updated with foglight illumination
Ive always loved DIYs, and I figure since ive read and done so many, I'd try and return one back to the mk2 community.
Basically I wanted to get all my switches to illuminate the same colour and match my dash, which I a had already illuminated (Next time I do one, I will make a DIY for it too)
So here we go :
Materials Required
1 5 mm blue LED
1 470 ohm resistor
(can both be purchased at any electronics supply store for less than 1$)
1 9v rectangular battery (for testing purposes, its 9v but its enough to light up the LED to test if it works)
2 alligator clips to test the led (optional)
Tools Required
Soldering Iron (30W is plenty)
Solder
2 small flathead screwdrivers
Process
****Please note is that this is for the newer style swtiches only (90+. The old switches are a bit different***
1. Pull out switch from harness and bring it inside DUHH
![]()
2. To open the switch you have to be gentle. THere are two tabs, that I slid the screwdrivers beside, and then gently pried it out.
![]()
![]()
3. Now as you can see there is the internal part of the switch. The lightbulb should be in there, and is wired in together by two wires. I twisted the lightbulb right out making sure that the wires were still attached to their appropriate pins (you will use one of these wires later it is easier to solder to it than the pins)
4. Now its time to see where you will need to solder. Usuallly on any mk2 swtiches you want to locate pin 58b and 31. 58b is the positive voltage that can be dimmed, 31 is ground. These usually are what provide the illumination .
On this switch you will see that pin 58b is actually connected to what seems to be the casing that goes around the circuitry for the dimmer. You can solder the positive lead of the led anywhere along this tab. I chose to use spot 2, which is on the bottom of the "casing" facing outwards towards the passenger side.
![]()
31 is the pin that goes directly below the casing of 58b. The wire from lightbulb that used to be there is connected to it. I marked this in my picture as solder point 1.
![]()
5. Now that you figured out where you want to solder stuff, you are ready to start soldering. First you will need to solder the resistor to the positive lead of the led. This should be the longer leg of the led.
6. Next I test fitted the led inside the little bucket for the bulb, and ran and kind of twisted the now resistored end of the led around to solder point 2, and i bent the bottom 1/8 inch of the negative leg of the led, and fit it under solder pt 1. I also twisted the wire remaining from the lightbulb around the negative leg of the led.
7. Now that everything is fitted, properly I soldered it quickly to their respective points. One thing to note is that you have to be careful about soldering around solder pt 1, because this is your ground and must not touch the casing above.
solder pt1
![]()
solder pt2
![]()
This is what mine looked like. THe pics are kind of bad, and I screwed up and broke off one of the legs of the led and had to solder on other wire on there instead.
8. Hook the positive end of the battery to 58b and the negative to 31 using the alligator clips or wire or just press the battery against the pins, and if everything was good, your led should light up.
9. Now you can use the screwdriver to open up the rocker part of the switch, and then peel off the green plastic, that gives the switches a greenish colour. Put everything back together, make sure that you can click it on and off...put it back in and you should get this
![]()
![]()
I also did my defroster switch. It was a lot easier. The process is the same though, open the switch, pull out the bulb, and solder the positive lead to the 58b and the negative to the 31 or the 30 (i forget which one it was there)
![]()
*****UPDATE*****
Foglight switch
Here are some pics. THe process is very similiar
1. Take apart the switch like the headlight switch above.
2. Pull out the bulb and break off the bottom tab of the bulb cradle (to make the LED fit. It looks like below
![]()
3.Solder the resistor to the LED and then take a look at the solder points below. The right point is the positive lead, and the left point is the negative lead.
![]()
4. Do a test fit , run the wires to the correct points and solder it together.
In the below pic I had it soldered, but since the resistor was on the top, it wouldn't clear the top of the switch, so I had to move it down 90 degrees clockwise. The fit is pretty crucial in this switch, you will see for yourself.
![]()
5. Test it out using the 9v battery, or any other power source you have...
![]()
6. Remove the translucent green tab on the inside of the switch, put everything back together and voila. Blue illuminated foglight switch
![]()
![]()
I left the switch "on" indicator bulb the way it is, cuz quite frankly i didnt feel like doing it.
Next I will do a defroster swtich mod.
The hazard switch is a bit different and im still working on it.
This whole project took me half an hour for each switch, and that was including the amount of time I spent figuring out where to solder to, and testing.
Wow thats pretty long...let me know what you think, and if you have any questions or comments...after all this is my first diy
![]()
Modified by dirtyserb at 8:53 PM 2-13-2006
Modified by dirtyserb at 8:55 PM 2-13-2006
Modified by dirtyserb at 1:36 AM 3-7-2006
Ive always loved DIYs, and I figure since ive read and done so many, I'd try and return one back to the mk2 community.
Basically I wanted to get all my switches to illuminate the same colour and match my dash, which I a had already illuminated (Next time I do one, I will make a DIY for it too)
So here we go :
Materials Required
1 5 mm blue LED
1 470 ohm resistor
(can both be purchased at any electronics supply store for less than 1$)
1 9v rectangular battery (for testing purposes, its 9v but its enough to light up the LED to test if it works)
2 alligator clips to test the led (optional)
Tools Required
Soldering Iron (30W is plenty)
Solder
2 small flathead screwdrivers
Process
****Please note is that this is for the newer style swtiches only (90+. The old switches are a bit different***
1. Pull out switch from harness and bring it inside DUHH
2. To open the switch you have to be gentle. THere are two tabs, that I slid the screwdrivers beside, and then gently pried it out.
Image uploading. Refresh page to view
Image uploading. Refresh page to view
3. Now as you can see there is the internal part of the switch. The lightbulb should be in there, and is wired in together by two wires. I twisted the lightbulb right out making sure that the wires were still attached to their appropriate pins (you will use one of these wires later it is easier to solder to it than the pins)
4. Now its time to see where you will need to solder. Usuallly on any mk2 swtiches you want to locate pin 58b and 31. 58b is the positive voltage that can be dimmed, 31 is ground. These usually are what provide the illumination .
On this switch you will see that pin 58b is actually connected to what seems to be the casing that goes around the circuitry for the dimmer. You can solder the positive lead of the led anywhere along this tab. I chose to use spot 2, which is on the bottom of the "casing" facing outwards towards the passenger side.
Image uploading. Refresh page to view
31 is the pin that goes directly below the casing of 58b. The wire from lightbulb that used to be there is connected to it. I marked this in my picture as solder point 1.
Image uploading. Refresh page to view
5. Now that you figured out where you want to solder stuff, you are ready to start soldering. First you will need to solder the resistor to the positive lead of the led. This should be the longer leg of the led.
6. Next I test fitted the led inside the little bucket for the bulb, and ran and kind of twisted the now resistored end of the led around to solder point 2, and i bent the bottom 1/8 inch of the negative leg of the led, and fit it under solder pt 1. I also twisted the wire remaining from the lightbulb around the negative leg of the led.
7. Now that everything is fitted, properly I soldered it quickly to their respective points. One thing to note is that you have to be careful about soldering around solder pt 1, because this is your ground and must not touch the casing above.
solder pt1
Image uploading. Refresh page to view
solder pt2
Image uploading. Refresh page to view
This is what mine looked like. THe pics are kind of bad, and I screwed up and broke off one of the legs of the led and had to solder on other wire on there instead.
8. Hook the positive end of the battery to 58b and the negative to 31 using the alligator clips or wire or just press the battery against the pins, and if everything was good, your led should light up.
9. Now you can use the screwdriver to open up the rocker part of the switch, and then peel off the green plastic, that gives the switches a greenish colour. Put everything back together, make sure that you can click it on and off...put it back in and you should get this
Image uploading. Refresh page to view
Image uploading. Refresh page to view
I also did my defroster switch. It was a lot easier. The process is the same though, open the switch, pull out the bulb, and solder the positive lead to the 58b and the negative to the 31 or the 30 (i forget which one it was there)
Image uploading. Refresh page to view
*****UPDATE*****
Foglight switch
Here are some pics. THe process is very similiar
1. Take apart the switch like the headlight switch above.
2. Pull out the bulb and break off the bottom tab of the bulb cradle (to make the LED fit. It looks like below
Image uploading. Refresh page to view
3.Solder the resistor to the LED and then take a look at the solder points below. The right point is the positive lead, and the left point is the negative lead.
Image uploading. Refresh page to view
4. Do a test fit , run the wires to the correct points and solder it together.
In the below pic I had it soldered, but since the resistor was on the top, it wouldn't clear the top of the switch, so I had to move it down 90 degrees clockwise. The fit is pretty crucial in this switch, you will see for yourself.
Image uploading. Refresh page to view
5. Test it out using the 9v battery, or any other power source you have...
Image uploading. Refresh page to view
6. Remove the translucent green tab on the inside of the switch, put everything back together and voila. Blue illuminated foglight switch
Image uploading. Refresh page to view
I left the switch "on" indicator bulb the way it is, cuz quite frankly i didnt feel like doing it.
Next I will do a defroster swtich mod.
The hazard switch is a bit different and im still working on it.
This whole project took me half an hour for each switch, and that was including the amount of time I spent figuring out where to solder to, and testing.
Wow thats pretty long...let me know what you think, and if you have any questions or comments...after all this is my first diy
Modified by dirtyserb at 8:53 PM 2-13-2006
Modified by dirtyserb at 8:55 PM 2-13-2006
Modified by dirtyserb at 1:36 AM 3-7-2006
