DIY: Convert your Sonata (YF) LED Bumper Inserts from 2way to 3way mode
05-30-2014, 09:14 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
DIY: Convert your Sonata (YF) LED Bumper Inserts from 2way to 3way mode
*Install at your own risk!*
I am not responsibly for any damage(s) you do to your vehicle.
This DIY is simply to show what I did in order to get my LED Bumper Inserts to act as a Parking Light with full brakelight and turn signal options, even though there are only 3 wires coming off the actual inserts.
I replaced my cheap china knock offs from ebay with the K5OptimaStore bumper led inserts and I could not be happier. These are clearly made the right way and look like they are an OEM part. Very glad I bough these and they are well worth the money.
These only had 3 wires on them: Ground, 12v input for on, 12v input for the BRIGHTER on. I first had them hooked up to just my brakes. But I wanted them wired to be able to be used as brake AND taillights. So after some searching and searching I finally came up with a solution!
I went out and bought this from Autozone for only $14! This is normally used on cars/trucks to hook up a trailer that only has 2way lights.
Parts/Tools Needed:
Philips Head Screwdriver/Drill
10mm deep socket with socket wrench
Flathead screwdriver or a metal wire brush (to scrape paint away for a good ground contact)
Wire strippers
Zip Ties
Cutters
Drill Bit (Preferably StepBits or Unibits)
++Your method of connecting wires is up to you. Some people use butt connectors or use t-taps. My method is I always solder and use electrical tape and heatshrink.
Depending on your method you'll either need a soldering iron, wire solder, crimpers, butt connectors or t-taps.
REAR BUMPER REMOVAL
In order to do this mod and install your LED inserts. You'll need to remove the rear bumper. But first, you need to remove the outer taillights.
Pull away the inner covers on the trunk to reveal the (4) nuts that are securing the taillight to the car body. You'll need a deep socket 10mm depending if your regular socket is not able to go past the thread on the taillight.
Once you remove the nuts, disconnect the white taillight harness by pressing down on the tab that 'locks' it into place. Set your taillights off to the side.
Under each taillight there are 2 philips head plastic screw tabs. Slowly unscrew them and at about halfway you should be able to just pull them out with your hands. Repeat on other side.
With your trunk popped open at this time, look to the right of the left taillight and the left of the right taillight. You'll see 1 phillips screw on each side. Unscrew these.
Under the rear bumper (center) are 3 more of the phillips head plastic screw tabs. Remove these.
Next you'll need to go into each rear fender by the rear tires. You'll need to lay on the ground to see these unless you're using a mirror. There are 1 philips head screw that go into the fender to the body on each side. Remove both of these.
Under the rear bumper closest to each rear tire is another phillips head plastic screw tab. Remove these too.
Now looking at both rear tires, look opposite the tires (depending which side you're on) and you'll see 2 phillips head screws going into the fender liner for the rear. Remove all of these.
Once all the screws are removed gently pull on one side at a time, one corner/section at a time and the bumper will start to pop loose. Don't worry about the noise, you're not breaking anything, they are just just clips releasing so you can remove the bumper.
Once you have the whole bumper removed, you can go ahead and remove the OEM reflectors (being held in by only 1 phillips screw on each side) and then slide out of the notch that they were stuck in. You can also install the new led inserts you have at this time by simply re-using that same philips screw that was holding in the OEM reflector.
After you install the new inserts, you may need to extend your wires (depending on the brand you have, wire length may or may not reach to the inside of the car). You can extend your wires the way you want, just remember to note your wire colors if they change colors so you're not hooking up anything wrong.
For pictures of removal please visit this link:
http://www.hyundai-forums.com/222-yf...val-diy-3.html
I used a unibit to drill out a 5/16" hole under each taillight location to bring my extended wires into the car. I left a little slack on my extended wires and ziptie to the rear bumper support in case I ever need to remove the bumper again, I'm not worrying about having a tight fit on the wires.
WIRING TAILLIGHT CONVERTER HARNESS MODULE
This is my module cleaned up and heatshrunk. Ready to mount in the car.
Next I mounted it and used a wire brush that attached to my drill to shave down some paint to make a good ground point.
I routed my wires underneath the rear trunk trim plastic panel by removing the carpet liner. The trim panel comes out by removing 2 plastic snap in tabs towards the outside and then 1 phillips screw on each side that mount to the inner trunk body.
I ziptied my wires to some existing oem wire/oem plastic loom that was there.
These next couple of pictures show how I connected my wires.
**Please note you may see some extra wires elsewhere in the pictures. These have nothing to do with this DIY, they are from a previous mod I did and you will only be needed the wires I have shown/highlighted**
I used standard 16ga speaker wire to extend the wires coming out of the module. I soldered and heatshrank all my connections.
Most all the pictures show what to do. If you feel I left something out please let me know and I'll fix it accordingly.
One thing you should know that I found out during installing this:
-If you go to test out your module you just installed WITHOUT plugging in your taillights, your 3rd brakelight is going to flash with either turn signal, as well as your hazards. Hyundai added this I guess as a safety feature. Make sure you plug in your taillights to do any testing to make sure they light up correctly.
Here's a video to see it in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP6h...ature=youtu.be
The only thing I noticed after watching this video is that if you are on the brake, while using either turn signal--the LED inserts do NOT flash in sync with the OEM turn signals. This is only because the brakelight is overriding that feature. It shouldn't harm anything. Once you left off the brake, both the LED inserts and the OEM turn signals will flash together.
I am not responsibly for any damage(s) you do to your vehicle.
This DIY is simply to show what I did in order to get my LED Bumper Inserts to act as a Parking Light with full brakelight and turn signal options, even though there are only 3 wires coming off the actual inserts.
I replaced my cheap china knock offs from ebay with the K5OptimaStore bumper led inserts and I could not be happier. These are clearly made the right way and look like they are an OEM part. Very glad I bough these and they are well worth the money.
These only had 3 wires on them: Ground, 12v input for on, 12v input for the BRIGHTER on. I first had them hooked up to just my brakes. But I wanted them wired to be able to be used as brake AND taillights. So after some searching and searching I finally came up with a solution!
I went out and bought this from Autozone for only $14! This is normally used on cars/trucks to hook up a trailer that only has 2way lights.
Parts/Tools Needed:
Philips Head Screwdriver/Drill
10mm deep socket with socket wrench
Flathead screwdriver or a metal wire brush (to scrape paint away for a good ground contact)
Wire strippers
Zip Ties
Cutters
Drill Bit (Preferably StepBits or Unibits)
++Your method of connecting wires is up to you. Some people use butt connectors or use t-taps. My method is I always solder and use electrical tape and heatshrink.
Depending on your method you'll either need a soldering iron, wire solder, crimpers, butt connectors or t-taps.
REAR BUMPER REMOVAL
In order to do this mod and install your LED inserts. You'll need to remove the rear bumper. But first, you need to remove the outer taillights.
Pull away the inner covers on the trunk to reveal the (4) nuts that are securing the taillight to the car body. You'll need a deep socket 10mm depending if your regular socket is not able to go past the thread on the taillight.
Once you remove the nuts, disconnect the white taillight harness by pressing down on the tab that 'locks' it into place. Set your taillights off to the side.
Under each taillight there are 2 philips head plastic screw tabs. Slowly unscrew them and at about halfway you should be able to just pull them out with your hands. Repeat on other side.
With your trunk popped open at this time, look to the right of the left taillight and the left of the right taillight. You'll see 1 phillips screw on each side. Unscrew these.
Under the rear bumper (center) are 3 more of the phillips head plastic screw tabs. Remove these.
Next you'll need to go into each rear fender by the rear tires. You'll need to lay on the ground to see these unless you're using a mirror. There are 1 philips head screw that go into the fender to the body on each side. Remove both of these.
Under the rear bumper closest to each rear tire is another phillips head plastic screw tab. Remove these too.
Now looking at both rear tires, look opposite the tires (depending which side you're on) and you'll see 2 phillips head screws going into the fender liner for the rear. Remove all of these.
Once all the screws are removed gently pull on one side at a time, one corner/section at a time and the bumper will start to pop loose. Don't worry about the noise, you're not breaking anything, they are just just clips releasing so you can remove the bumper.
Once you have the whole bumper removed, you can go ahead and remove the OEM reflectors (being held in by only 1 phillips screw on each side) and then slide out of the notch that they were stuck in. You can also install the new led inserts you have at this time by simply re-using that same philips screw that was holding in the OEM reflector.
After you install the new inserts, you may need to extend your wires (depending on the brand you have, wire length may or may not reach to the inside of the car). You can extend your wires the way you want, just remember to note your wire colors if they change colors so you're not hooking up anything wrong.
For pictures of removal please visit this link:
http://www.hyundai-forums.com/222-yf...val-diy-3.html
I used a unibit to drill out a 5/16" hole under each taillight location to bring my extended wires into the car. I left a little slack on my extended wires and ziptie to the rear bumper support in case I ever need to remove the bumper again, I'm not worrying about having a tight fit on the wires.
WIRING TAILLIGHT CONVERTER HARNESS MODULE
This is my module cleaned up and heatshrunk. Ready to mount in the car.
Next I mounted it and used a wire brush that attached to my drill to shave down some paint to make a good ground point.
I routed my wires underneath the rear trunk trim plastic panel by removing the carpet liner. The trim panel comes out by removing 2 plastic snap in tabs towards the outside and then 1 phillips screw on each side that mount to the inner trunk body.
I ziptied my wires to some existing oem wire/oem plastic loom that was there.
These next couple of pictures show how I connected my wires.
**Please note you may see some extra wires elsewhere in the pictures. These have nothing to do with this DIY, they are from a previous mod I did and you will only be needed the wires I have shown/highlighted**
I used standard 16ga speaker wire to extend the wires coming out of the module. I soldered and heatshrank all my connections.
Most all the pictures show what to do. If you feel I left something out please let me know and I'll fix it accordingly.
One thing you should know that I found out during installing this:
-If you go to test out your module you just installed WITHOUT plugging in your taillights, your 3rd brakelight is going to flash with either turn signal, as well as your hazards. Hyundai added this I guess as a safety feature. Make sure you plug in your taillights to do any testing to make sure they light up correctly.
Here's a video to see it in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP6h...ature=youtu.be
The only thing I noticed after watching this video is that if you are on the brake, while using either turn signal--the LED inserts do NOT flash in sync with the OEM turn signals. This is only because the brakelight is overriding that feature. It shouldn't harm anything. Once you left off the brake, both the LED inserts and the OEM turn signals will flash together.
