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VM010: Footwell LEDs

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6.9K views 22 replies 6 participants last post by  Vangm25  
#1 · (Edited)
08 Camry Base/CE

Hi all,
I already tried searching for how to do footwell lighting. There was a thread that had all the instructions but the user deleted it all about three plus years ago. Now the only "good" thread I could find has the LEDs connected to the exterior lights so when the driver turns on his lights his footwell lighting will light up. I don't want that. I found a thread that had some info on what I want to do but it has only some info and not enough for me to understand properly all I could really sorta understand was that I could maybe use the Ignition Key Cylinder light for it.

What I want to do is have my footwell lighting light up when I turn the dome light switch to either DOOR or ON. I believe I am able to do this at connector EQ1 with PIN 16 and PIN 18 or PIN 15. I then just need to ground them anywhere but while I can do some electrical diagnosis on my own I tend to forget how individual devices (light bulb) go from positive to negative. I attached a wiring diagram of how I believe the positives go to negative. I am sure I am too confused on something simple and I am probably confusing you all on I am trying to do. Sorry if I don't make much sense.

If I were to do physical testing I would probably be able to understand what I am trying to do more but getting the theory on how it works helps with physical testing or installation.

Theories
  • PIN 15 to LED to GROUND: This one seems right because I get power and I get ground but... am I just bypassing the switch all together now and the LEDs always stay on? (Picture 2)
  • PIN 16 & 18 to LED to GROUND:This one also seems right because now I am connected to DOOR and ON on the Dome Switch but... am I getting power? My wiring diagram "says" I am not getting power. (Picture 3)

Picture (this wiring diagram is for a 2007 Toyota Camry
  • Green = Positive
  • Red = Negative
  • Yellow = Pin
  • Green with Black Outline = Postive
  • Red with Black Outline = Negative

Useful Link
https://www.toyotanation.com/forum/104-camry-5th-6th-gen-2002-2006-2007-2011-2nd-gen-solara-2004-2008/411104-dome-supervision-wire.html?411104=#post3839929
The only thing confusing is that the connectors and pins "do not match".

Afterthoughts
  • Looking at Picture 3 again I see that I might not be able to do what I want so I may be limited to either DOOR or ON
  • I have to use the coat hanger method an connect it directly to the dome light
  • I would be willing to get an extra set of LEDs so that the DOOR and the ON wires are independent
 

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#2 ·
This might be more work than you want, but have you thought about tapping into the dome light assembly itself to get the switched power you need? I’ve looked into doing the map lights tied into the dome light mod (but couldn’t find a way to tie it in on the map light side) but there is switched power you can tap into on the assembly, and run a wire to your footwell LED’s then?

If your dome light is an LED, I doubt your LED footwell lights would put too much of a strain on the system, but you could always set up a relay instead.

Hopefully that makes sense, that’s how I would approach it. Looking for the dome light and map light mod DIY should point you in the right direction of where to tap into at the light. For what it’s worth I didn’t solder, just a bolt, nut, and wire connector through a small, preexisting hole.
 
#3 ·
I would first run together the LEDs and make sure you have them wired correctly. Run them in parallel as opposed to serial, meaning run a wire (I'd do red) to each positive lead on the LEDs, then a black on the negatives (use whatever color wire you want/have, but I find this is easier to trouble shoot later). Then attach the positive run to a source power and negative to a ground location to make sure the LEDs are working and not too bright or too dim (before you wire it all in location and find out). If too bright you can wire in small resistors before each positive tie in to the LED and see how the light comes out. Just don;t put too high a resistor or it may smoke and go out, possibly start a fire in the car. Not good.

Once you do that and it is fine, run a positive wire from the Q9 pin 3 spot (tap the wire). Since it is after the bulb you may get some resistance on the line, meaning dimmer LED output. Since you want DOOR as well, you may need to junction Pin 2 and 3 into a wire feed.
 
#4 ·
My main thing is that I don't want to run wire through the headliner... rather I just want to do all I can to not do this. From the looks of it, I can do most of what I want at EQ1 which is either under the steering wheel or near the A-piller. If that thread still had its instructions still up on how to run it though the headliner, I would be slightly willing to do it like that.

Otherwise, though it may be more work, I might just have two sets of LEDs for DOOR and ON because I think that would be safest. If anyone has any other suggestions, post them since there is no "good thread" on how to do footwell lighting.
 
#5 ·
So this is what I am decided on as of right now. Since technically the rear doors does not have door lights, I won't have the DOOR function for the rear footwells and only have them for the front. For the ON function, I will have this as a separate from the DOOR function and I will have it set up for all sides. If anyone has any better ideas, I am all ears and hopefully this thread can perhaps help out others searching for how to do this for the Gen 6 Camry because there are no good threads for us.
 

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#6 ·
Interested to see how it comes out. I have always planned on adding LEDs (blue) to the footwells and door latch areas among other spots, and tying them into the light sensor so they just come on when the light sensor triggers absence of light. Or if too hard to my headlights (relay hooked to trigger off HL power on). I figure the LEDs won't be very visible in the daylight so that works fine enough for me.
 
#7 ·
I'm just trying to make it nice and simple and there is not much else I want. I am interested in adding LEDs in other locations but... just having the footwells light up is enough for me. Anything extra makes me feel to ricey. I have checked out the other How-To's relating to the power mirrors and LED door handles but... at that point that is too much for me, my skill, and the exterior look of my car.

The color I want to get is just a white natural light from SuperBrightLEDs. My Camry is silver so to me realistically the only good color is red... but I don't like it. So "white" = "white".
 
#8 ·
This is what I found so far. The EQ1 connector is at the bottom of the FL A-Piller, you just have to remove the trim. I disconnected the connector with and without the battery connected and the domelight & maplights do turn off. Connector EQ1 looks like it is not connected to the airbags so I risked it the second time to see what happens if I disconnect it. Luckily once it is connected the only part of the wiring harness you need to modify has no power. So this is the connector that I believe I need to connect to and luckily it is relatively accessible.

Pin 15 = 12V POWER
Pin 16 = DOOR
Pin 18 = ON

I've ordered four LED strips from SUPERBRIGHTLEDs, two for the front DOOR and two for the rear ON to see how it works. I just need some wiring and some grounds. PIN 16 & 18 has separate grounds for a reason so I will probably have separate grounds.
 

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#9 ·
Nice! I love it when people show the harness and pins. Makes it easier to follow.

If you really want to get fancy you can deconstruct the clip (TIS has the instructions to do this) and add in the wires you need, as opposed to splicing/tapping the wires. I am going to play with that kind of approach on this next project, see if I can tap in wires into the harness directly.
 
#10 ·
Nice! I love it when people show the harness and pins. Makes it easier to follow.
There's also just no "DIY" for our Camry's either. I can't say I will post a How-To but if I post what I do and someone (you:grin:) follows it and it works, I am sure that someone (you:grin:) can do a good How-To. :wink: The main reason I am posting is to get someone to make sure I won't "burn" something and because there is little to no good info on how to do this. There is just bits of info but nothing concrete.
 
#11 · (Edited)
One of the nice things about an LED project is they are so low voltage/amperage that you run very little risk of causing any damage to anything. You should be fairly bullet proof on this.

Tonight I took one of my blue LEDs I bought many years ago when I was dreaming up my LED mod and hit it to power and ground as I had the console apart again to check something on my SWC (see my mod thread), and love the blue light. I look forward to making my circuits up. I also looked at my door handle; my buddy's BMW has blue LED lighting in the handles so you can see the silly things at night and I love that touch. Looking at the Camry design I am fairly confident I can drill a small hole in the housing and glue up an LED above it to allow it to shine down through. Fish the wiring through the existing bundle at the door. Anyway, that's for a later mod for me!
 
#14 ·
Hmm... I did some voltage testing on... and either I am not doing it right or it is right. I used a T-Pin and I back-pronged the pins. What do you guys think?

Pin 15 = 12V POWER = 12V Power, which is right since there is always power
Pin 16 = DOOR = 0V Power when the door was opened
Pin 18 = ON = 0V Power when the Switch was ON
 
#15 ·
Pin 15 = 12V POWER = 12V Power, which is right since there is always power
Pin 16 = DOOR = 0V Power when the door was opened
Pin 18 = ON = 0V Power when the Switch was ON
Possible that the switch changes grounding, so it'll ground out when the door's open and the switch is on DOOR, when the switch is ON, and no ground at all when OFF. Just a thought...
 
#18 ·
Here is some progress. As I said earlier, I ended up just wiring it through the headliner directly to the Dome Light. It was a bit annoying but otherwise not too bad. I got the fronts finished so now I gotta do the rears. I recommend getting 3M VHB tape when mounting them so that they do not fall. I am thinking about zip-tying the rear LEDs through a hole I will make on the fabric because there is no solid area to mount them. Otherwise I stopped for the time being because the wiring harness I made was too short to reach the middle of the car.

ON = LED ON
DOOR = LED FADE ON
OFF = LED OFF
 

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#19 ·
Here is the final verdict. All I really need to do is wait for my 3M VHB tape to arrive for the driver side back seat and to move/secure the wire so that it does not dangle much.
 

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#22 · (Edited)