Adding LED interior lights

[BrianD]

I do a lot of driving at nite - I turn my outside mirrors down to avoid being blinded by passing cars - I bought 2 small blue LED lights (like mini spot lights), that fasten with 2 sided tape, that plug into a cigarette lighter. I want to place them so they illuminate the mirror control and power window switches so I can find them in the dark. I'd like to wire them directly into a 12 volt power source and cut off the lighter plug in part of it. I'd like to get a used OEM switch that fits into the lower center dash to turn them off/ on. I need the cigarette lighter socket for my MP3 player holder /charger and currently there's no off/on for the LED lights anyway.

Anyone out there know how I cud do this?

PS - I suck with electrical but can solder and know how to use a electrical tester...to a point.

Will the OEM swith work with these lights?

PS #2 - Still can't get my rear wiper werking - it still blows fuses - I had a look at the rear wiper motor amplifier yesterday as suggested - Yep - it's black plastic! LOL how do ya test it?

[Slartibartfast]

I'm not familiar with the R50 interior, but if I was to do this on my WD, I'd be inclined to tie it into the parking lights (you could wire to the cigarette lighter, but this'll save you a switch). Pull the cigarette lighter or mp3 charger or whatever from the socket, put your charger to 12v, and test the socket to figure out which part is + and which is -. If you test it backwards the needle will go the wrong way (or it'll show -12v if you've got a digital meter). Then find a good place to splice into the parking lights, test polarity there, and hook up accordingly (+ to +, - to -). Solder them up and cover with shrink wrap if you've got any. Liquid electrical tape or that self fusing silicone tape would also work. (I've had little success with regular electrical tape on small wires.)

 

I'm not sure what oem switch you're talking about. Due to the low current draw of an LED, I suspect pretty much anything in the truck will power these. If you want them on button control, find a blanking plate, and put a switch there instead. I've got a blank plate in mine that I'll probably replace with a second hazard light switch at some point, wired to a set of driving lights. Every blank plate in a Nissan will take a switch. If you can't find an original switch, or it won't work for your application, just drill a hole in the plate and put a switch there.

 

You can pull off some of the door and kick panel trim stuff to run the wires into the doors (assuming that's where you want them). Sounds like you've got mounting under control, though. Some cars have lighted window switches. If you feel brave, you could try drilling holes in the switch buttons, and stick an LED or two under them. Of course, this is a whole new can of worms... I've just sort of learned where stuff is in mine, so I don't have to take my eyes off the road.

 

I'm no help on the wiper amplifier. But (on the WD anyway) you can easily access the wiper motor by removing the trim from the rear door. A little oil on the moving parts might help; if the motor's straining to push a sticky linkage, it'll draw more amps.

Edited October 23, 2011 by Slartibartfast

[BrianD]

I'm not familiar with the R50 interior, but if I was to do this on my WD, I'd be inclined to tie it into the parking lights (you could wire to the cigarette lighter, but this'll save you a switch). Pull the cigarette lighter or mp3 charger or whatever from the socket, put your charger to 12v, and test the socket to figure out which part is + and which is -. If you test it backwards the needle will go the wrong way (or it'll show -12v if you've got a digital meter). Then find a good place to splice into the parking lights, test polarity there, and hook up accordingly (+ to +, - to -). Solder them up and cover with shrink wrap if you've got any. Liquid electrical tape or that self fusing silicone tape would also work. (I've had little success with regular electrical tape on small wires.)

 

I'm not sure what oem switch you're talking about. Due to the low current draw of an LED, I suspect pretty much anything in the truck will power these. If you want them on button control, find a blanking plate, and put a switch there instead. I've got a blank plate in mine that I'll probably replace with a second hazard light switch at some point, wired to a set of driving lights. Every blank plate in a Nissan will take a switch. If you can't find an original switch, or it won't work for your application, just drill a hole in the plate and put a switch there.

 

You can pull off some of the door and kick panel trim stuff to run the wires into the doors (assuming that's where you want them). Sounds like you've got mounting under control, though. Some cars have lighted window switches. If you feel brave, you could try drilling holes in the switch buttons, and stick an LED or two under them. Of course, this is a whole new can of worms... I've just sort of learned where stuff is in mine, so I don't have to take my eyes off the road.

 

I'm no help on the wiper amplifier. But (on the WD anyway) you can easily access the wiper motor by removing the trim from the rear door. A little oil on the moving parts might help; if the motor's straining to push a sticky linkage, it'll draw more amps.

Thanx for the info - sorry for the late reply - I am just too busy to get to doing it rite now but I apprciate U responding to this. Thanx Again - Brian