Well recently I picked up my new car, a KJ Series 1 Xi Verada, and instantly I was disappointed that they no longer had the courtesy lamps that shine onto the ground when you open the door, No problem I thought, Ill just pull them out of my KE and install them into the KJ but upon inspection they are different.

The courtesy lamp on the KE looks like this:

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6387/dscf00972zh5.jpg

On the KJ there is only a small opening on the bottom of the door trim and I wasnt too keen on taking a jigsaw to the trim then finding out it wouldnt fit. So I started looking for other means of getting the job done. First port of call was Jaycar Electronics (http://www.jaycar.com.au) where I found these 2 little gems:

100mm White CCFL Tube (http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=SL2860&CATID=21&keywords=&SPECIAL=&form=CAT&ProdCodeOnly=&Keyword1=&Keyword2=&pageNumber=&priceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID=587) - $6.95 ea (you will require 2 of these, one for each door)

Inverter to suit 100mm CCFL Tube (http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=SL2868&CATID=21&keywords=&SPECIAL=&form=CAT&ProdCodeOnly=&Keyword1=&Keyword2=&pageNumber=&priceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID=587) - $5.95 ea (2 of these required aswell)

Then when I got home I gathered the required tools:

- Electric Drill and small drill bit
- Cable Ties
- Electrical Tape
- Wire Strippers/Razor Blade/Angle Pliers (something to strip wire with)
- Philips Head Screwdriver
- Flat Head Screwdriver

Then I removed the door trim. If you dont know how, do a search or look in a gregorys manual and if no luck ask here.

Now Im not sure on the Magna models, but both Verada's I have owned (a KE and a KJ) have a red lamp that illuminates when you open the door, this is your power source for this mod. When you remove the door trim you will notice the light is simply hanging there.

Now take your CCFL tube and inverter and connect the CCFL cable and the Power Source cables to the inverter and insulate the inverter (I wrapped mine in electrical tape). It is important to insulate the inverter BEFORE you connect any wires as once there is power running to it the unit will zap you if you touch it.

The inverter has 2 power source cables (obviously) a red one and a black one. Splice them as follows:

- RED cable from the inverter into the RED/BLACK STRIPE cable on the door lamp
- BLACK cable from inverter to the OTHER cable on the door lamp, I said OTHER as mine were different colours on either side of the car (yellow on drivers side and white on passenger side)

The CCFL should now illuminate. Now find a suitable location to mount the inverter out of the way. I mounted my inverter onto a plastic part of the door lining as seen in the picture.

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/6033/image225al4.jpg

Now shift your focus to the lower section of the door, you should see 2 nuts in the middle.

Take your drill and drill 4 holes that are large enough to fit your cable ties through as below

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/724/image228sw4.jpg

Then cable tie the CCFL tube into position.

http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/6114/image229pl4.jpg

Next step is to test that it all functions correctly. Press the little rubber sensor on the body in the door sill to ensure that the lights go off when the door is closed. If all functions correctly then you may re-attach the door trim.

When the door trim is attached it should look like this from the bottom of the door

http://img294.imageshack.us/img294/345/image232db1.jpg

I was sceptical as to whether these would provide enough light to be worth my time doing this mod, but I think this next photo speaks for itself. It looks factory and is not too bright either.

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/6162/image231cd2.jpg

So enjoy your courtesy lights. God knows why Mitsubishi removed features as they went along, but thankfull this one wasnt too hard to remedy and reasonably cheap.

Costs:

- $25.80 all up for inverters and CCFL's
- 1 Hour of your time
- 1 Litre of Fizzy Drink
- 6 cigarettes if you are anything like me :)

looks good mate

Kudos to your effort.

http://www.aussiemagna.com//forums/showthread.php?t=45652

Updated diy links

Gas _hed if you get a chance pop it in the template, otherwise no nevermind...

cheers

Noice. What colour is the KJ?

Noice. What colour is the KJ?

Silver. I believe the name is Pewter.

Would have been half a pack with me.

So enjoy your courtesy lights. God knows why Mitsubishi removed features as they went along, but thankfull this one wasnt too hard to remedy and reasonably cheap.



Costdowns......always costdowns

Effective mod and reasonably priced too, well done.:)

Silver. I believe the name is Pewter.

Sweet.. same as mine. Got the 19's off of the KE on it?

nice! i thought that what the red lights were there for, but i guess thats more a traffic warning rather than a puddle light.... might give that one a go!

nice! i thought that what the red lights were there for, but i guess thats more a traffic warning rather than a puddle light.... might give that one a go!

The lights are there as warning to traffic the door is open. The courtesy lights to illuminate puddles were fitted to the underside of the door trim. And for reference to anyone who wants to do that mod, the lamps used are the same as the license plate lamps. Deleted for the same reason.....costdown.

looks good, i dont personally feel the need coz the red ones light it up as good as possible... now if you showed how to convert the red ones to clear, and still make it look good, then i would buy u a carton ;) (and yes i know theres clears available, but damn theyre hard to find :( )

The lights are there as warning to traffic the door is open. The courtesy lights to illuminate puddles were fitted to the underside of the door trim. And for reference to anyone who wants to do that mod, the lamps used are the same as the license plate lamps. Deleted for the same reason.....costdown.

Do you know if the lights from earlier ones can be retro-fitted to the newer ones?

Do you know if the lights from earlier ones can be retro-fitted to the newer ones?

Possibly, but youll need to take a hacksaw/jigsaw to your door trims.

Do you know if the lights from earlier ones can be retro-fitted to the newer ones?

No reason why not. The trims weren't modified in that area for gen 3's. There should even be marks on the inside of the trim to show you where to cut.

this was so easy. Thanks for the idea.

Did it after work today took about half an hour to do the lot. its so simple and it works brilliantly.

As for " the red ones light it up as good as possible"... not even close. This is so much brighter and with the trim back on you dont even know its there.

Hats off to you for even thinking about this. Thanks even more for sharing it with us

dave ur showing me up at Two Rocks :)

hopefully ill make it to a thursday meet before then

this was so easy. Thanks for the idea.

Did it after work today took about half an hour to do the lot. its so simple and it works brilliantly.

As for " the red ones light it up as good as possible"... not even close. This is so much brighter and with the trim back on you dont even know its there.

Hats off to you for even thinking about this. Thanks even more for sharing it with us

Glad to see somebody benefitted from it. Told you its easy, and the best part - cheap! :)

just re-reading it thru, sounds like an awesome thing, with no cutting required :)
dave if i brought my stuff down one day, would u do it for me on the side? :)

and note to anyone looking, dont necessarily need white in there, theres different colours available on the website :) (White, Red, Green, Blue and UV Blacklight) ... so can match them with undercar neons or something :)

Just curious... how long would the tube last with the door being slammed shut? Would it cause any problems with reliability like that ie. tube breaking or whatever?

Just curious... how long would the tube last with the door being slammed shut? Would it cause any problems with reliability like that ie. tube breaking or whatever?

If you firmly secure the tube to the door so it doesn't rattle it'll last a long time. Fluro rings on subwoofers seam to take the vibration without worry.

defently going to do this to mine..thanks for the idea mate :cool:

good job dude :)

looks great, good to see some innovation.....

I did this mod a couple of days ago with MicJaiy's help (he pretty much did it all!)

I used Blue CCFL's, it looks awesome! i dont have a dig cam so i cant show you just yet, hopefully soon!

yep done mine and works well. cheers

yes i know theres clears available, but damn theyre hard to find

THERE ARE!!!!????
i wasnt too sure if you could just get a clear cover for the stock courtesy lights, are they availible from mitsubishi?
or in the diamante, does any1 know??
that way it would be a replacement of the cover and placing a coloured globe or LED in there

THERE ARE!!!!????
i wasnt too sure if you could just get a clear cover for the stock courtesy lights, are they availible from mitsubishi?
or in the diamante, does any1 know??
that way it would be a replacement of the cover and placing a coloured globe or LED in there

good luck finding one! only available on the aussie export diamantes, afaik not available thru spare parts

niceee .... i mite connect sum to my TE ... but i dunno if im willing to go through all that trouble of running wires and stuff .. so i mite as well leave it .. ill just cut the bottom of the trim and stick sum neons in there ...

niceee .... i mite connect sum to my TE ... but i dunno if im willing to go through all that trouble of running wires and stuff .. so i mite as well leave it .. ill just cut the bottom of the trim and stick sum neons in there ...

bad ricer. No.
Been talking to Lucifer about making mine with verada spec interior door lights and it doesnt look like much of a pain in theory.
Just have to get access to the door switches somehow...

thanks Gas_Hed
i took this good mod to my verada today, took less about 30min and was quite cheap, although i chose red ccfl lights rather than the white

looks quite good and gives a good amount of light, will post pics up later when i can be bothered

cheers

thanks Gas_Hed
i took this good mod to my verada today, took less about 30min and was quite cheap, although i chose red ccfl lights rather than the white

looks quite good and gives a good amount of light, will post pics up later when i can be bothered

cheers

I cant believe im still getting feedback from this.

The whole Idea-->Purchase-->Install procedure was all in the space of an hour or so, cant believe nobody else though of this before me lol

looks good, i dont personally feel the need coz the red ones light it up as good as possible... now if you showed how to convert the red ones to clear, and still make it look good, then i would buy u a carton ;) (and yes i know theres clears available, but damn theyre hard to find :( )

I just took off the red covers and left them off, used 31mm blue 9-led festoons (yes ricey i know but you could use xenon white).

obviously visible lack of cover in daylight but looks fine at night

just did mine, looks great!

thanks for the great idea man!

I cant believe im still getting feedback from this.

The whole Idea-->Purchase-->Install procedure was all in the space of an hour or so, cant believe nobody else though of this before me lol

hahaha cos we all suck

im doing mine next week, would have been done already but 2 jaycar stores that i went to didnt have white ccfl's, and after seeing OMAR's im going for the blue ones..... i reckon i can knock it over in 15min though.... i've had my door trims off that many times im a gun :badgrin:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/10cm-4inch-Cold-Cathode-Kit-White-dual-CCFL-10013_W0QQitemZ300165311131QQihZ020QQcategoryZ5106 4QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem

do u guys reckon this kit will work?

any night time pics?

any night time pics?

Ill try to remember to grab some 2nite for you man. Its very noticeable.

love this mod!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/gerard48/th_DSC00311_800x600.jpg (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v226/gerard48/DSC00311_800x600.jpg)

']bad ricer. No.
Been talking to Lucifer about making mine with verada spec interior door lights and it doesnt look like much of a pain in theory.
Just have to get access to the door switches somehow...

U could always be lazy and run it of the door light from the roof, that way the hard work of wiring is done for you.

but then if u open the passanger door, the drivers light would come on..

dunno if u would notice it, but it may or may not look silly :cool: