jxmoth
OEM+ Whore
- Location
- Rhode Island
From my VWVortex post:
This is going to be the worst DIY ever because I didn't take any photos as I went along. It's simple enough that anyone should be able to do it, but I'm going to try and be as descriptive as possible. I may also borrow some photos from DIY's that other members have posted.
I'll be borrowing photos from Rob (the.ronin). Rob, if you don't want me using these photos, I can take them off.
Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any damage you inflict upon the components of your vehicle and/or the vehicle itself while performing this DIY.
Hardware:
(2) 12" cold cathode...in whatever color you please. (http://www.oznium.com/cathode-kit)
Oznium sells the kit as TWO 12" tubes with a transformer. Very awesome deal at <$10 shipped
Double stick tape
Electrical tape
18 gauge wire
-Red
-Black
Tools:
T25 Torx
Wire splicer
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Start by removing the center console shields at the bottom. These are pretty simple. One screw and pull. The screws are located under the wheel well behind an oval tab.
Remove both the driver and passenger sides and put them aside.
It's time to move onto the gear shift selector and the coin tray. It's pretty simple, take a credit card and pry off the gear shift selector cover.
Once it's loose, peel it up over the shift knob to get it out of the way. Disconnect the harness underneath the plate. There's no need to remove the whole thing since it'll only complicate the process. It'll be easier if it were a manual though.
Anywho...
There are two screws on either side of the coin tray securing it to the console. Remove the screws and put them along side the other screws we just removed. No need to organize them since they're all T25 screws.
After the two screws are removed pick up the coin tray and disconnect both the ESP harness and the cigarette lighter harness. You can use your finger to pinch the tabs or a flathead screwdriver to make your life easier if you've got fat fingers like I do.
That's pretty much it for the taking stuff apart...uhhh...part!
This is where I should've taken photos... :banghead:
Grab your set of cathode tubes and check it out.
Two 12" tubes...transformer. Simple.
The red/black wires on this kit were a bit short so I extended them by splicing the wires and adding on about 8" to both, respectively. Splice about 1/16th of an inch off each end and twist them together then tape them up using electrical tape. If I can do it, you can do it.
Connect the kit together. A two year old can do this. Square pegs don't fit in round holes type sh*t.
If you look at the naked console we just took apart...you can actually look through to the other side. w00t. This makes life a hell of a lot easier. Just under the footwell right under the coin tray and before the throttle.
Excuse everything except the red square.
Make sure everything is connected to the transformer. Start feeding one tube through to the other side of the console through the magical hole that we just found and hide the transformer box somewhere under the cointray. Wherever it'll fit.
Now, time to slice and dice.
Feed the red/black wires we extended earlier between the coin tray and gear selector plate. It'll be a lot easier to work in this space. You can also cut some of the cloth tape used to bundle the wires together so that it'll become longer and easier to work with.
Grab the cigarette lighter harness and locate the brown(ground) and gray(power) wires. We'll work one at a time.
Strip the brown wire about 1/8th of an inch to expose the wire underneath. Twist the black wire onto the exposed threads and tape it using the electrical tape. Do the same with the gray+red wires.
Once they're both connected, turn on your headlights to make sure that they work. You'll know because your lights will light up. DUH!
Yay! We're pretty much done.
Put the car back together.
Mounting:
You can mount these anywhere you'd like within the confines of the length of the cable. Cut out (4) small squares of double stick tape and put them on each end of the tubes.
Now, enjoy your ambient footwell lighting.
These lights will only turn on when you turn your headlight switch. They'll be on whether you're running just parking lights or full headlights, fogs, etc. They can also be dimmed using the dimmer switch next to the headlight switch. I wouldn't recommend dimming cold cathodes though.
This is going to be the worst DIY ever because I didn't take any photos as I went along. It's simple enough that anyone should be able to do it, but I'm going to try and be as descriptive as possible. I may also borrow some photos from DIY's that other members have posted.
I'll be borrowing photos from Rob (the.ronin). Rob, if you don't want me using these photos, I can take them off.
Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any damage you inflict upon the components of your vehicle and/or the vehicle itself while performing this DIY.
Hardware:
(2) 12" cold cathode...in whatever color you please. (http://www.oznium.com/cathode-kit)
Oznium sells the kit as TWO 12" tubes with a transformer. Very awesome deal at <$10 shipped
Double stick tape
Electrical tape
18 gauge wire
-Red
-Black
Tools:
T25 Torx
Wire splicer
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Start by removing the center console shields at the bottom. These are pretty simple. One screw and pull. The screws are located under the wheel well behind an oval tab.
Remove both the driver and passenger sides and put them aside.
It's time to move onto the gear shift selector and the coin tray. It's pretty simple, take a credit card and pry off the gear shift selector cover.
Once it's loose, peel it up over the shift knob to get it out of the way. Disconnect the harness underneath the plate. There's no need to remove the whole thing since it'll only complicate the process. It'll be easier if it were a manual though.
Anywho...
There are two screws on either side of the coin tray securing it to the console. Remove the screws and put them along side the other screws we just removed. No need to organize them since they're all T25 screws.
After the two screws are removed pick up the coin tray and disconnect both the ESP harness and the cigarette lighter harness. You can use your finger to pinch the tabs or a flathead screwdriver to make your life easier if you've got fat fingers like I do.
That's pretty much it for the taking stuff apart...uhhh...part!
This is where I should've taken photos... :banghead:
Grab your set of cathode tubes and check it out.
Two 12" tubes...transformer. Simple.
The red/black wires on this kit were a bit short so I extended them by splicing the wires and adding on about 8" to both, respectively. Splice about 1/16th of an inch off each end and twist them together then tape them up using electrical tape. If I can do it, you can do it.
Connect the kit together. A two year old can do this. Square pegs don't fit in round holes type sh*t.
If you look at the naked console we just took apart...you can actually look through to the other side. w00t. This makes life a hell of a lot easier. Just under the footwell right under the coin tray and before the throttle.
Excuse everything except the red square.
Make sure everything is connected to the transformer. Start feeding one tube through to the other side of the console through the magical hole that we just found and hide the transformer box somewhere under the cointray. Wherever it'll fit.
Now, time to slice and dice.
Feed the red/black wires we extended earlier between the coin tray and gear selector plate. It'll be a lot easier to work in this space. You can also cut some of the cloth tape used to bundle the wires together so that it'll become longer and easier to work with.
Grab the cigarette lighter harness and locate the brown(ground) and gray(power) wires. We'll work one at a time.
Strip the brown wire about 1/8th of an inch to expose the wire underneath. Twist the black wire onto the exposed threads and tape it using the electrical tape. Do the same with the gray+red wires.
Once they're both connected, turn on your headlights to make sure that they work. You'll know because your lights will light up. DUH!
Yay! We're pretty much done.
Put the car back together.
Mounting:
You can mount these anywhere you'd like within the confines of the length of the cable. Cut out (4) small squares of double stick tape and put them on each end of the tubes.
Now, enjoy your ambient footwell lighting.
These lights will only turn on when you turn your headlight switch. They'll be on whether you're running just parking lights or full headlights, fogs, etc. They can also be dimmed using the dimmer switch next to the headlight switch. I wouldn't recommend dimming cold cathodes though.
Last edited:
