DIY: Installing PositionLights (Updated 4/23/07)
 

Hey guys so as many of you know I replaced my parking lights the other day. Many members have asked how to do it so I decided to make a DIY. So here we go:

Tools:
Hands
10mm
Your new bulbs, the bulbs I used for this one were white high power's from V-leds. The size of the bulb is 194. A picture comparison is below. The 4 led one next to it is going to go for my clear corners. I'm replacing all the autolumunation ones with these new ones.

1) On the driver side take off the fuse box cover. Refer to picture 2 for where the socket is located.
2) On the passenger side remove the ECU cover. You will the 10mm for this. Also the battery cover must be taken off as well as the hoses that are attached to the covers. Refer to the 1st picture for details.

The install is very easy. Once you locate the sockets, you will need to twist it until it comes unlocked and then pull it out. The passenger is a tight fit.

Good luck and have fun! :ylsuper:

Did you do blue or super white? I just like the color in your sig, and I want to make sure I don't get something that looks silly. Thanks for the great DIY btw!

how's it going? I ordered them from here http://autolumination.com/194.htm I got the 6LED type in super white. Attached are 2 pictures of them at night. I also replaced the fog lights with hyper white H11 bulbs as well.

Thanks for the quick reply! I'm going to order my led's right now. Just curious, do you think the led's match the HID color pretty well?

They turn out a little bluish but they look so much better than the stock ones that are in there. Once you replace all the bulbs in the front you have a nice uniform look. Keep in mind that I had the led parking lights in for a few hours before I put in the replacement fog lights and the combination of the Xeons and the Super Whites the fogs looked yellow. I would look into replacing the fog lights as well if you have them. I paid $4/bulb on that site. If you have any questions feel free to contact me.

great job on the DIY... I think I'm going to look into this.

Thanks for your advice. I looked over all the other threads with the exact same questions for you, and you are just ridiculously patient. Thanks for putting up with my non-searching habits haha!

Did you order anything yet? I placed an order today to replace all my bulbs on the 8 including interior.

nice diy,

what h11s did you put in and what would you reccomend????

beers :beer:

swoope, i put in the Super White Krypton from http://autolumination.com/headlights.htm . They were $3 each. There is another set on the page for $14. I like how the ones I got look. My guess is that they come pretty close to color. They are both bright whites so it shouldn't really matter which ones you use. They look so much better than the stock ones. I couldn't stand the yellow look they were giving me after replacing my parking lights. the $8 spent on both bulbs just gives your car a whole new look.

wow,
did not get that far down on the page. that is silly cheap, almost to cheap. i got some off of ebay the color match was perfect to the stock zenons. they lasted about 8 months. they were like 12 bucks.

let us know how it goes.

beers :beer:

holy shit that's so


so


simple.

I hope your 6LEDs last longer than mine did. The both have only 3 elements lit and they have only been in the car for about 6 months (3 of which the car sat during the winter months).

Well guys I ordered the super-whites for the parking lights, and I decided to "go against the grain" and got super yellows for the driving lights. I plan on using some 3M film in conjunction and see if it looks decent and works well. I know, I know, you dont NEED yellow light for your fogs... but I think it looks damn hot ;-)

I'll post pics when I get them in!

autolumination sucks.

i buy everything from superbrightleds.com

if it burns out or doesn't match color send it back and they give you new ones.

-- I have ordered three times from Autolumination and have received my order by US Mail in less than 4 days each time. I am happy with the products and the service --

thanks for the DIY. i did manage to replace the bulb but I've run in to another (hopefully not bigger) problem. i replaced the bulb but it's not turning on now. same with my sidemarker lights. i thought it might've been the thing that holds the bulb (sorry, dont know what it's called) but i tried the same bulb on another light, still doesn't work. then i thought it was the bulb, i've tried 3 different bulbs. anyone have any idea what's going on?

Sounds like one side works so it shouldn't be the fuse but that is the only think I thought of beyond the potential as you mention, that you have broken the connection either in the wiring or the connector ... oops!

i changed my parking lights. looks great! no more yellowish color. :)

Ugh. I just had one of those "oh #$!@" moments trying to do what I thought was a simple mod. I was following this DIY (which was very helpful) with the 6-led super-whites from autolumination. I got the driver's side bulb replaced with no real problem. A little blue, but overall it looks so much better. But on the passenger side, after I got everything reinstalled (or so I thought) and turned on the lights - no light on that side. So I pull the connector back out and ... no bulb. Looking in the front of the headlight assembly I see the LED bulb laying loose inside the housing. Oops. Somehow it came out of the connector. I probably didn't push it in far enough, or all the moving around trying to get it to line up caused it to come loose. I could barely get my hand down in there (why did Mazda make changing every bulb in this car so freaking difficult??) to get the connector to line up, so there's no way I can reach or get a tool down to the housing opening to pull the bulb out. I tried a magnetic pick up, but it's so contorted down there I can't get it to reach. Can you get to the back of this light through the wheel well like replacing the turn signal? I seriously need help getting this bulb out. As is I've got one blue eye with the parking lights on. :( Does anybody have any ideas???

wire hanger and tape... and time.

beers:beer:

If you have some double-sided tape around, cut a longish strip lengthwise and feed it into the hole. The tape should pile up and hopefully catch onto the bulb. I have to do this when I lose parts inside of electronics cases. Good luck!

Tape is your new best friend for getting that bulb out.

I've got 6 led's from Autolumination on their way to my house. I just hope they don't turn out too blue.. (ordered hyper white)

They're pretty blue, but match the HID's perfectly from a distance

Thanks everyone for the ideas. The hanger and tape seems especially promising. I hadn't thought of that. I'm on my way out to go try...I'll post what works in case anyone else ever has this same problem.

As for the color of the hyper-white autolumination leds, I agree with zenmoused. They're pretty blue close up but look really good from a distance. Even close up the blue looks WAY better than the stock yellow. If you're replacing your bulbs, do yourself a favor and turn on the lights after replacing just one of the bulbs. The comparison is striking and points out just how yellow the factory bulbs are.