[PatchyBoy]

Introduction -

I always wanted puddle lights in my car, but was averse to installing them as several others have installed by routing the wires through the door, outside the OE connector. I wanted to route through the OE connector. Also, I wanted functionality similar to OE, without splicing into the dome light wires. So the search started and I found what I was looking for in Fiat's Elearn.

So, the first step was to confirm if the functionality actually exists.

The black connector with the red tab is where pin 32 is located. So, I connected a wire to pin 32, supplied ground and connected up a test light. Bingo, it worked exactly as described in the functional description.

Since my aim was to wire up through the door jamb connector, I had to search and find the appropriate pins. Needed three varieties - the BCM pin, male & female pins for the door jamb connector. Based on my Cruise Control experience, the first place I looked was in.rsdelivers.com

Sure enough, they had all the pins. So, ordered them. Here are the specs, if anyone else is searching -

BCM pin - TE Connectivity MQS Series Female Terminal RS Stock No. 909-7814

Door Jamb

Male - Delphi Sicma-3 Crimp Terminal Contact, Male, RS Stock No. 673-7862
Female - Delphi Sicma-3 Crimp Terminal Contact, Female, RS Stock No. 673-7852

They have a MOQ for these pins, so a group buy will be cost effective

For the doorpads, I decided to use Fiat's OE boot light housing. Ordered four of them for all four doors.

So, ordered the pins. While I waited for them, decided to plan the installation. If this functionality exists, then why not also install foot well lights and ORVM mounted lights as well, I thought. These lights come on with unlock command from the keyfob. So, having lights on the ORVM would light up the floor near the car and would be useful, especially when parked in poorly lit places. So, I researched and zeroed in on Eagle Eye LEDs.

I was able to find a 12 pack of these lights for a very reasonable price. These were specifically attractive, as they were water proof. They needed to be, as the plan was to mount on the ORVM and will be exposed to rain. Decided to use them for foot well lights as well.

Part I - Wiring Plan

I decided to use a relay & independent fuses for either side of the vehicle. Though they are all LED lights and draw very less power, I thought better be safe, than sorry. So, here is how I planned on doing it

I thought having an isolated box with all the wiring elements will make it modular and will also look neat. So, here is what I came up with -

Parts used

Tools used

Made sure to use proper connectors for the relay and also used heat shrink to protect against any shorts

To be continued ....

[PatchyBoy]

Part II - Front Doors and ORVMs

Tools used for this part of the install -

Crimping tool, Wire stripper, Screw Driver, Dremel & Vice grip

Step 1 - Routing the wires through the door jamb connector

I measured and cut wires which will be sufficient from the location of the distribution box I step up and placed inside the center console, to the door. Then I crimped on one of the male pins to one end of the wire and connected the other end to the screw terminal block in the distribution box. Taking out the door jamb connector is a bit tricky.

Pulling that grey ring separates the two parts of the connector. The male pins are housed in the part that is fixed to the door frame. This part has three locator tabs and 2 locking tabs. The two locking tabs have to be pressed simultaneously and the connector pushed in. Those locking tabs were pretty hard to press, but I was finally able to use a vice grip setup with just enough pressure to press the tabs and not break the connector. Once I had it loose, I pulled into the car.

Now I identified a spare connection blocked off with a green plastic pin. I then pulled out the green pin and inserted the male pin, making sure that it was inserted all the way inside and locked in place. Then I re-positioned the connector through the frame and inserted it back into the hole. The three locator tabs come in handy to ensure that it is fixed the right way up.

Next, I took another length of wire, crimped a female pin onto one end. Then I removed the rubber boot on the part fixed to the door & inserted it into a spare connection, making sure it is in the same position as the part on the frame. Now I pushed the rest of the wire through the rubber boot and into the door. Now I fixed the rubber boot back and connected the door jamb connector back. In the disconnected position, it is easy to accidentally close the door and crush the connector.

Now on to opening the door pad. First, I lifted the control switch board on the arm rest. There is a small gap on one end. Inserting a small screw driver into the slot and lifting it up releases the panel, Then the connectors underneath have to be disconnected. The number of connectors will depend on the controls. On the driver side there were more connectors, but on the passenger side there was only one.

Moving on to removing the door pad, there are three allen head screws - one behind a small tab behind the inside handle and two more under the armrest handle

After taking these out, the next step is to take out four Philip head screws along the bottom edge of the door pad.

Once these screws are taken out, the door pad, which is now held by plastic push pins along the vertical edges, comes out with some gentle pulling from the bottom. Once all the plastic pins are released, the door pad has to be lifted up, as it is hooked up along the top edge along the window glass.

After getting the door pad free, the connection to the tweeter has to be undone. Also, the door lock release handle connection has to be disconnected. To do this, first release the small white tab that lock the cable to the handle. Then release the white cylindrical sleeve from the door pad. Now the cable connection will come out.

Now the door pad will be free from the door. Next step was to cut the slot for fitting the boot light housing. To do this, I took out the housing in the boot and traced the outline onto a paper. Then I pasted it on a piece of cardboard to make a template. Now I placed the template on the door pad, where I wanted to cut the slot, traced its outline. Then I drilled a series of holes inside the outline and cut the piece away. Finally finished by cutting to the traced line. Now the boot light housing fitted there fine.

The template

Since I did not have the proper female connector for the boot light housing, I decided to crimp on a couple of pins and heat shrink them. I made sure to leave extra length of wire, so that when I source the female connector, I can crimp them on.

Now it was time to move on to the ORVM. For this, I first removed the cover by gripping it and pulling while prying along the top seam with a screw driver (covered the end in masking tape to avoid scratches)

I had already tilted the mirror to the lowest position, so that there was a gap along the top edge. Looking through that the clamping mechanism is visible. Inserting a screw driver into the gap and twisting makes the mirror pop out of the clamps and it comes loose.

Now I identified the position I wanted the Eagle Eye LED to be mounted and first drilled a small hole in the ORVM casing. Then I enlarged the hole enough for the Eagle Eye to fit through. This can be done with a drill bit, but I chose to use a trimmimg bit in my Dremel

I then mounted the LED and passed the wire through the OE route back into the door panel

Once I had the wires inside the door panel, I took off the plastic sheet pasted on to the door panel and then connected everything up. Power comes from the wire I earlier dropped in through the door jamb and I drew ground from inside the door from the existing ground wire. I then put everything back, in the reverse order of how I took them apart.

To be continued ...

[PatchyBoy]

Part III - Footwell Lights

I had connected two wires to +12V and two wires to the ground to be used for footwell lighting. Now to decide how to mount the lights under the seat, without snagging the wires when seats are pushed forwards and backwards. I inspected under the seat and found that there was a gap between the AC vent under the seat and the carpet. Decided to take advantage of that by making a L shaped piece with plexiglass and pushing it into the gap. On the vertical face of the L, I could mount two eagle eye LEDs facing opposite directions to light up the footwell area of the front and rear seats, respectively.

So, made these out of plexiglass -

drilled appropriate holes and mounted the Eagle Eye LEDs

Then ran the wires under the seat railing into the sidewall of the center console and drew them to the front. Crimped on two way connectors to the wires from the junction box, connected them up and secured the wires and connectors inside the center console.

Here is how it is mounted under the seat

Front footwell

Rear footwell

All in all, I am very happy with the results. Now when the car is unlocked, the area around the front doors are brightly lit. When any door is opened, the footwell in brightly lit.

In short, the car is lit up like a Christmas tree

Thanks for reading.

Here are some pics of the Puddle lights & foot well lights in action

When unlocked - passenger side

When door opened - passenger side

When unlocked - Driver side

When door open - Driver side

When unlocked, while approaching the car

Interiors - solely lit by domelights & footwell lights

[benbsb29]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the DIY Section.
Thanks for sharing, PatchyBoy!

[francis_vaz]

Excellent DIY, the plexiglass implementation was neat.

One question, how did you manage to get it fixed in place under the seat?
Also won't the rear floor mat interfere with the plexiglass? ; assuming the mat goes under the front seat.

[PatchyBoy]

Originally Posted by francis_vaz

Excellent DIY, the plexiglass implementation was neat.

One question, how did you manage to get it fixed in place under the seat?
Also won't the rear floor mat interfere with the plexiglass? ; assuming the mat goes under the front seat.

Thank you.

Under the seat, there is an AC vent for the rear passengers. Between the front and rear seats, there is a ridge of sorts. The gap I am referring to, is between the top of that ridge and top of the AC vent. So, it is above the floor and doesn't interfere with either air flow from those vents or with the floor mats.

[digitalnirvana]

Don't have anything to add, apart from my appreciation.

This is a very clean and detailed install that will put most professionals to shame! Your passion shows through in this DIY. Well done!

[bhp_maniac]

Excellent DIY PatchyBoy! Neat installation as well. Special mention to the door pad template. Rating a well deserved 5 starts

[keroo1099]

A Superb DIY project by you as usual. The effort you make to make it as OE as possible is really inspiring. Waiting for more DIY posts from you.

Cheers.

[Mission_PGPX]

Originally Posted by PatchyBoy

Part III - Footwell Lights
Interiors - solely lit by domelights & footwell lights

Attachment 1811547

Happy Diwali in advance. BTW excellent DIY. I love the door sill lights but these germans and their wiring makes me scared to do any DIY.

[soumobakshi]

Originally Posted by PatchyBoy

Part III - Footwell Lights

Interiors - solely lit by domelights & footwell lights

Attachment 1811547

Great DIY and immaculate attention to details.

It would be very helpful for other DIY'ers if you could share the source of the parts used.

[PatchyBoy]

Originally Posted by soumobakshi

Great DIY and immaculate attention to details.

It would be very helpful for other DIY'ers if you could share the source of the parts used.

Thanks. The source for the crimp pins are listed. I thought the rest was obvious, so did not list. OE boot light housings are from FASS. The rest are from Amazon.

[coolmind]

Excellent DIY patchyboy.
No space for comments except the appreciation for the way it was done and posted with very crisp details.
Iam also planning to do such activity for driver side footwell. I can take your DIY for reference. Thanks.

[kskthere]

That indeed is a very detailed and excellent DIY. Those lights did lit the car up very bright. Btw, what is the wattage of those Eagle Eye LEDs used for under seats?

[PatchyBoy]

Originally Posted by coolmind

Excellent DIY patchyboy.
No space for comments except the appreciation for the way it was done and posted with very crisp details.
Iam also planning to do such activity for driver side footwell. I can take your DIY for reference. Thanks.

Thank you. Please do feel free to ask any questions you may have during your install. Will be very happy to help.

Originally Posted by kskthere

That indeed is a very detailed and excellent DIY. Those lights did lit the car up very bright. Btw, what is the wattage of those Eagle Eye LEDs used for under seats?

Thank you. Those LEDs are rated at 9W. I checked the power draw with a multimeter and they draw about 0.5 amps