DIY Plug & Play Strobing Third Tail Light For Cheap
 

This is my first DIY How To on this forum so please forgive any annoying formatting issues.

DISCLAIMER: I claim no responsibility for breaking anything. This is what I did and it worked for me. I am not liable for loss of property, damage to health or loss of life. Please check your local traffic laws before installing.

Side Note: I took out my pins from the stock connector so I can't just tell you "put red in the left one"


Lets Begin:
I ordered a pack of these flash strobe modules for the FR-S and installed with some heat shrink. Worked great, but then I thought I could make it plug and play and easily removable if needed. I got the pack of strobe controllers for $9.99 on amazon (I am not an affiliate, just showing what I got) The price fluctuates so shop around. I took a couple of pictures of the OEM connectors and went to Google and found extras on Global Rakuten. (Yes the website looks sketchy, but they were great with communication and shipping was fast. Google Chrome also translates the page) Also Super Cheap!

You'll need one of these - https://item.rakuten.co.jp/auc-hi-10...ph_pc_itemname

and one of these - https://item.rakuten.co.jp/auc-hi-10...ph_pc_itemname

I also ordered some extra terminals but ended up not needed them as the housings come with the right amount of terminals. I ordered two male housings (came with 4 male terminals) and two female housings (came with 4 female terminals) and then 2 extra of each terminal. With Shipping to Houston total was about $16.80. I think $8.60ish of that was shipping. They sent an email later confirming shipping price to which I had to respond to before they charged my card and shipped. I think you could do one module for about $12 after shipping but since I got a two pack I ordered double connectors.

Tools Needed:

• Needle Nose Pliers
• Pick or Hook
• Tape (For Identification of wires)
• Soldering iron
• Crimper
• Razor Blade or Snips
• Work Light (Helpful)

Install Instructions:
I did all of this in about 15min. I also made it so I can remove the strobe and go back to stock in under a minute. If you're any good with 12v electrical this should be a breeze for you. Might also be beneficial to watch a video on how to re-pin a 12v connection too. (This one is Similar)

1. Plug in Soldering Iron | Do this first so it's hot & ready when you need it in the next steps. Make sure it's in a safe place not going to light something on fire or burn something.
2. Unplug | Disconnect Third tail light connector. The Male housing from car (left side) should be connected to the sheet metal of the car. You can pry apart if needed or leave it.
3. Figure Out Wiring | On my car (2014 FR-S) Slide up the wiring shroud to see wire colors. Solid green from Car goes to Red Input on strobe module, Solid black from car goes to Solid Black input. Red Out from module goes to Green Striped wire to Light, and black out goes to black striped to light.
4. Male-Female-Male-Female | If you do this properly, you will essentially just be creating an extension cord for the third tail light. So when you remove the strobe module you can just plug the car back to stock. You want the input side of the strobe module to connect to the output side of the car wiring harness (Male to Female) and the output side of the strobe module to connect to the third taillight input. (Male to female).
5. Solder | Solder the female terminals to the input side of the module and the male terminals to the output side of the module. Keep the soldering iron on.
6. Crimp | Using a crimper or pliers, crimp the bottoms of the terminals for extra security.
7. Test | Test your connection and make sure it works and you understand what wire goes where and how they need to be oriented in the terminal housings. If you have to, use some painters tape and mark which wires go where before continuing.
8. Push | Push the terminals in proper housings until they click. Might be helpful to pull male terminals from front side with needle nose pliers. Also push in retaining clip on bottom side of housing. I somehow had too much solder on some of my connections so they wouldn't fit into the housing. I just ran the soldering iron along the top to melt it back down so they would fit. Don't force the connectors, they should go in pretty easy.
9. Plug it In | Plug in & test brake light.
10. Tape | Use the double sided tape provided with the strobe module to stick module in desired location.
11. Zip | Use zip ties to tie up extra wires.
12. Snip | Cut excess zip tie
13. Revert | Un plug strobe module & test again with stock setup.

Hope this helps. Good luck and happy strobing.... because racecar.