Add reverse LED! Change OEM tail signals to switchback Amber/White
 

This mod. changes the OEM tail signal lights (incandescent) into a switchback LEDs (Amber/White).

Idea was originally from & many other similar videos:
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IG0KXK-O-jY"]How to install switchback LED's for better reverse lights in your BRZ/FR-S/GT86! - SLOPOK - YouTube[/ame]

How to install switchback LED's for better reverse lights in your BRZ/FR-S/GT86! - SLOPOK


[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuZz7Kih0Ck"]Tail as Turnâ„¢ + Backup LED Module for Scion FR-S, Subaru BRZ - YouTube[/ame]

Tail as Turn™ + Backup LED Module for Scion FR-S, Subaru BRZ


Reason & purpose: Safety & brightness!

Generally most cars (eg Corolla, Camry:)) have reverse lights in the back at mid level; this gives driver decent lights when reversing in the dark.
Our OEM reverse light however sits too low, it works for the reverse camera but if we look back over our shoulder higher back objects that is close by are Not light up (Danger!)

So with our current OEM reverse light, it is quite hard to see objects when there is Not much visble light, when it is early morning or on a dark night especially when it is also raining or foggy; it is hard in judging distance for objects over our left and right shoulders, such as the distance between your precious mirrors with the close by brick fence!

Afterwards We hope to achieve:

• Lift up reverse light to mid car level (like most cars)
• Increase reverse light brightness (x4 lights including OEM reverse lights)
• Make closeby back objects light up and we may safely reverse.

Summary Items require (mine bought on ebay):

• 2x 7443 (T20) sockets
• 2x 7440 (T20, 992) male wiring harness retrofit
• 100x copper 2.8mm female spade crimp terminals 22~16AWG 0.5mm connector (cheap, so I bought 100s), minimum we need is 6 (because we may make mistakes).
• 100x 2.8mm male spade red crimp terminals suit 3mm wire, minimum we need is 6.
• 10x cable power take off (scotch lock) red; we only need x1
• 2x reverse signal switchback LED White/Amber 7443 socket (as bright and as pricy as you can get! Dont go cheap or you will regret it! Details to come below)

(I am expert in reading others published information & advices, but novice in giving information or posting on forum,...haha :lol:
Forgive me if post start to go missing...)

Note: modification require some delicate work, cutting, wiring and crimping but not brute force.

Caution: This system require all reverse lights to be change to LED, as you are drawing extra power out of the reverse light circuit. Therefore it is best you first change your original reverse lights to LED before commencing this mod in case you made the blunder of drawing too much power and do some damage to your car.

Please read and study the items requirement and procedure fully, decide if it is safe for you and your car before attempting the modification.


Nonetheless congratulation for those who decide to implement this modification, you will have the brightess reverse light ever for the 86/FRS/BRZ :drool:! Bad luck for the newer version of our car from 2017 onward, their tail lights are LED including signal but at present they do Not seem to have a place to add a bright reverse light :thumbdown:; if you happen to buy the newer car model and wish to have a bright reverse LED, the valid eventhough seemingly crazy suggestion is to change your tail light to the older model tail light and implement this modification! IMHO our tail light with the round break light looks very good, I don't think you will lose out on look at all plus an incredible bright reverse light to boot! :bellyroll:

Hey IMHO you will one day make other upperty 86 owners envious when you unintentionally went reversing, the brightness! And there show off your bright reverse light and when they figure it out... they will think what about their expensive LED tail light, how it compare to your simpleton down-to-earth OEM old tail light... Not as useful in the dark when reversing, ah sorry that is beauty without overall fundamental (reverse) use; in your case your tail lights are still the 86 beauty yet hidden with an exemptional talent & purpose! :happyanim:


Disclaimer: I am only sharing what I have done, I am not responsible for any damage or injury associated with releasing these information and no harm is intended. If you attempt the modification, you do this knowing you are fully responsible for your own decision and its consequences.

Spade crimp terminals:

I used 2.8mm because it is narrow, looks good and price not too much difference; I recommend you get all the sleeve ones if not too pricey...
You may make it simpler by buying the "female spade crimp terminal" with "insulated sleeve" red, just like the "male spade crimp terminal" so you only need one crimping head.

(I hope to be using this 2.8mm female spade terminals on another future project, to add "mirror heating" feature on aftermarket wide angle mirrors for the 86; which "most" not all BRZ comes default with; not to go off topic)

Tools used

• Standley knife
• Cable/wire line cuters
• Combination plier
• Crimping tools

• "red" for insulated terminal crimper head - for the red "male spade crimp terminal"
• "14 AWG" "open barrel" crimper head - for the "female spade crimp open barral terminal" that I bought (as shown in photos), again you dont have to buy or use this type of female spade crimp terminal, you can buy the "insulated sleeve" one which means you only need 1 crimper head, i.e. the "red" & for "insulated" crimper head (above).

I bought the crimper just for the project; but I figure I may use it again in future small projects.

The mod. will be separated into 3 sections:

Preparation:

• Remove one side of the back cover of the left tail light and the plastic "boot lock cover" in the boot
• Modifying the 7443 sockets (by careful cutting), test fitting of modified 7443 sockets onto OEM tail-light signal, it is a 7440 socket. So we are putting a 7443 socket in place of a 7440 socket.
• Add connectors to 7443 sockets and the 7440 male wiring harness.
• Measure out and cut x2 unequal length red wire and add end connectors.

Procedure 1: Connect up your switchback LED (Amber/White)

1. Connect "7440 male wiring harness" to the "OEM 7440 female" socket
2. Connect "7443 socket" to the "7440 male wiring harness"
3. Connect switchback LED onto "7443 socket"

Test & work?!

Procedure 2: Tap into the reverse line, connect & work!

Last two procedure are quite simple & hopefully quick...
IMHO the bulk of this is in preparation and figure things out initially.

Recommend: use the video links I post at start of thread for some more details walkthrough if my explanation isn't clear.

I would have bought "Diode Dynamics Tail as Turn™" if not because of the red brake light as indicator.
By law I need the amber/orange signal; anyway I do like the OEM signal light the way it is position.

1. From the back cover within the boot, remove 2x retaining plastic fasteners; it is of high quality (subaru :)), careful Not to damage them. (see photos below, circled blue, fastener already removed)
2. Remove the boot lock plastic cover; there are 3x retaining plastic fasteners, remove those (circled yellow).
3. Pull the cover out starting from its lowest end, inside of boot then upward. Note the circled red indicate where the clips goes back in.

In the Left tail-light compartment, you may take out the OEM 7440 female socket/plug and have a look. Photos below shows what it looks like.

We will be putting in a 7443 female socket/plug (that you purchased, has 3 cables/leads/legs) into where this OEM 7440 female socket (has 2 cables) goes! And take note of the difference and where to modify and cut (the 7443), which I will explain later.

Switchback Amber/White LED needs a 7443 socket that has 3 legs; 1 leg is ground (negative), 2nd leg is for signal indicator (positive), 3rd leg is for reverse (positive), forgive my layman languages.
While the OEM 7440 socket has 2 legs; 1 leg is ground, 2nd is for signal indicator.

Therefore we are retrofiting our cheap 7443 female socket, shape it into a similar subaru OEM 7440 socket.

7443 socket Major Drawback:
The cheap 7443 socket simply WILL bend the contact legs of our 7443 switchback when we remove the LED! If we bend the same leg twice, possibility of snapping/breaking it is very high.

I have circle highlighted lime green, the inside teeth of the 7443 socket that I believe causes the bending; I also believe the teeth "may" also be use to hold the LED in place, so I did not dare to cut those out, instead I try not to take the LED out once it is in & working.

I believe when we pull out the LED, its contact legs hit those teeth, causing the leg to bend backwards. A solution I tried was to move the leg slightly to the left or right so it does not hit those teeth, unfortunately there is no guarantee that the legs wont move when you pull it out and may still bend because it then hit those teeth or whatever else!

My advice and what I have done is to do it very slowly, gently and carefully, if the leg did bend, try to pull the LED out without further bending it if possible.

Note: I tried the mentioned method with my new switchback "54x 4140 SMD switchback" of moving/bending its contact legs left or right, the legs did not bend and I have pull the switchback out a few times; so the method does work to an extend.

Finding a better 7443 socket?
I can Not find a better 7443 socket (on ebay, google images) and then within reasonable price. I did find once an expensive pair but can't find it anymore (~US$30 including postage), I am not sure the difference and I am not sure if there is one that is on sale somewhere online, decently priced that look & function differently than the one I have shown you.

If you did find a better one, work as intended and do not bend our LED legs, good for you but please let the rest of us know.

Below is an uncut, original cheap 7443 female socket.
Next photo is highlighted, circled blue is a big knot/edge/key (not sure the appropriate term) but lets call it BigEdge! The BigEdge needs to be cut later on. Circled yellow is a small knot/edge/key and lets call it SmallEdge! SmallEdge will Not be cut.
Notice on the 7443 socket, there are 2x BigEdge each opposite each other and the same for the SmallEdge.

Below photos show 7443 female socket have been cut.
WARNING: remove the O ring gasket before you cut!

There are many places that need to be cut and it need some careful cutting so study the photos well.

The 7443 socket in the photo was tested to fit where the OEM 7440 female socket goes.

Note: Test fitting instruction will come after the photos below; be very very careful.
WARNING: Do NOT force or jammed the 7443 female socket in because you are frustrated! Your brute force will make you very sorry afterwards, when you cant get the 7443 female socket out!

It took me 4 or 5 try the 1st 7443 socket and I went back everytime to re-cut to fit.
The 7443 socket can be fitted. I can take it off and put it on as many time as I want.

The photo shows the 4 corners of 7443 have been cut rounded; right photo compare the one that is cutted with its other original; notice other areas of the 7443 side are also cut; I will hightlight the areas in other photos.
I found sanding etc unnecessary, I just try to cut as straight as I can.

Again compare the cutted area highlighted in blue with same photo on the right Not highlighted. Note you have to do the same cutting to the other or opposite side as well; so rotate the socket and cut the same way you did before.

• Blue # 1 - cut the corner ~2mm in
• Blue # 2 - cut ~1mm in
• The one in the photo is SmallEdge, and we do Not need to cut it.

advice: At present use only visual (eye) to check fitment with the tail-light 7440 socket; do Not try fit it in, it will get jammed and you may be in big trouble! We have some more cutting to do.

Following photos shows more:

• Blue # 1 - cut the corner ~2mm in
• Blue # 2 - cut ~1mm in
• Blue # 3 - cut may be ~0.5mm in
• BigEdge - cut ~1mm to ~1.1mm on the left side, cut ONLY that side.

Note: this Blue # 3 we can't see in the previous photo, and beside this Blue # 3, the other side we only have Blue # 1 & Blue # 2, there is No Blue # 3.
This will be same as the other or opposite side; so rotate the socket and cut the same way you did before.

advice: To check fitment with the tail-light 7440 socket; see if it goes in and then cut again (do NOT force, it should goes in nicely). Now if it goes in, take it out; do Not hurry and go twisting! I will give further instruction below.

If your 7443 socket can now easily fit in and be taken out of the tail-light. Congratulation! Pat yourself on the back, you have just overcome one of the great hurdle in this mod!

Next is to see how it should twist and lock on within the tail-light compartment.

Before you do the twisting test, take the 7440 OEM socket and fit it onto the tail-light compartment, turn it clockwise; I believe 7440 socket outer rim travels about 5mm; remember it ONLY travels those 5mm.

Don't copy what I did:
The reason I said this is, I was able to twist the 7443 socket past those limit with its O ring gasket on and it was incredibly tight so I didn't feel any resistance other than it is very hard to turn anyway!... In fact I turned it 90 degrees then realise why it didn't stop! Unfortunately when I tried to reverse, counter-clockwise turn it wouldn't turn enough for me to take it out!

In desperation I pray to Elohim that I didn't destroy the cheap 7443 socket and the groves of my tail-light. In short, somehow I was able to turn the cheapo 7443 socket 360 degrees and very fortunately get it out, without damaging it and the subaru OEM tail-light grove! That was just too close!

1st test: twist & lock the 7443 socket without the O ring gasket, turn clockwise; it should be easy and feel like it fitted just like the 7440 OEM socket. Careful not to go past 5mm or how much the 7440 OEM turned. If it fit and turns ok, take it out, go to next test.

2nd test: twist & lock the 7443 socket with the O ring gasket on; with the gasket it seems to be incredibly tight but like I did it still can turn, again remember the 5mm turn limit; also I shouldn't need to tell you: don't put forces on the cable legs or it will break!

Crimp 7443 socket legs x3 with the male spade insulated terminals

Step 1: take off the insulation at end of the legs with a wire cutter; in the photo shows mine is already pre-cut.

Step 2: gently roll the wires together as shown.

Step 3: get your crimper with the red insulated head.

• Put the cable with the rolled wires into the open end of the male spade insulated terminal.
• Insert this male terminal with the cable into the crimper, make sure they are still aligned properly and crimp.
• Trim off excess or extended wires with a wire cutter.

My crimper require the cable and terminal be inserted from the left side, using the right hand to crimp and press very hard, try both hands or press the lower handle of the crimper onto your hard table.

Advice: do it slowly, again make sure the cable is Not moved out or the male terminal is Not moved away from the crimper jaws. Once the crimper start to crimp it will hold onto the terminal in its jaw, you then have to make sure the cable is still properly stays in the right place and continue to crimp down.
For my type of crimper I watched following YouTuble video to know what to do and which crimper head to use (which I decided to purchase similar looking crimper).

Note: repeat the above with the other x2 legs; once all is successful. You can go on to cut the other 7443 female socket, using the same testing method on the same left tail-light compartment; after fitment, complete its crimping.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCq3tKE3KRI"]Quick Change Cable Crimping Kit - YouTube[/ame]

Quick Change Cable Crimping Kit

Crimp the 7440 male wiring harness legs x2 with the female spade crimp terminals

Your female spade crimp terminals can be "open barrel" like mine or the one with "insulated sleeves" similar to the red male spade terminal.

Mine is the "open barrel" type, 2.8mm female spade terminals, so I use the "open barrel" crimper head with 14 AWG. The crimper 14AWG indent and tooth is highlighted with a yellow eclipse in one of the photo.

Go through the same steps as previous "insulated sleeve" male spade crimp terminals.

If you do not know where to position the cable and wires onto the female metallic spade terminal you can study the before crimp and the after crimp photos, or find a tutuorial webpage and/or video online.

Advice: basically place the cable with its insulation onto the outer "ears" of the terminal, those outer ears will hold the terminals and cable together. Place the rest of the rolled conductor/wires onto the inner "ears", after the crimp the terminal will come into tight contact with those inner ears, creating a coupling. If you have sleeve for the female terminal like mine, it is best we insert the sleeve (mine is transparent) onto the cable first before attaching the terminal and do the crimping.

Connect "7443 socket" to the "7440 male wiring harness" then
Connect "7440 male wiring harness" to the "OEM 7440 female" socket

Advice: do Not buy the switchback (my 1st) in below photo, I will discuss which switchback you may buy later.

The photo is showing a completed procedure 1, that I have connected my switchback. BUT

WARNING: do NOT connect and use the switchback, use the OEM 7440 incandescent light bulb for inital test of the signal indicator, hazard indicator (and parking light if you have any).

The cheap 7443 socket did not bend my OEM 7440 incadescent contact legs, because it is really well made :) and I do not think it will bend your OEM 7440 incadescent legs as well; so we can use that as a test globe and rest asure.
Leave the switchback to last.

Test 1: use OEM 7440 incandescent globe

I connected the cable red to red, black leg (of 7440 male wiring harness) to the green leg of the 7443 female socket...

I made sure both side left and right tail-light compartment is connected with the same colour cables, do it right, otherwise it will be very confusing for you or others in the future!

7440 male wiring harness: tricky bit
Is the red positive and black negative, ah no; I just made it so.

We have to do some cable connect fiddling; because depending on how you insert the 7440 male wiring harness, one cable will become positive and the other negative!

So swap around until you determine which is positive and which is negative! I am a layman myself so not much of advice here.

You may want to connect your OEM globe to the OEM 7440 female socket for 1st test and trace from that.

I kept the 7443 socket and 7440 male wiring harness, as I have wanted and legs colour unchanged.

Once the OEM globe light up and we are happy with the colours of the connected legs. We can go onto next test.

Test 2: use Switchback LED

I am sure in the aftermarket, our switchback 7443 LED legs are not made as superb as our OEM 7440 incandescent from Subaru factory, as mentioned on the above reply post it will bend on removal and possibly breaking the leg if you are not gentle or doing it more than twice.

Therefore we will minimise taking in and out of the switchback to maximum of once if possible! This is assuming you have done the previous test all properly and correct, all things work including your switchback does work.

You may move your 7443 switchback legs slightly to left or right, so as not to hit the inner teeth of the 7443 socket when you remove it. And hope for the best that your switchback work the 1st time.

If Not take it out gently slowly... check your contact legs, swap the globe around and in theory it should definately work the 2nd time you insert it; but in reality there is always too many possibility! So good luck.

Once both side switchbacks works the way you wanted it, your modification is almost, I really mean almost completed. :thumbup:

There is a small benefit, we can revert our modification back to using the OEM 7440 socket and 7440 globe if we wish to; since socket and line remain unchanged upto this point everything is plug and play; so for whatever reason such as temporary replacement, ran out of 7443 switchback and so on.

Below photos show a fully connected circuit of the right side tail-light compartment.

• "7440 male wiring harness" to the "OEM 7440 female" socket
• "7443 sockets" to the "7440 male wiring harness"
• Switchback LED (not seen) onto "7443 sockets" and it is inserted into the tail-light compartment.

Once you have tested your switchback amber light to be working, when the signal indicator is pressed; you can insert and lock your switchback and the newly modified 7443 socket into the tail-light compartment. We shall not need to take it out unless you want to change the switchback.