guessing" the LED's pictured are in every single socket you replaced.

Do you still have the reciept possibly? Would make it easy for you to post up the parts list! Thanks for the write up!

[lsdozer]

thanks for This post!

[bpd1151]

qwik silver........ i'll look around for the answer to your question(s) and re-post hopefully sometime later today.

 

Today's my only day off this week and I have an entire laundry list of crap to get accomplished.

 

lsdozer............. thanks for the kudos.

 

And to both of you............. glad to see that you made it on board to the wonderful EB Forums.

 

I assure you that neither of you will experience any of the nonsense that you may have from being a member over at that "other" forums community.

 

Welcome Welcome Welcome! :wave:

[qwiksilvertrav]

qwik silver........ i'll look around for the answer to your question(s) and re-post hopefully sometime later today.

 

Today's my only day off this week and I have an entire laundry list of crap to get accomplished.

 

lsdozer............. thanks for the kudos.

 

And to both of you............. glad to see that you made it on board to the wonderful EB Forums.

 

I assure you that neither of you will experience any of the nonsense that you may have from being a member over at that "other" forums community.

 

Welcome Welcome Welcome! :wave:

 

Thanks! And please take your time...not something thats way high on the to do list so when you have time. I still have one bulb working for the license plate (what started this) so that should do for now.

 

I was just telling my wife while driving that I'd get her license plate bulb replaced as we pulled up behind a Lexus with some nice looking LED plate lights. I told her I'm doing that! And then I saw THIS post and well she's going ALL LED now. lol

 

Anyways they look to me to be 9 LED 360 style bulbs in the pics. All I'm unsure of is did you use these bulbs for *all* of them including the license plate (all with the correct base of course).

 

And regarding the build date, are you guys talking Novemeber 2010 or 2011? Mine's a 2010, I'll have to check out the build date and hopefully it's before mid November since I want the big lights!

[mjhpadi]

Our build dates were Nov and Dec 2009...if you pull the cover off of the map lights you should be able to see which type of fixtures you have.

[mjhpadi]

Hey, I just realized that I didn't do the mirror courtesy lamps when I replaced mine :frusty: Guess I have to check the bulbs and order a few more LED bulbs and then mine will be complete. I can't believe I forgot the mirror lights!

[qwiksilvertrav]

Been doing some searching around. I guess you used the 9 LED 360 degree LED's which in newer built Sho's where to long...but they're of course an upgrade to the 5 LED ones as they're brighter.

 

But check out what I found...some 15 LED 360 lights that are shorter than the 9 LED ones used in the write up and could maybe even work in the newer housings but be even brighter with 6 more LEDs. (the 9 LED's are 32mm long then 11mm X 11mm...the 15 LED's are 29mm then 11mm X 11mm).

 

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&category=MLED&Page2Disp=%2Fspecs%2FWLED-xHP15-TAC.htm

 

 

If you do their vehicle search on this website it'll give you a full list of the bulbs for our cars and lists of bulbs for each bulb location (reading lamps, map lamps, reverse lights, etc). Just look for the vehicle bulb finder link towards the top of the page.

 

One more question, what type of bulb is in the visor/vanity lights? They're not listed in the search.

 

Also, what specific color did you pick? There's 6k and 8k listed on the site. The 15 LED bulbs I mentioned above appear to be 8500k which might be to blue for my taste..

[bpd1151]

I've had a couple of people recently inquire (again) about the size, or style of LED's I used in the fold down, visor's.....

 

I found them here--------> http://autolumination.com/festoon.htm

 

And if you scroll down about 1/4 of the way or so down after arriving at that page I linked you to.....

 

You'll find this product below, described as the Vanity Mini 3 LED Festoon, 31mm x 5mm diameter--- which replaces 3021 3022 6428 6430

 

(and I did order the 31mm length):

 

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]998[/ATTACH]

[mjhpadi]

Thanks Mike, I know exactly which bulbs you are speaking of...I am going to order them ASAP. I can't believe I keep forgetting to get them ordered.:frusty:

[mjhpadi]

Been doing some searching around. I guess you used the 9 LED 360 degree LED's which in newer built Sho's where to long...but they're of course an upgrade to the 5 LED ones as they're brighter.

 

But check out what I found...some 15 LED 360 lights that are shorter than the 9 LED ones used in the write up and could maybe even work in the newer housings but be even brighter with 6 more LEDs. (the 9 LED's are 32mm long then 11mm X 11mm...the 15 LED's are 29mm then 11mm X 11mm).

 

http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/store/index.cgi?action=DispPage&category=MLED&Page2Disp=%2Fspecs%2FWLED-xHP15-TAC.htm

 

 

If you do their vehicle search on this website it'll give you a full list of the bulbs for our cars and lists of bulbs for each bulb location (reading lamps, map lamps, reverse lights, etc). Just look for the vehicle bulb finder link towards the top of the page.

 

One more question, what type of bulb is in the visor/vanity lights? They're not listed in the search.

 

Also, what specific color did you pick? There's 6k and 8k listed on the site. The 15 LED bulbs I mentioned above appear to be 8500k which might be to blue for my taste..

Not sure where you are planning on using the bulbs you show. These would not fit the interior lights in my car nor would they fit in the front marker lights so not sure where you are planning on using them, I know they wouldn't fit in any fixture in my car.

[bpd1151]

Thanks Mike' date=' I know exactly which bulbs you are speaking of...I am going to order them ASAP. I can't believe I keep forgetting to get them ordered.:frusty:[/b']

 

NP problem Mark.

 

I had another PM recently inquiring, and when I went back to this thread, I realized I may not have ever answered the EXACT same questions (regarding the visor LED's) that were presented by other members, including yourself.

 

Or did I answer you previously?

 

Ugh *sigh*.... old age settling in dude..... I sometimes get equally :frusty:

 

LOL

 

Glad to be of help.

[mjhpadi]

:clap2: Geesh, I finally remembered to order the bulbs for the vanity mirrors this morning. Thanks Mike for reminding me, or I would have forgotten them until I used the mirrors the next time. Should have them in a few days. Finally I actually remembered to order them! :dizzy:

[markssho]

I finally ordered 4 Philips 6500k LED bulbs and replaced my front map lights and the two map lights in the dome light. I can't figure out how to get the bulb out of the dome light 'center' position. Does the clear lens cover pop off? I was afraid to force it. I ended up taking the dome light down and taking it apart from the back to get those map lights changed out. The change to the interior is amazing. Though it looks crappy with the standard bulb in the center of the dome light (ha).

Next will be figuring out that dome light an replacing the rear license plate bulbs.

[mjhpadi]

I take you mean the dome light in the center of the headliner? With mine the cover is one large piece that comes out, you have to be careful since it is easy to bend the metal inside the light. As for the license plate lights, they are festoon bulbs. You do have to remove the covers to get at the bulbs.

[mjhpadi]

Here is the bulb for the license plate lights...it is 31mm x 10 mm: http://autolumination.com/images/auto_bulbs/31_1w_wm.jpg

[bpd1151]

I apologize for the delayed reply in getting back to this, however, mjhpadi is correct in that the clear plastic piece in the center can be removed.

 

There are tabs all along the outer edge(s) of that piece itself, that will need to be GENTLY pried out, in order to access all of the bulbs.

 

It may seem scary, but if you warm up the plastic a lil bit 1st, with either a hair dryer, or some other medium heat source, it will allow the plastic to be more malleable and/or "forgiving" if you will, and less prone to breakage.

 

 

Speaking of breakage, I happened to be under the (rear) of the car recently, to clean up the exhaust a lil bit, and noticed my lamp housings for each rear license plate light, was occluded and dirty. Like from the inside.

 

So I removed them (from the car) and inspected them further.

 

It looks like I somehow cracked the clear lens (on each separate housing) in the exact same manner by possibly over tightening the screws :noidea:

 

Anyhow, I was compelled to order two new lamp assemblies for this area, and as a result of a recent failure of one of my LED's in the outboard mirror, puddle lamps, I had an occasion to recently re-visit the AUTOLUMINATION website.

 

I found an updated LED that no longer uses the old style design I originally used a few years back when I 1st did this mod.

 

I essentially ended up ordering the same updated LED that I just used to replace the puddle lamp LED, as I used to replace the LED's in the rear license plate light assemblies.

 

Those can be found here --------> http://autolumination.com/festoon.htm

 

After arriving at that page, the product I ordered, is the 4th one down from the top, and it's called: "LED CREE XPE SUPER High Flux".

 

It goes onto state that these are "crazy bright".

 

I ordered the 39mm size, which sells for $19.99 each (not including applicable tax and/or shipping).

 

 

Here's a picture of what they look like, both the front, and the reverse side of each LED (ignore the lil tool in between them):

 

 

 

Here's what they look like once installed:

 

[SHOdded]

Very bright! Do you have or recommend some sort of light meter to independently verify the lumens ratings? Thanks.

[bpd1151]

Very bright! Do you have or recommend some sort of light meter to independently verify the lumens ratings? Thanks.

 

No, sure don't.

 

Wouldn't even know where to get one honestly.

 

But it is a crap load brighter in comparison to the stock, incandescent bulbs it comes installed with.....

 

As I'm sure others would attest to.

[Echo42987]

It seems every pair of lights I've ordered from that website have already started to go out on me. Has anyone else ran into this problem?

[mjhpadi]

No, I haven't had any problems with the bulbs I've gotten.