If you have the spare tire kit you know that the stock trunk light is virtually obliterated by the tire. I decided to get some additional lights.

What I found were "LED Light Fixtures" from autolumination.com. These are small fixtures with 3 LEDs each, with about a 100 degree spread. They're cheap so I purchased 4 because I couldn't be sure how bright they'd be. I ended up only using 2.

Here's a pic of one of the fixtures. I chose the "white" output version.

The switch that controls the trunk light is built into the lock. It's the topmost connector, with the brown and black wires. Note - the plastic trim was removed prior.

Another view from inside the trunk. You can also see the common ground point.

The fixtures come with long leads and I experimented for a while, affixing with masking tape to find good locations. I decided on some recesses on the left and right sides of the trunk. These points aim the light nicely into the well and does not result in an objectionable amount into the eyes when you're standing over the trunk. I reamed a small hole in the lining to pass the wires through. Here's the fixture with the adhesive backing partially removed and getting ready to feed the wires through the hole.

You've got to remove some more of the little plastic anchors so you can move back some of the liner to get to the backside. Here's the left side with the fixture's wires coming through. The adhesive seems more than strong enough to stay attached to the liner permanently. Having the liner away from the panels gives you a good chance to press down firmly against the adhesive of the fixture and get a good bond.

I soldered to a 2-connector wire for running back to the switch.

Follow the routing of the existing harness and tape down frequently to avoid chafing

Similarly on the right side of the trunk. Hard to see but I am using some "Marine Goop" to immobilize the wires where they pass through the liner.

Ok. How much crap does it take to put in a couple'a LEDs!

Here's a picture of all that crap taken with no other light but what the LEDs are putting out. It's a fairly long exposure but gives a good idea of the relative lighting intensity.

A slightly higher angle, showing the location of the fixture

Oh! Back to the how-to. Both of the "+" wires from the LEDs are connected in common with the black wire as it exits the switch connector. This gives them current only when the switch is on.

The black wire is then snipped downstream of this attachment. This is necessary because otherwise the OEM trunk bulb retains a direct path to ground. This means it lights up with its normal brightness and also means that the voltage drop is too severe to get any output from the LEDs. By snipping the black wire you're then forcing the OEM trunk light's current to have to pass through the LEDs on the way to ground. Since the LEDs are vey low current devices, the OEM incandescent bulb doesn't get hot enough to increase resistance very much. It just glows a feeble brown (barely on). I suppose I could short across it to prevent any loss but at this point I'm satisfied with the light output.

I hope this picture isn't too cluttered to explain it

And everything back in place, pic from LED illumination only.

and facing the driver's side. The LEDs on this side are not quite as blue or bright. Since I bought 4 fixtures I probably should have spent more time trying to match a balanced set. But overall it works pretty well.

Caveat - when I bought these they were advertised as consuming 20 mA of current. Now the page says 60mA. I don't know if the fixtures have changed or if the initial spec was mistakenly just giving the figure for a single LED of the set. And, I'm too tired to go back out and test one for current… zzzzzz

(edit - tested one of my spares and it's drawing 40mA at 12.5 volts. go figure).

The issue is that if the current draw rises appreciably, the stock OEM bulb will start to heat up to where its resistance would be a factor drawing down the voltage to the LEDs. This could be eliminated though, by shorting across the OEM socket or connector.
Since this is a change to the electrical system I have to say - try at your own risk. Void where prohibited. Do not taunt happy-fun-ball.

EDIT: one last thought - it might be smarter to wire the lights and cables to pull-apart connectors so that if you need to remove the liner at some future point, you can do so easily. I guess I'll just wait until the need arises.

Wow Nubo, NICE DIY! I'm moving this into the DIY forum... well done! :D

god damn!! that is an awesome job there.. I can't call you nubo (newb) any longer, wow. ;)

nice job

Great job and pictures!! Added this to my To-Do DIY project list once I get my 8.

Jeff

Nubo, excellent work! This was one of the small upgrades that I have had in mind since the first time I opened the trunk and was in disbelief that Mazda didn't relo the light as part of the spare tire kit.

My wiring plan was a bit different and would like your input. I was planning to pop out the existing light since it is already at the end of the switched circuit and use a couple of inline splices to wire the additional lighting fixtures in parallel to the existing light.

Is there some reason you didn't do it this way? Is there some reason that this way wouldn't work?

Originally posted by beachdog
Nubo, excellent work! This was one of the small upgrades that I have had in mind since the first time I opened the trunk and was in disbelief that Mazda didn't relo the light as part of the spare tire kit.

My wiring plan was a bit different and would like your input. I was planning to pop out the existing light since it is already at the end of the switched circuit and use a couple of inline splices to wire the additional lighting fixtures in parallel to the existing light.

Is there some reason you didn't do it this way? Is there some reason that this way wouldn't work?

beachdog, It was just a matter of perceived convenience. At the time it seemed like the trunklock switch connector was going to be an easier location to work with. I'm not sure if that's really true since I went that way and didn't attempt to locate the connector for the light itself (somewhere in the left fender area).

Good work.
¿Does blue and white ligths the same intensity?

Originally posted by femtochemistry
Good work.
¿Does blue and white ligths the same intensity?

Hi Femto,

Well, both fixtures were sold as "white". It turns out that one is somewhat brighter and has a bluer tint than the other but not different enough to be annoying. I actually bought 4 fixtures and if I were to do it again I would have compared the 4 more closely to get as closely matched set as possible.

I suspect if you bought a "blue" set, it might be harder to distinguish objects in that light even if it were rated as the same brightness. Visual discrimination seems easier in multi-spectrum light than in monochromatic light.

Nubo, I finally got around to adding the trunk lights. I used your wiring method after all. Chose different locations for the lights. I used the metal cross member across the top of the trunk and snaked the wires through existing holes. Interesting thing though, my oem trunk light isn't lighting at all, not even a bare glow. I'm going to drop the spare tomorrow and take the bulb out.

Not enough light to read a book, but at least I can find things and if I ever need to get to the tools at night I don't need to fumble with a flashlight in one hand.

Here are a couple of crummy pictures taken w/my phone just so you can see where they are located.

Here's the other side.

That's about where I plan to put them too.

bumping with an attachment to recover pictures

did the mod this evening, i love the look! good job btw!

I'd never read this DIY. Nice job Nubo.....nearly makes me want to refit my spare!!

No no, won't ever happen.... :)

Nice DIY! I have a spare mounted and it does a great job of covering up the trunk lighting, so I plan on doing something like this myself and your DIY will save me a lot of time!

Shinka in MD

Nice DIY.

What would be the best way to hook up something a bit more powerful in the trunk and still have it only come on when the trunk is open? I don't know too much of electrics, but I tried this mod with sort of a "neon" underside light and there clearly wasn't enough power. Could I just pull out the power from the positive of the battery and then get ground from the trunk open switch?

Help will be very much appreciated.

Actually solved this already. I just ripped everything out at the back from inside, starting from the rear seats and just took the power from the wires of the original trunk light. Worked like a charm.

Actually solved this already. I just ripped everything out at the back from inside, starting from the rear seats and just took the power from the wires of the original trunk light. Worked like a charm.

Cheers!

I admit the fixtures I used aren't super bright. And, one of them has burned out. LEDs have come a long way in the last couple of years; I'm sure there are better units available now. The nice thing about using LED for this application is that even if you accidentally leave the trunk popped, it will take a VERY long time to drain the battery. :)

True, when it comes to power consumption and detailing, leds are always superior. When on the other hand you want "glow" and general lighting you are better off with neons and incad lights. My tube actually takes out something like 5 W, which still isn't something to be compared to LEDs, but it isn't too bad even if you forget your trunk open, or more realistically, display it somewhere. Hell, if I'd leave my trunk open at the parking lot of the local super market, I could count on having to kiss my nitrous good bye. Which reminds me... I probably should post some pictures with the red neon and Zex combination. Also I did boast to Charles about my button installation for the Nos to put his to shame, so I guess I should walk the walk as well... Heh. :D

really cool diy. im definitely gonna try this out.

damn Nubo, nice work! (even if the thread is 3 years old now. ;) )

I grabbed a standard bedside LED light that is very flat - maybe one inch deep and rewired it with some resistors and a small bridge rectifier so that the polarity didn't matter.

Then I made up a small piece of copper coated printed circuit board and wired the light to that on a few feet of cable. Attached the 'fridge magnet' material to the back (supplied with the LED light) and plugged it in to the original lamp socket (after removing the lamp).

I can now stick it anywhere I like along the faily flat metal on the top inside egde of the boot (trunk for you yanks).

Works a treat and NO wiring mods or pulling any trim off.

Why not just relocate the existing Light by extending the wires?, seems a lot of work for a simple light extension.