Footwell Lighting Guide

Post Instructions on DIY modifications here - use all information with caution!
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allmond10
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Footwell Lighting Guide

Post by allmond10 »

As requested here is a short guide of how to install some lighting into the footwells of your new polo. Sorry there is no pics but I didn`t take any at the time and its not my car so I can`t get them easily. I may be able to inprove this guide when I get more pictures.

Materials:

4 or 5 L.E.D's( Hyper bright ones are best)
4 or 5 ressitors ( 220 ohms work well but either 330 or 470 will do too)
l.e.d clips or cable ties.
Heatshrink( Various sizes required)
Cable(Speaker cable or similar, about 4 metres of)
2 Scotch Blocks
Chocolate block connector with two terminals.

Tools:

Drill and 5 or 6mm bit.
Torx 20 and 25 bits
Pliers
Soldering iron and solder.


Here is a rough diagram of the setup:

Image


1.) You need to make up two rigs(one for each footwell). Start by soldering the resistor onto the positive leg of the l.e.d.(the longest one usually). Do this for all l.e.d.s.
2.) Get two lengths of wire ( about 50cm each will do) and solder one to two l.e.d.s and resistors, noting which wire is positive and which is negative.
3.) The other two l.e.ds must have two wires connected to it, one to go to the power and one to go to the other l.e.d. All positive connections must go to postive wires and the same with the negative ones.
4.) Make sure all connections are heatshrinked and thouroughly insulated and you should have two complete rigs which light up when power is connected(test this with a 9v battery first if you like).
5.) In order to disperse the light from the l.e.ds into the footwells I used a fine sandpaper(400 grit) to buff up the top surface of the l.e.d. This is optional but I think it really makes a better finish.
6.) Now you must decide where you want your lights to go. On the passenger side I chose two places on the thin panel which is under the dash. The panel was not central so they need to be more to one side than the other(look carefully and you`ll see what I mean).
Drill a 6 mm hole in the chosen place(use 5 mm if you don`t use the panel clips) and fix the l.e.d. in place. Tape all excess wire down to the plastic on the back and thread the wire towards the centre console and through the gap under the stereo in the direction of the ashtray.
7.) Now on the drivers side I chose two places near the edge and clipped the l.e.ds to some cables using the cable clips and pointed them towards the middle. You may have a panel like on the passenger side but not all cars have them, if you do, just do it the same as the passenger side. Thread this wire to the centre console so that it meets with the other one.

You should now have 4 l.e.ds installed in your footwells which light up when you connect them to a power source( 9v battery).

8.) You must remove the centre console now. In the new polo there are two torx screws behing the rubber tray which need to be removed. After that, it just unclips by a sharp tug upwards from near the gearstick.
9.) You only need to pull the console up enough to unplug the connector from behind the cigarette lighter and grab your other two wires.
10.) Stip back some of the black stuff around the wires using your fingers and a knife(only if you dare to risk cutting the wires!) and separate out the wires. On the new polo there is a red positive, brown negative and a grey illumination wire. You must get a short lenth of wire and scotchclip on to the negative(brown) and another length to the illumination(grey). Connect the other ends of these into a chocolate block connector. Now connect the positive and negative wires to the other side of this connectore and all the wiring is complete!. I used a chocolate block connector so adding and removing additional lights at another time would be easy. Now turn on you lights and all being well your`e footwells should light up!
11.) Now just refit the trim and you are finished! You should now either go inside and have a brew and collapse on the couch because your`e exhausted OR go for a cruise making full use of you`re new lights!

Note: I cannot be held responsible is anything goes wrong after following these instructions. These are the best I can do to decribe what I did and it works fine for me! As long as you follow these instructions carefully and insulate everything you should be okay.
polo2k
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Post by polo2k »

if you dont mind feeding a wire up into the guage area then you can tap directly into the light swich so that they come on with sidelights or headlights etc. the way mine are fitted is that i took the power from the centre light in the head lining from the bottom of the a pillar meaning mine are only on with the door open but i may add a swich in there too (wit a diode) so than i can hee them on with the doors closed
allmond10
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Post by allmond10 »

Well this method means that they are on with the headlights and sidelights because i found the illumination wire. I hadn`t thought of doin it so that they come on with the door open though. Might try that on my car if its possible. Will have to draw up some circuit diagrams first though to check.Will post details if i do it.
polo2k
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Post by polo2k »

well if you remove the lower door trim and then lirt up the crpet look for a connecter with 3 wires in it- that should power the light and then just remove the lighht and look which wires the bulb connects to when its in "door" mode (there may be more wires if you have a sunroof
dxg
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Post by dxg »

If you're talking about 3 or 4 resistors, say 330 ohms each, does that mean both illumination and power are +12V?

Do you know that the current is for this circuit - is it the same for the ciggie lighter and theillumination (I'm guessing not) I'm trying to work out what kind ofvariable resistor I'd need - how much voltage isdropping over the resistors + hopw hot to they get.

I first thought illumination would be +5V, but then you'd most likely have a single resistor (+ the resistance of the led) and that'd be enough, but my electronics knowledge is seriously shakey!!!

Deek.

/Wonders off to find out where the nearest Maplins is.../

(Once I get the Polo back, that is...)
polo2k
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Post by polo2k »

all main car system baring engine systems are 12 v (for the moment)
allmond10
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Post by allmond10 »

Well I only used one resistor per l.e.d and I haven`t noticed any heat from them but i also wired some to my boot light(in a golf) and those do not get hot and give the same output too. I guess that the illumination is on 12v in this case because why would they bother converting the voltages when they could just use parts that worked on 12v? I may be wrong but everything has worked fine for a couple of months now so I can`t really see any problems occuring.
There are three wires going to the resistor and the illumination one is the thinest therefore designed for less current. The red cigarette lighter wire is either a permanent live or ignition switched so it wouldn`t really be good for these.
polo2k
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Post by polo2k »

there is of course an easier solution... 12v leds that are a little more expensive but dont need the resistor
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