[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by funkykar

Superb Parag! Looks very tidy and OE. If one doesn't know this car well and sees the tail lights, he wouldn't be able to make out as a mod.

You know how we break heads when it comes to such mods to ensure it doesn't look weird and remains well within OE specs when it comes to the looks and cleanliness department!

At first when you told me what you were about to do, I thought it was just some 30 min work. Only this thread makes me realize the amount of work behind the scenes.

Removal of Bumper - That one was the major task but knowing how small bits and pieces of WagonR are assembled, this one didn't take much time to remove.

Originally Posted by ganesc

Was even checking out some Indonesian sites for the same along with the front chrome grill sometime back, though have no experience with any.

Before even starting the DIY, I did check ebay sites in Indonesia and found a lot of such reflectors. Also, I found some really pricey LED tail lamp clusters as well.

In fact, even on dx.com the only accessory they have for the Ertiga is Tail lamp.

But then, remember that this was a DIY .

Secondly, even with those readymade LED reflectors, removal of bumper was something that one has to do to route the wires effectively.

Originally Posted by isiv

Ingenious - adding LEDs into a passive reflector; nice weekend occupation too.

This actually happened on a weekday "working from home" in between and working on car in parallel .

1. Might be a good idea to include a low rated fuse, preferably close to the tap as possible. These are aftermarket LEDs and you don't want to fry the car electrics just because one of them developed a short. Sure, there are fuses upstream in the electrical system, but you don't really know what other electrics might get disabled if one of those fuses had to give in.

Good suggestion and I did think about the fuse option too but then the whole meter of this LED strip is mere 5-10w in terms of power consumption.

I used less less than 2 feet of this entire length for the complete DIY and covering both the Reflectors.

Additionally, the tail lamp has a fuse rated 10A (120X10 = 120 Watts).

Each Tail lamp is 21w/5w and that makes it 42w+10w = 52 watts when I press my leg on that Brake pedal keeping the tail lamps on.

With such a load, I was sure these LEDs won't add anything marginal.

And glad that this fuse for the Tail/Brake lamp is only taking care of one load and not linked to any other lights/accessories.

So, in the event of these LEDs resulting in dead fuse, Its a matter of replacing the fuse and that's all.

2. Do the LEDs generate any heat if they stay on for a long time? Or do the strips come with heatsinks to handle that

Not at all. In fact, last weekend I drove continuously for more than 2 hours and while parking at home checked the heat generated with bare hands by touching the reflector(s) and it only felt little warmer compared to the bumper's temperature on a rainy day. I am sure this will certainly not heat up significantly.

I am using a 24 LED bulb for Dome lamp and once I had let it on inside by basement parking and when I went back after 10 hours and touched, The heat generated was very very less.

3. Red LEDs would have looked better that warm white. That of course is entirely subjective...

Agreed! Like I said, the choice of color was experimental. I myself didn't know how White or Red would look behind a Red cover. Nothing Subjective here, It better look Red than white.

While testing it before fixing, it did look Red behind the red plastic and I was happy about it to proceed further.

Every step in this DIY was experimental till the last bit of removing and fixing the reflectors. Glad that the outcome was as desired!

In fact, I even checked if I could remove the reflectors by simply plonking a Jack, removing the wheel at a time but then I may not have got adequate ideas to route the wires with the bumper fixed in place.

[blackwasp]

That is an awesome mod. I might like to try this with punto. Punto has one side fog lamp/reflector and on the other side reverse light/reflector. I could connect the Led to the fog lamp circuit to get a symmetric look

But I have a question. With cars these days having quite sophisticated electronics, will such mods throw up errors in the MID ?

[Blow Horn Ok]

Interesting, clean and detailed mod. As soon as I read it in the afternoon, went to check out my figo's reflectors. They are low enough to reach out and held by two clips and no screw. I took it out safely only to discover that the unit is too thin to place the led strip inside. The reflector and the back cover together are only about 5-6 mm thick.

[isiv]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

This actually happened on a weekday "working from home" in between and working on car in parallel .

Sure hope your employer isn't reading this, unless you're self employed...

Originally Posted by paragsachania

the tail lamp has a fuse rated 10A (120X10 = 120 Watts).
.
this fuse for the Tail/Brake lamp is only taking care of one load and not linked to any other lights/accessories.
.
I am sure this will certainly not heat up significantly.
.
may not have got adequate ideas to route the wires with the bumper fixed in place.

Just to prove I'm the nitpicker around here, you meant 12V X 10A = 120W? Removing the bumper was the way to go, I wouldn't have done it any other way. You've thought everything through pretty deep so I guess it's time to show off your 'tail' to everyone on the road...

[GrammarNazi]

Nice mod Paragbhai 👍

Originally Posted by blackwasp

...

But I have a question. With cars these days having quite sophisticated electronics, will such mods throw up errors in the MID ?

If I may, my Linea's parking sensors are connected the reverse lights with such T-Hooks.

I guess this would consume

[latentpotential]

Parag, you have outdone yourself again, and have further added to the list of things to do for fellow Ertiga owners.

I am still awaiting the delivery of the fuse taps for earlier projects, so next up is this.

Also, considered replacing the fog light as well? It is just a bulb inside a housing.

[HeisenBerg]

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[archat68]

Great DIY.
I'm great fan of DIY.

One suggestion - instead of joining wires by removing insulation and taping them afterwords use a wire tap connector such as below. It is safer and neater.
These are available from ebay:
http://www.ebay.in/itm/like/23153955...ource=Sok-Goog

Also, I found that cloth electrical insulation tapes are much better than the PVC electrical insulation tapes. PVC tapes lose their adhesive pretty quickly specially in a hot car. These are not readily available in the market. You can procure from ebay or ask your local electrician to procure some for you.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/friction-tap...-/291429079246

[turbo_delight]

In a away, this might be same as DRL and it might look good also. But, personally when i am driving behind a car with brightening LED's, i find it difficult and at times those blinking led's are blinding.

We need to diffuse the light a little but so that they are not too bright. These days even on pulsars on the rear, we can see these lights and they are too distracting.

Company fitted DRL's are most likely not to cause any problem to the incoming vehicle, might be due to them being controlled by some regulations like wattage or something.

Only request is to tone down the brightness if its more.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

That is an awesome mod. I might like to try this with punto. Punto has one side fog lamp/reflector and on the other side reverse light/reflector. I could connect the Led to the fog lamp circuit to get a symmetric look

But I have a question. With cars these days having quite sophisticated electronics, will such mods throw up errors in the MID ?

GrammarNazi has already answered this. In fact most of the Reverse Camera or Sensor are wired through the leads that power the Reverse light bulbs. Secondly, these LEDs do not add any significant load to the electricals due to minimal wattage.

Of course, I have seen the Instrument panel throwing up messages in a Punto for a Bulb failure and I suspect that it is more sophisticated (CANBUS) over a typical old school Maruti. Having said that, I have seen many Puntos and Lineas with Reverse Camera and Sensors.

Originally Posted by Blow Horn Ok

Interesting, clean and detailed mod. As soon as I read it in the afternoon, went to check out my figo's reflectors. They are low enough to reach out and held by two clips and no screw. I took it out safely only to discover that the unit is too thin to place the led strip inside. The reflector and the back cover together are only about 5-6 mm thick.

That is going to be real tight IMHO.

Originally Posted by isiv

Sure hope your employer isn't reading this, unless you're self employed...

Oh I did show this to my Boss the very next day. They ask me when I work from home as to what was the Mod I carried out .

Just to prove I'm the nitpicker around here, you meant 12V X 10A = 120W?

I meant the max Load and not the literal math here .

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

Nice mod Paragbhai

If I may, my Linea's parking sensors are connected the reverse lights with such T-Hooks.

I guess this would consume

Thanks Bhavin. Agree with you!

Originally Posted by latentpotential

Also, considered replacing the fog light as well? It is just a bulb inside a housing.

Didn’t see the need. Further more, I wanted to retain the OE Fog lamp for the rear only because of its typical use case during heavy rains and foggy conditions due to its high intensity. So the rear fog lamp shall remain as it is.

Originally Posted by archat68

Great DIY.
I'm great fan of DIY.

One suggestion - instead of joining wires by removing insulation and taping them afterwords use a wire tap connector such as below. It is safer and neater.
These are available from ebay:
http://www.ebay.in/itm/like/23153955...ource=Sok-Goog

May be you should read the Thread all over again. I have used T-Tap connectors for this DIY and not merely skinned the OE wires to tap power.

The below picture should give you an idea.

And I have mentioned that I used these (Tap connectors) for the Job -

Also, I found that cloth electrical insulation tapes are much better than the PVC electrical insulation tapes. PVC tapes lose their adhesive pretty quickly specially in a hot car. These are not readily available in the market. You can procure from ebay or ask your local electrician to procure some for you.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/friction-tap...-/291429079246

There was only one electrical join to connect the thinner wires to the thick ones right out of the reflectors. These were soldered first and then insulated with heat shrink tubing.

Here’s a screenshot of what all I had ordered from ebay for this DIY:

If you refer my earlier DIY's you will know that I seldom use Insulation tape for covering the joints -

Originally Posted by turbo_delight

In a away, this might be same as DRL and it might look good also. But, personally when i am driving behind a car with brightening LED's, i find it difficult and at times those blinking led's are blinding.

Good thought and I agree with you. Don’t go by the photos. In reality these LEDs are not so bright and will in no way affect anyone tailing me in darkness. Being a regular highway driver at night, I am very particular about any such mod which will affect tailing drivers negatively.

In fact, the intensity of these LEDs is way too lower than the rear fog lamp. Secondly, they are positioned lower that it can distract only a driver inside an F1 car.

Only request is to tone down the brightness if its more.

I guess I answered you on this already.

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by GrammarNazi

If I may, my Linea's parking sensors are connected the reverse lights with such T-Hooks.

Originally Posted by paragsachania

GrammarNazi has already answered this. In fact most of the Reverse Camera or Sensor are wired through the leads that power the Reverse light bulbs. Secondly, these LEDs do not add any significant load to the electricals due to minimal wattage.

Of course, I have seen the Instrument panel throwing up messages in a Punto for a Bulb failure and I suspect that it is more sophisticated (CANBUS) over a typical old school Maruti. Having said that, I have seen many Puntos and Lineas with Reverse Camera and Sensors.

Yes. once our Punto's indicator bulb malfunctioned, it was shown on the MID. Regarding the wattage, you are 100% correct. Main advantage of the LED is its low power consumption. I think that as long as the system functions well, there is no reason for any MID error. Also, did you connect them in parallel or series?

[rahul_kej]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

The new reflectors in place that one can hardly notice LEDs inside these

A very neat and excellent job. On the lighter note am sure there will be few owners running after MASS enquiring why mine is not working.

[Cyrus_the_virus]

Why is everyone all praises for this illegal mod?

This is a such a big irritant and distraction for drivers behind such vehicles. There is a reason why manufacturers don't put glaring LED lights at the rear and use reflectors instead. This is being reported as it is an illegal Mod and a nuisance for drivers.

All rear lights of a vehicle should be devoid of glare. This is why you have heavy diffusional panels on tail lights like the brake/parking lights. The reflector does not have enough density or diffusional property to cut the glare.

[a4anurag]

Originally Posted by Cyrus_the_virus

Why is everyone all praises for this illegal mod?

This is a such a big irritant and distraction for drivers behind such vehicles. There is a reason why manufacturers don't put glaring LED lights at the rear and use reflectors instead. This is being reported as it is an illegal Mod and a nuisance for drivers.

All rear lights of a vehicle should be devoid of glare. This is why you have heavy diffusional panels on tail lights like the brake/parking lights. The reflector does not have enough density or diffusional property to cut the glare.

No offence to you but where did you find these LED strips to be glaring?! IMO it is pretty much normal and fine to have on the car to have an increased visibility in addition to the tail lamps.

What about people who drive with their front and rear fog lamps ON in the night times when the weather is 'clear'?!

I am better off sitting behind this Ertiga with its LED's ON rather than sitting behind fog lamps ON cars. In reality the LED isn't dazzling to the ones at the rear so I am not sure why do you feel it is illegal.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Cyrus_the_virus

Why is everyone all praises for this illegal mod?

This is a such a big irritant and distraction for drivers behind such vehicles. There is a reason why manufacturers don't put glaring LED lights at the rear and use reflectors instead. This is being reported as it is an illegal Mod and a nuisance for drivers.

All rear lights of a vehicle should be devoid of glare. This is why you have heavy diffusional panels on tail lights like the brake/parking lights. The reflector does not have enough density or diffusional property to cut the glare.

On last friday night, I was waiting for a few friends near a Junction to receive them to pick from the Airport as they arrived by a cab.

They were aware of this Mod and upon coming closer, they realized that with the head lamp beam of a tailing vehicle, one cannot make out if there are LEDs inside at all, thanks to the reflection of the Red lens.

These LEDs are visible only from a distance and when you close in, they any way function as any normal reflector.

Next time you are in Bangalore, let us meet and you will change your opinion .

Let me do this for you-

Record a Dashcam clip from a car that's tailing me and post it here tonight. That will clear a lot of air.