DIY JDM style side mirrors combo lights (Signal+Parking+Courtesy lights)

Catch it at the A pillar. There's only 1 blue wire. You can't miss it.

 

Mine's done this afternoon. I agree with another poster that this is an advanced project.

I gave up on finding the blue wire under the dash & ran a single wire from the overhead light, down the driver's side B pillar and then under the dash. I used a staightened clothes hanger as a fish-tape to get the new wire from the light to the B pillar. After partially dismantling the B pillar covers, I ran the wire to the dash and the worked backward to the headliner, securing the wire with electrical tape. For the positive power, I used the same white with red mark connections as in the illuminated door sill instructions. Note that this wire is +12 V.

I wired the turn signals, puddle light +12V and ground in each footwell, then ran the parking light and puddle light negative to the driver's side. I took advantage of my fog light wiring to get the parking light power.

One bit of advice on the mirror R&R. Don't remove the white sticky stuff on the back of the mirror. After the install was complete, I drove around a but and discovered the driver's side mirror was vibrating. I partially removed the mirror and put auto-body "fun-dum on the mirror mount and pressed the mirror into place. Tomorrow's drive to work will determine if the mirror is secure now.

 

On the mirrors, I had the same issue however I found it was because the bottom side has two clips that you must 1) line up correctly and 2) have to press quite firmly to seat. This is the reason you had to pry with a screwdriver to "pop" them off. Once seated, I had no problem with them shaking, etc.

Congrats on finishing the project!

 

damn... I found a 3rd small blue wire all the way in the freakin back. It's so hard to reach. I'm ignoring the two larger gauge blue wires that are in the front.

I was about to just guess 50/50 on the wire now its... 33.33% chance
I'm trying to figure out if it's with a small pink wire that is shown with yours

 

Dude, do what I did after a few hours of frustration trying to find the blue wire. Run a wire down from the ceiling light for the negative side of the puddle lights. It won't take very long. Tip: make sure to pull off the door seals on either side of the B-pillar, as the B-piller trim panels have tabs that run under the door seals. Take off the lower part first, then there's a screw securing the lower end of the upper trim panel, then it will pop off (there's a fastener near the top like the door panels). Use a 3M quick-connect (red) rather than the T-tap connectors at the back of the light, and refer to Civicsky's description of the back of the ceiling light for the wire to connect to.

Knowing what I do know, I would immediately do that rather than waste time under the dash.

 

Get it at the A pillar where it meets the headliner. It's the only blue wire there. There's enough slack to T-tap it. It will not interfere with the airbag. To the person who can't get it to work, you didn't make contact with the copper wire. If you were to cut the blue wire, the dome light will shut off.

 

Thinking very hard about this. I'm curious why Civic sky didn't just tap the two wires directly?

Too scared about insurance in the case that I sell my car. I doubt it since It's paid off 100% but still.

 

Attempted to tap the rear dome. But I found 3 white wires. I don't know which one is which. In addition my black wires from the signal mirrors didn't reach nor do i feel like extending them so I gave up.

I tore apart the A-pillar drivers side.. It catches on some black plastic part so it doesn't open all the way. most likely in case of an accident it doesn't fly off and kill someone lol. I see 3 white wires connected together much like the ones that power the dome.. but no blue or pink wire...

 

Yessss! Finally Finished! As you can see my wiring sucks cause I didn't have versatile tap connectors. So if you see in the first photo I tapped a wire that tapped a wire that tapped at wire lolll. This is the picture of the footwell. So I can confirm tapping the (-)blue wire at the A pillar and the constant 12v+ at the foot well works.


Took apart the A pillar... I did indeed find the blue wire... only 1 and several others


I tapped it!


I was very very careful to route the wire over the side airbag and out of its F***ing way just in case lol.

 

Glad things worked out for you!

 

Hi PC,

There has not been a mirror post in a while, so I'll share with you know how my install went. :mod:

First: a VERY BIG thank you to CivicSky, 32Kcolors, cproaudio, Cloud, and all the other folks that posted their knowledge and experience in installing the mirrors. This definitely helped me, especially which wires to tap into and what to expect when I opened up panels. I agree this is NOT a project for beginners. I have over 30 years experience of opening up cars and installing stereos, fog lights, nav units, compass mirrors (before NAV), clocks, speakers, amps, and all manner of electronic gee-wizardry, but I always get a bit nervous when working on a brand new car (especially mine!)

We have a saying at work: "Good, fast, cheap. Pick two." It did not take me one hour to do the install. It was spread out over four days. If I paid a professional to do an install for me, the last thing I expect to find when I open a panel is a sloppy clump of wires dangling there. It may look good in the outside and it may even work, but the whole package to me includes the internal details which should reflect quality and pride in their work.

The reason I even mention this is that if I took my car in for service and they saw that mess while servicing a problem, they may (- and I say 'may') think they have a reason to void your warranty (if they could get away with claiming the wiring or mod caused the problem.)

. . .

The new mirror paint (I got my set from Nigel @JDM - I got in on the Prius group buy from last month) looked darker when I first opened the box, and after installing them they seem lighter? go figure... I think its the wax vs. the clear coat and how the sun light hits them.


I tested the LED units out with a 9v battery first. The running lights go out when the turn signal comes on, and after the blinking stops for a few seconds, the white running light comes back on - a very nice touch!

I won't do a step-by-step (Thanks again CivicSky!) but I will mention some things I ran across...

I pre-installed a couple of wires to make the job easier:
• Tapped in the blue wire at A Pillar (Puddle Lamps ground)
(I got the +12v tap location from the door sill instructions)

• Ran another wire for the parking lights (white driving LEDs) from drivers side under the carpet over to the passenger side. (Still not quite used to seeing these white mirror driving lights, but hey - its different)


I made a clip of the lights in action but it was too dark - I will try again later.

* First things first:
Install the units into the existing mirror housing.
- When you remove the door skins, keep an eye out for the tiny black felt vibration insulators. Sometimes they stick to the paint, connector, or fall off. There should be one for each pop connector.
- Once you have the mirrors off and you come from the bottom of the mirror (tilt it way up) you will see 2 notches on the black edge that indicate where to put the screw driver to pop the mirror loose.
* I asked earlier in the posts about using existing covers and cutting the notch with a dremel tool (to avoid paint costs). This may not work as some of the tabs that hold these new units to the mirror housing are in different places.
- To help pop off the covers, I used a bunch of small flat head screw drivers to hold the tabs back on the mirror covers, (tooth picks may work?) some dimes would not fit for me. When it eventually comes off, everything pops!
- I used a long zip tie with wires taped to one end to feed through the mirror housing and also door rubber boot. I removed the boot to feed the wires through the door into the car easier. I did not install the new mirror covers until I verified all the wiring worked. I also put tape on select bare metal edge areas to prevent rubbing (in case).

* Tapping in:
It was easier to get to some existing wires by unplugging them from their connectors. This put some slack into the wires. Some plugs on the drivers side effect the NAV unit and trip meter memory - Just resets some settings. Use a flat head screwdriver to pop the latch handle up, swing open & pull. I noticed on the passenger side they had a clear rubber tube for washer fluid running to the back - unusual...
* Just a note: I did not use plastic crimp taps, I carefully stripped about 3/16" bare wire, wrapped bare wires together, and soldered the connection. Then wrapped the works in black electricians tape, and held the wires to existing factory wire bundles using black cable zip ties. Once its all put back together, the additional wires are all but invisible.



:mod:
Question: Has anyone else noticed more wind noise coming from the drivers side mirror or the passenger mirror?
.

 

Nigel did say they applied wax after painting/clear-coating; however, I found haziness from this wax which was readily apparent on black. So I did the full Zaino treatment on the mirror covers (stripping off the wax with Dawn, claybarring, Z-AIO, three layers of Z5). The haziness is now completely gone and I highly recommend everyone does the same.

Great write-up and it'll definitely help future members!

 

I asked him about the paint and he said they will wax it afterward. But due to the mirror are not installed, they can't wax it as good as when they are installed. So he recommended me to do the same thing you did after I install the mirror.

 

Nope. No offense but I hope it's a problem unique to you

Is the sound high pitched? or just more white noise? They basically cover the same area as the old mirror covers.

 

I just noticed this question and I also just noticed this morning (because I drove w/o my music going) that I do indeed hear a new whistle/drone coming from the driver's side. Adjusting the window does not help. It is pretty subtle but noticeable.

 

Only people who didn't tap into the elusive blue wire experience this. To avoid this, you need to re-do the installation the proper way

Kidding aside, I bet it's always been there. We're just noticing the wind noise more because we're more aware of what's right outside of the windows, namely our new mirrors.

 

I did tap into the BLUE wire, but...
No 32K, I was driving along talking with my wife and noticed the wind noise (all windows were up). I was thinking about putting tape in different areas to try and see which crack may be causing the noise, but thought it may peel the new paint off. Maybe I will try electricians tape. I noticed while putting the LED units in the mirrors that they did not line up very well with existing seams and wondered about water getting in there. I did not consider wind noise. I can live with it, but really do not remember hearing it before - especially since I drive with the radio turned way down most of the time.
Suspect Wind Noise locations from New Mirrors with JDM LED Lights:
• From Seam at outer edge? (I'm guessing here)
• From Seam on bottom?

.

 

Hi Cloud, it sounds like a whistle coming from the outer edge...

 

Hey Zednepplin, carefully check that the new mirror cover is completely seated around the edges. I noticed that problem on mine.

I did find some gaps between the light and the mirror on the outside edge. I used sone automotive RTV silicone sealer. Since my car is blue, it's not very noticeable.