Ambient LED lighting for low-bridge console

DISCLAIMER: The following modifications, if done incorrectly, could cause damage to your car’s electrical system and other components. You may also void any warranties by Toyota or other 3rd party warranty companies by making these modifications. The author assumes no responsibilities for any modifications you do to your vehicle based on these instructions. These instructions only show how one person was able to make changes to modify an electrical sub-system and is not intended to be a sanctioned formula for others to follow. If you decide to do this modification, you do so at your own risk. Many of you wanted ambient lighting under the sky-bridge for the low-bridge console and it is possible to add factory-looking LED lights for this purpose. Also, it is easy to add a main cup holder light as well. There is no kit from Toyota available so parts are needed from a couple of stores to perform this modification. If you are skilled at automotive electrical modifications, you should be able to do this. If you are a novice or don’t understand 12 volt automotive electrics, this might not be a project for you. Having some experience in these types of modifications, I would rate this upgrade as a 9 on a scale of 1 to 10 on difficulty. Allow a full day after the parts are acquired to do this modification. Difficulty is due to: Working it tight areas under the dash Splicing required on a very small wire harness. Removal of the lower glove box Removal of the center console Some wire fishing behind the dash Drilling holes below the sky-bridge and in the cup holder Some soldering done in the car For this project, keep in mind that polarity matters. The LEDs can only be connected one way. The red wires on the LEDs are the POSITIVE side and the black wires are the NEGATIVE side. The Toyota color coded wires I tied into are green which is POSITIVE and white which is NEGATIVE. Polarity throughout the wiring must be properly maintained. Parts needed: 2 green LED lights by Radio Shack part # 276-0271 1 box of splice connectors 16 to 14 gauge by Doorman (purchased at Checker Automotive) 5 feet of solid (not stranded) green thermostat or doorbell wire 18 gauge 5 feet of solid (not stranded) white thermostat or doorbell wire 18 gauge 10 inches of solid (not stranded) red thermostat or doorbell wire 18 gauge 10 inches of solid (not stranded) black thermostat or doorbell wire 18 gauge Heat shrink tubing or black electrical tape Note: solid wire works better for wire-fishing, routing, shaping and soldering. Tools needed: Pliers Wire cutter Drill (portable) 9/32 bit and 5/16 bit Small rat-tail file Screw driver Small ratchet wrench set with extension and 10 mm socket Soldering gun (small), solder and flux Powerful flashlight Process: (Allow a full day for this project) Open LED packages and add 5 more inches of both red and black wire to the leads on each bulb. Solder the extensions on each lead. Then either cover with electrical tape or use some heat-shrink tubing over each join to protect and insulate. Waving a lighter under the tubing works well – just go easy and stop when the tubing has shrunk. Note that there are small nuts on the LEDs that have to come off for mounting. Be sure your extension joints are small enough so the nuts can be removed and replaced. Also, these joints need to pass thru a small hole that you will drill – again, keep them as small as possible. Now strip 3/8 inch of insulation from your extensions. Next prepare the power wires. Take 5 feet of both white and green solid (not stranded) wire and twist one end. Place twisted end firmly into your drill chuck (hopefully, it’s a portable). Now with a pliers, hold the other end away putting some tension on the wires. Get a helper to either hold the end of the 2 wires or to run the drill. Turn on the drill and slowly twist both wires together but not too tightly to make one easy-to-use wire. See pictures. This twisted wire will shape nicely during the fishing process and for shaping behind the dash. Preparing the car: First, remove the lower glove box. Open it and with a flat screw driver, gently pry off the black dampener assembly from the right side of the open box. Be careful not to break this so proceed slowly. Next, use the screwdriver to pry between the outer sides of the box just enough to release the rear tabs holding the box in place. After both tabs are free and forward, lift the box out of the pivots underneath it. You will notice a small round opening just above the box cavity with a black plastic conduit going towards the firewall. Carefully unsnap this assembly, which is the glove box LED by gently prying or pulling upwards on it. Once out, disconnect the mini-harness from the LED assembly. Here’s the tricky part: Very carefully remove about 2 inches of the black flex conduit. A sharp scissors should work but be careful not to cut the 2 small wires inside (green and white). Always cut away from the wires inside. There is also some black tape near the harness that needs to be carefully removed. Again, DO NOT CUT OR NICK THE WIRES. Now there should be about 2 inches of exposed green and white wire. This is the power take-off point. Next remove the center console. Open the top and remove the secondary cup holder and the bottom black felt. It will reveal 4 bolts (10mm). Remove bolts with a ratchet wrench plus extension. There is a small curved plastic cover where the secondary cup holder sits. With a small screwdriver, gently pry it out and there is one more bolt revealed. Remove this bolt. The center console can be removed by pulling back and lifting up. Note, there is a harness underneath that needs to be disconnected to free the assembly. Put the console and glove box in a safe, clean area for now. Stow all the bolts in a container. The good news is they are all the same size. Next, remove the vertical metal brace that has a brown electrical component attached to it. It has 6 more bolts: 2 upper, 2 lower and 2 on each upper side facing the seats. Lift this structure out and note the brown component has a nylon clip attaching it. Squeeze the tab with a pliers and remove. Note the position for reassembly. Store the bolts and structure with other parts. You will see the rear base of the main cup holder is now exposed. Put a 9/32 bit in a portable drill. Locate the up-slanted plastic piece just behind the felted area under the sky-bridge console. It is the area towards the rear (not the forward section with the power and USB slots). This a section of plastic is also viewable from the rear below the main cup holder. Measure halfway from either edge and 4 centimeters from the bottom (felted area). That is the center mark and a desirable height for the LED light. Mark spot and drill a hole. Note: you might have to use a larger drill or file out the hole with a rat-tail file if the LED assembly won’t set in place. Trim away any plastic burrs. Next, move both front seats forward as far as they will go. From the back seat, find the rear of the main cup holder (exposed) and measure up from its bottom about 3 centimeters centering towards the rear of the cup holder (black plastic). Drill a hole and remove any plastic burrs. Remove the mounting nuts from the LEDs and press each LED thru the hole so the lens points forward. The cup holder’s LED will be inserted from inside. Now attach the nuts to secure the LEDs in place. Do not over-tighten. Take the twisted green and white wire and return to the front passenger seat (move it back). Untwist about 2 inches from one end of the green/white wire. Trim for blunt ends – no exposed wire. Locate the power take-off wires prepared earlier. Start with the green wires and get out a splicer from the package. Note they are “guillotine†style. That is, a small blade with slots presses on the wires to form a contact. Put the glove box green wire in the outermost grove of the splicer. The green wire from your assembly goes in the innermost grove but only far enough to catch the blade. Press down on the “guillotine†blade with a pliers and then press the plastic snap in place. Now do the same process for the white wire. You should now have power along your new run. Test this by stripping 3/8 inch off of the other ends of your twisted wire. Temporarily join by twisting one of the LED’s wires as follows: twist the GREEN wire to the RED wire. Twist the WHITE wire to the BLACK wire. Be sure none of the temporary connections touch each other or any metal car parts! Now turn on the parking lights (turn signal one click rotation). You should see your LED illuminate. If not, check your connections at the glove box or with a pliers, gently squeeze down on each guillotine splicer to be sure of connectivity. Once you get an LED to light up, turn off the parking lights and disconnect the temporary test connection to the LED. If not, recheck your work to find the fault. Be very careful not to cause a short-circuit. Now re-attach the glove box LED and re-snap it into its position above the glove box. Be sure the lens faces downwards. The next step is to wire-fish the new power line. Start with the far end and route it towards the center of the car inside the upper glove box cavity. There is a plastic trim piece that runs along the carpet-line forming the edge of the center console. Thread the wire behind it making sure the wire is high enough and out of the way of the movement of where the glove box will go. Push the wire thru so you see it emerge below the console trim. Pull it down and make sure the wire in the cavity is high and out of the way of the box movement. Carefully tuck up the pulled wire all along that trim piece along the carpet-line so it is above the carpet at least 2 inches. Keep routing it so it will re-emerge near the rear of the cup holder. There should be some excess wire, allow for enough excess to work comfortably w