Puddle Lamp LED Replacement Walkthrough

76816 Views 54 Replies 29 Participants Last post by dudewuzu, 14 d ago

DreadX

Discussion Starter · Mar 28, 2011

7

Once again, please forgive the messy car. Pics were taken on a really slushy day.

This replacement can be done without removing the mirror.

First, tilt the mirrors all the way up and toward the vehicle.

Access will be through the bottom outside corner of the mirror.

Using a flashlight you can see the bulb housing and the clip you need to push to release this housing. Using a screwdriver, gently push the center of this clip while nudging downward.

The housing will fall out the bottom of the mirror.

There is a little slack in the wiring so pull the bulb housing out a little.

Rotate the white plug and remove from housing. This will expose the bulb.

Pull the bulb and replace it with the LED (194 bulb).

Replace the bulb in the housing, make sure the wiring tucks back into the mirror and push the housing back into the mirror. Make sure to put the side of the housing closest to the car in first ... the clip should go in last. The push until it clicks back in place.

Congrats on your Puddle Lamp LED Replacement

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Reactions: 1

41 - 55 of 55 Posts

Applefish

· #41 · Jul 17, 2014

Here's a proof it doesn't flicker.

bruker

· #42 · Aug 22, 2014

I just tried this mod on my `12 Fusion. Bought some 12volt 9 LED bulbs off of eBay and went about installing them. Easy enough to get the fixture out of the mirror housing and even easier to change the bulbs. I put the first bulb in an marveled at how bright and white it was. Then I noticed a little smoke then a lot of smoke coming off the bulb and one by one each LED went dark and actually fell off. It's a good thing I didn't just change the bulbs and assume everything was going to be OK. I'd really like to do this mod so does anyone know where I can get some quality reliable LED bulbs?

TysMagic

· #43 · Aug 24, 2014 (Edited)

I've order some eBay LED puddle bulbs for my MKZ, hoping to not have the issue mentioned above! :undecided:
Might have been a bad batch, plus they're just cheapos from eBay. I'd contact the seller, bet he'll send you replacements.

I was pondering today if anyone has used the LED logo projectors in place of the puddle lights yet?
I remember in browsing eBay for larger lights for my Bronco I came across these logo projectors.

Or to save you from having to make the jump, these

I am going to look in to getting a spare set of the puddle light housings and mounting some w/ the lincoln logo. As they seem to be designed for a lower location, I'm curious if it'll look good. Cost should be low enough so I'm willing to take the risk on it regardless

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fusionff

· #44 · Aug 24, 2014

bruker said:
I just tried this mod on my `12 Fusion. Bought some 12volt 9 LED bulbs off of eBay and went about installing them. Easy enough to get the fixture out of the mirror housing and even easier to change the bulbs. I put the first bulb in an marveled at how bright and white it was. Then I noticed a little smoke then a lot of smoke coming off the bulb and one by one each LED went dark and actually fell off. It's a good thing I didn't just change the bulbs and assume everything was going to be OK. I'd really like to do this mod so does anyone know where I can get some quality reliable LED bulbs?

I bought a bunch from Superbrightleds, they have great quality bulbs. I went with the cool white color, which are nice & bright.

xalexakaspyderx

· #45 · Sep 8, 2014

I have a question. On my 2012 fusion sport I dont have thoses puddle lamps but it does look like it has a cover / clip over where it would of been. Is all the wiring pre existing where you can just maybe add a bulb there???

best if someone can email me instead thx guys

[email protected]

xalexakaspyderx

· #46 · Sep 18, 2014

nevermind I checked doesn't have it

Y2KFirehawk

· #47 · Sep 18, 2014

Followed this on my MKZ and worked perfectly.

PublicHair

· #48 · Sep 19, 2014

xalexakaspyderx said:
I have a question. On my 2012 fusion sport I dont have thoses puddle lamps but it does look like it has a cover / clip over where it would of been. Is all the wiring pre existing where you can just maybe add a bulb there???

best if someone can email me instead thx guys

[email protected]

..how the heck does the sport trim NOT have puddle lamps????

Did you buy your car used?? If so, maybe the previous owner ripped the mirrors off trying be cool in tight spaces.

The sport trim I thought was equal to or more loaded than the SEL trim (outside of engine/tranny options)

Y2KFirehawk

· #49 · Sep 19, 2014

PublicHair said:
..how the heck does the sport trim NOT have puddle lamps????

Did you buy your car used?? If so, maybe the previous owner ripped the mirrors off trying be cool in tight spaces.

The sport trim I thought was equal to or more loaded than the SEL trim (outside of engine/tranny options)

Truer words were never spoken. The option packages on the Sport and things that were grouped in to them were horrible. The "base" Sport did not come with puddle lamps. The SEL received many options standard that the Sport did not.

Shsuman459

· #50 · Jan 25, 2015

Thanks for the post. It was really easy.

Vehicle Car Automotive lighting Personal luxury car Automotive exterior

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

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garforceii

· #51 · Oct 21, 2017

why can’t i view any photos

eGuru

· #52 · Oct 24, 2017

TysMagic said:
I've order some eBay LED puddle bulbs for my MKZ, hoping to not have the issue mentioned above! :undecided:
Might have been a bad batch, plus they're just cheapos from eBay. I'd contact the seller, bet he'll send you replacements.

I was pondering today if anyone has used the LED logo projectors in place of the puddle lights yet?
I remember in browsing eBay for larger lights for my Bronco I came across these logo projectors.

Or to save you from having to make the jump, these

I am going to look in to getting a spare set of the puddle light housings and mounting some w/ the lincoln logo. As they seem to be designed for a lower location, I'm curious if it'll look good. Cost should be low enough so I'm willing to take the risk on it regardless

I have installed these logo lights in the bottom of my doors and would like the readers to be aware of the following:

They run hot and should not be powered on for more than about 10 minutes. If you leave them on for an hour, they will get hot enough for the solder under the LED to melt. I used a timer (6 minutes) to prevent my second set from failing.

There are very many sources for these but look to be only 2 models. I only saw one supplier's ad that mentioned to not keep them on for more than 15 minutes.

fusionff

· #53 · Oct 25, 2017 (Edited)

garforceii said:
why can’t i view any photos

Because of the greed of Photobucket, and they ruined forums all over the internet. We've all posted pictures using their site over the years, and they all of a sudden wan't to charge us $40 a month to use their site to post our pictures. Screw them!

Now to post photos again, we have to use a different site, so all of those old posts with photos contain dead links to the pictures. The members who posted the pictures can edit the older posts to fix the issue, but they probably aren't visiting the site anymore.

You can try using different browsers, I can see the pictures now using Chrome, but not using Firefox.

garforceii

· #54 · Nov 20, 2017

yea i got the fix on chrome thanks to the admin.

dudewuzu

· #55 · 14 d ago

DreadX said:
Once again, please forgive the messy car. Pics were taken on a really slushy day.

This replacement can be done without removing the mirror.

First, tilt the mirrors all the way up and toward the vehicle.

Access will be through the bottom outside corner of the mirror.

Using a flashlight you can see the bulb housing and the clip you need to push to release this housing. Using a screwdriver, gently push the center of this clip while nudging downward.

The housing will fall out the bottom of the mirror.

There is a little slack in the wiring so pull the bulb housing out a little.

Rotate the white plug and remove from housing. This will expose the bulb.

Pull the bulb and replace it with the LED (194 bulb).

Replace the bulb in the housing, make sure the wiring tucks back into the mirror and push the housing back into the mirror. Make sure to put the side of the housing closest to the car in first ... the clip should go in last. The push until it clicks back in place.

Congrats on your Puddle Lamp LED Replacement

So I need to get a 194 bulb? I went and bout a a 168 and it says it’s also fits compatable 194/2825. Would this work? And what brand did you get I had all my led’s as sylvania

41 - 55 of 55 Posts