SE add footwell lights from higher trims

@purplePriii , i have the le trim and i can locate the holes on the bottom panels where the footwell led assemblies are retained in place. what i'm uncertain of is where will the led gets its power when the let trim may not be pre-wired for footwell lighting. i surmise the le trim must be missing the footwell wiring harnesses and where will they be plugged in? any insights is appreciated.

 

I suggest you reread the initial post more carefully. It’s pretty clear and steps you through the process in a very logical way to do the entire installation.

 

thanks @purplePriii for the sanity check. i couldn't find any wiring harness for the foot well led after removing the cowl hence came to the conclusion the le trim must not have been pre-wired for the foot well lights.

 

This is probably more than anyone here wants, but Toyota Japan does make a kit for adding footwell lights to all seats. One kit is for only the rear seats(for cars that already have lights in the front), and one kit is for both front and rear. Biggest problems are the cost(medium terrible - $100-150), and the (only in) Japanese instructions(more terrible - and you also need to flip some of the instructions since the kit is made for a RHD car). I've got the back seat version but haven't installed them yet.

0852B-47080 - rear seat version
0852B-47090 - four seat version

If you decide to get either of these, you'll have to order through something like Yahoo! Japan, or an importer like JP-CarParts or Impex Japan.

 

I'm gonna follow your journey because you're doing things I'd be interested in doing with lights, and it really seems like the Canadian SE model is easier to get some of these small upgrades on than the US LE model.

After work or at lunch Ill read in more detail but if the lights are super cheap and easy to install, I may as well go for it!

 

If the light is shunted from the glove box light, wouldn't the footlights only light when the glove box is opened?

 

$88 & $101 @ Impex, plus about $20 shipping.

Are the installation guides online?

 

the glove box illumination should have its own switch to turn on when the glove box door is opened. i think the foot well lights just stay lit the whole time.

 

In the trims that ship with footwell lighting, are they continuously on?

 

sorry i wasn't clear in my earlier response. the oem toyota harness should not be tapping the foot well lights from the glove compartment illumination. @purplePriii mentioned he'll try to find out how the oem foot well harnesses are wired.

below is the other wiring from aliexpress that uses the glove box led. i suspect this workaround setup will have the foot well lights stay lit.

 

In the trims that ship with the footwell lights, do they stay on whenever the car is on, or do they only turn on when the interior lights are on?

If they're always on, they must be rather dim?

The LE model doesn't have the harness, would have to run power from the fuse box or another source. Though perhaps the harness could be purchased?

 

According to the wiring diagram, the official wires go to two different points (though you can get around that a tiny bit).

The main connectors are K20 and K21 that both go into the Power Distribution Box Assembly(PDBA) that's sandwiched onto the Main Body ECU in the dash on the far left side(it's right around the drivers dash vent, but down a little bit and deeper toward the firewall).

K21(18) - left footwell (red)
K21(19) - right footwell (light blue)

K20(44) - interior lights(pink) - this line comes from a 5A fuse that controls the dome lights and goes to a junction connector(K116) that services the footwell lights, the red/blue dash LEDs, and the light at the front of the center console(right above the "hidden compartment").

The correct terminals are:
K116(7) - left footwell (black)
K116(8) - right footwell (red)

So you could either add terminals to K116(7&8), or just tap K20(44) as it comes out of the PDBA.

The kit from Toyota Japan does it a different way. It includes a switch that you mount in the dash to control the lights manually. From what I can tell, one of the wires goes to a connector not on the USA version of the car, and I haven't figured out what the corresponding connector is yet(if there is one). It adds a terminal to one of the PDBA plugs that's otherwise unused. I think the other end goes to a connector that's meant for optional accessories that are Japan-market only. If you put a gun to my head, I bet it's for a toll road autopay system that can be integrated into the dash.

At the moment, I think I'm going to custom wire my rear seat footwell lights off the front lights instead of using the included harness with the switch.




If you'd want to build your own front footwell lights from stock parts:
82998-24290 - metal terminals to go into K21 and K116 (need 4 total)
90980-11918 - plastic connectors that go into the LED lights (need 2)
82998-12690 - metal terminals to go the above connectors (need 4 total)
81080-33290 - the LEDs themselves (need 2)
wire to connect the terminals (probably 20AWG because it's easily available, but I bet 22 or 24AWG would be just fine)

The metal terminals are massively overpriced through Toyota, so searching the part numbers on AliExpress or other sources is probably a better bet.



If any of you are interested in more info, I can print out the wiring diagrams from TIS and/or scan the Japanese instructions using my printer. But I have to head out now so it will be a bit before I can get to it.

 

In my car (Gen 4) the footwell lights are bright when entering/exiting the car, but as soon as the car is in Ready mode they dim down, but still remain on.

 

Thanks

Achieving that functionality may require wiring the lights into the same circuit as the dome lights.

 

For the LE, possibly preferable to install the wiring harness used on the higher trims of the North American vehicles.

Though perhaps it's not a separate harness.

 

looks like the aliexpress route is the more practical path.

 

Certainly the most cost effective, but seems unlikely to offer the same functionality as that of the higher trims.

Would prefer a high brightness when the dome lights are on (doors are open), then continually dim otherwise.

 

Behavior of stock footwell lights:

Doors unlocked/opened: 100% brightness
Car shifted into drive or reverse: <50% brightness
Car shifted into park: 100% brightness
Car locked or left shut off for some number of minutes: lights off

All brightness changes are gradual, not sharp.