Foot well lighting when front doors are opened

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. For those of you who wanted foot well lighting in your Model II (maybe the III), it is possible. There is no kit from Toyota available for this so parts are needed from a couple of stores to perform this modification. Some bad news…if you put the lighted door sills on your car, it might not be possible to add foot well lights as they tie into the same circuit and may set off an overload. That said, 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 an 8 on a scale of 1 to 10 on difficulty. This is partly due to working it tight areas under the dash and the splicing required in a difficult wire harness cluster. Parts needed: 2 external license plate lights by Optronics part # LP-31CS (purchased at Checker Automotive) 1 box of splice connectors 16 to 14 gauge by Doorman (purchased at Checker Automotive) 5 feet of solid (not stranded) red thermostat or doorbell wire 18 gauge 5 feet of solid (not stranded) white thermostat or doorbell wire 18 gauge 2 interlocking power connectors - both male and female ends (two lead) found at Radio Shack White spray primer paint (Kilz) Black spray paint (any) Foam rubber – 2 small pieces Tools needed: Pliers Wire cutter Crimper (optional) Super glue or equivalent Drill (portable) Screw driver Soldering gun (small), solder and flux Powerful flashlight Process: Open lamp packages and note the chrome cover plates are separate. First prime them, let dry and then put a final coat of black paint on them. This is done so you won’t see the lamp covers once they are installed. Remove the black plastic upper kick panels on both driver and passenger side. The passenger side is easy as a few plastic tabs can be pressed in and the panel lifts up and out. Note the prong position toward firewall as it fits in a white plastic socket. The driver’s side requires removal of 2 screws towards front of the panel and then press 2 tabs to release it. Once free, you will note that the TPMS reset button has a connector. Press its tab and extract it from the panel (leave button assembly in place). Now pull off the second tab that holds the wire harness. It removes easily. Again, note where the prong fits into the firewall. Take the panels to your work area. Remove inner plastic sill plates. They snap out fairly easily. Begin at the carpet-line and pull outward. Once unsnapped, pull upwards and the pieces will come out. Remove side kick panels. Find black plastic nut towards back and unscrew to remove. There are two body buttons holding the forward section of the kick panels. Press downwards to free the upper one and then pull towards the center console to extract the panels. Keep all these parts together in another area. After the lens cover plates are dry from painting, stage them on the underside of the upper kick panels. Location should be as close to center as possible and near the release tabs for even lighting. Also, place them more towards the clips (see photo). Once staged, drill holes in the plastic to align with the holes in the covers (screws should be supplied). The passenger panel already has a square hole that can be used to fish the wires thru so be sure you stage that cover over the hole. The driver’s side will need a hole drilled (5/16 inch) for the wires to feed thru. Once drilled, install the bulb assembly, push wires thru hole, and screw on cover plate. Remember to face the cover plate so the direction of the light is towards the firewall and not towards passengers (see picture). Open power connectors from Radio Shack. If the leads on the bulb wires are not exposed, trim insulation so ¼ inch of wire is exposed and twist strands. Find the male and female prong sets in the connector packages. I recommend soldering the wire leads to prongs. A small amount of solder will prevent any loose connections. Keep in mind that both the female prongs (larger) will go on the bulb side and both the male prongs (smaller) will go on the power connector side. Put the exposed wire from the bulbs into the channels on the prongs and crimp. Either a needle nose pliers or a crimper will work. Now solder the prongs to the wire. There are two plastic connectors that mate. Find the one that has the larger holes to insert prongs from the BACKSIDE of the connector. If you have the male plastic connector, the prongs won’t fit so choose the other one. Now press in the prongs in the connector half until they snap into place. Next prepare the power wires. Take 2 ½ feet of both white and red 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. Turn on the drill and slowly twist both wires together but not too tightly. See pictures. This twisted wire will shape nicely once you install them back in the car. Do this for the other set as well. Strip the ends of one side of each set of twisted wires. Locate the male prongs of the power connectors and place the stripped wire ends into each and crimp. Again, solder each one to the prongs to guarantee good connectivity. Take the other plastic connecting pieces and from the BACKSIDE, press the prongs into place until they lock. You now have the components completed. Press together the connectors to each bulb assembly. They should snap and lock. Next, cut small squares of foam rubber large enough to accommodate the connector assemblies. Using a carpet knife, cut out an area big enough to cradle the connector assemblies but not all the way thru. Also, cut slots on the ends so the wires can be fitted thru them on each side. Stage the connectors inside the foam beds on the kick panels as shown in the pictures. Lay a bead of superglue underneath and press the foam rubber bed onto it. Allow to dry. You are now ready to install the kick panels with foot well lighting. Start with the passenger side as it is easier. Replace the upper kick panel and allow the twisted wire to run along the outside area of the wire harnesses closest to the door (see photo). Curve the twisted wire up from the bottom. Carefully remove the white tape holding the two harnesses together. I decided to trim away some of the back tape and plastic on the larger harness to expose more wire. If you do this be VERY careful not to cut any of the wires inside. You can do this splicing “hot†(no need to disconnect the battery) by unsnapping and unplugging the larger harness (lower). Note that the courtesy light in the door goes out. Locate pins 12 and 24 in the harness which are the second row of wires from the bottom. One wire has a red stripe and the other wire has a blue stripe. Get out 2 splicers from the package and note they are “guillotine†style. That is, a small blade with slots presses on the wires to form a contact. Start with the red wire and the red striped wire. Put red striped wire in the outermost grove of the splicer. The red wire from your assembly goes in the innermost grove. Press down on the “guillotine†blade with a pliers and then press the plastic snap in place. Now do the same for the blue striped wire and the white wire. Plug the harness back into its slot. You should see the foot well lamp illuminate along with the courtesy light. If not, use a pliers and gently squeeze each splicer to be sure connectivity has been made. If this still does not work, go back and check out all connections within your work. Once the foot well lamp lights, press the black button along the door frame to confirm it goes out with the courtesy lamp. The driver side is a bit more complex. Once the TPMS clips are reconnected, screw the kick panel back into place. Route the red and white twisted wire above the plastic arch and above hood release cable and then along the body nearest the door. There is some gray insulation that you can route the wire behind. Again, bend the wires up from the bottom to reach the harness. If a security system was installed, finding the correct wires will be more difficult. Basically, follow the same steps as the passenger side except the wires you need are in a different location. Find pins 24 and 12 near the TOP of the lower connector. Splice the red wire to the red striped wire and the white wire to the yellow striped wire in the harness respectively. Follow the same testing as the passenger side. Replace the side kick panels – be sure the body buttons connect properly to their respective holes. Secure the black nuts. Replace the inner side sill plates. Start car and be sure all features worked as before. You might be wondering why I went thru so much trouble on the lamp assemblies with connectors. For one, any future maintenance required above the kick plates can be easily done as all a mechanic needs to do is unsnap the connection to the foot well light to remove the panel. Also, the foam bed eliminates the possibility of adding a new interior rattle or noise.