Brake light mods

Hmmmm - I like that idea. Using third brake light power to light the fog lights. Genius.

Only issue is if removing bulbs will trigger "brake lamp" light on or not.

 

I'm not sure. I know BMW's have a warning light when a bulb has burned out. Hopefully this isn't the case with our cars. Anyway, I plan to do this mod next week. I'l let you know what happens

 

Please take lots of pictures and notes on each step.

 

I will....I'm just waiting for a new third brake light. Should be here within 3 weeks

 

Patiently waiting on your writeup. Hope that light comes in soon.

You will have to disconnect fog lamp wires right. Now if you accidently turn them on, you may get the bulb warning.

 

I ordered the light yesterday. They say I should have by Dec 1. I believe if you accidentally turn on the fog light it will send a code. I'll find out when I pull the socket and turn on the fog switch. I might have an solution for that. I'l post everything once the light arrives.

 

Can someone explain to me what the brake light mod is ? I'm not understanding what was done? Is there a problem with the lights along the trunk?

 

the lights that are mounted on the trunk arent brake lights because in the United States you cannot have brake lights on a moving portion of the car. the brake lights (and blinker lights) are integrated into the lights that are in the bumper area. The lights in the trunk are attached to the fog lights. I never would have known had i not read about it someplace else. Basically what they are doing is making the lights in the trunk into brake and signal lights. Its questionable if this mod is "legal" in the US. With that in mind im pretty interested in how it was done myself. Sure looks more normal then the area the brake lights are now.

 

Although "technically" its not legal by NHTSA standards however no officer nor inspection station employee will know that the trunk is a moving part unless they own or have owned a California. For that reason alone, I would be shocked beyond belief if anyone who did this mod would ever get a ticket. I plan to do this mod only because it will add more visibility when I brake.

 

I dont disagree with you, and its a discussion that one of my part time employees who is also a police officer have had. In his opinion the lights in the trunk lid are a visual distraction because the way they appear would lead you to think they should be the brake lights and turn signals. In other words it would be "safer" for the california to have signal indicators and brake lights located in the light housings mounted on the trunk. I only mention it could be illegal because, well it could be. Im interested in this mod as well, because like a few other laws just because its a law doesnt necessarily make it right.

 

I agree with you.....not all laws makes sense. I think the brake lights at the bottom isnt as safe because as you mentioned, most people are expecting to see the brake lights on the top light. When I get my new third brake light, I'll start on this mod, taking pics and step by step instructions.

 

I read somewhere that since Cali tilts the trunk backwards to stow roof mechanism, the lights temporarily go downwards out of the view of an incoming vehicle approaching from behind. Hence the bottom brake lights.

Audi (Q7) had to do something similar. When trunk is open, brake lights are out of the view.
They had to put brakes on the bumper.

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Any updates from the mods? I just had it done but the fog light indicator in the display stays on.


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I was able to use the third brake light as a power source for the top fog light however there seems to be some current enough to light up some of the third brake light LED'S when the brakes are not applied. I'm working on a new complete taillight that will use the large circle as a brake and running light combo that way you can still keep the fog light function. The problem is the mold cost to produce the taillights. I'm still deciding whether or not there will be enough interest to offset the production cost. I use to own Clear Alternatives which made clear aftermarket taillights for motorcycles that also had an integrated turnsignal feature. I was thinking about making a similar (optional feature) on the new brake lights. I'l keep you posted

 

Are there any markets where Californias use the round lights as brake and turn signals the way that they were intended by Ferrari engineers? If so,then parts might be available for a problem-free conversion.

 

I wondered the same thing. Do Japanese or UAE cars have these lights as Brake turn signal? I think its going to be easy, just takes time to follow wires. Thanks for the info!

 

I'm watching this thread with interest as we just picked up a 2015 Cali T and I am not happy about the ludicrous rear lighting scheme. I'm reasonably good at DIY but I'm not really sure I'm comfortable proceeding on the write up here because its for a first gen and I hate working with electrical.

 

Interesting. Need more info and pictures before I attempt it lol

 

If I could find a freelance Ferrari mechanic I could trust to do this mod here in LA, I wouldn't hesitate. I just don't trust myself to do it as I hate working with electrical. I tried to convince the dealership but they were of course not willing to. I also have a smarttop module to install so maybe I can get it all done at once. :-(

 

I actually just did this mod today (well I finished the passenger side because I spent a lot of time routing the wires through the factory locations for a clean install....)

A couple of notes. You DO NOT need to do anything with the black wires on either the upper or lower light clusters. Those are only grounds (I confirmed this with my multimeter, and later successful functionality testing). The only wires you need to cut and reconnect are the red and green wires.

Here's how they go together.

Upper Cluster Red ---------------------------- Lower Cluster Red & Green

Center "fog" bulb Red <--------------------------> Harness Side Red & Green

Circuit Board Red <-----------------------------> Lower "Brake" bulb Red & Green



I was originally going to create the splice lower in the harness but after some probing with my multimetr what I found was the control units are wired in such a way that there is constant 12v to the board and the switch connection takes place on the board itself (which I believe is how the "lamp failure" warning indicators function). An overly complicated solution for a simple task...

The only way to do this easily (and not have to completely disassemble the clusters) is to disconnect the wires directly at the bulbs themselves as done by the OP

 

Finished up the mod today. Everything works. No warning messages on the dash.

For anyone curious about how it looks here's a short video.

 

Did you disconnect the factory brake lights? Didn’t see them in the video. I think I would leave them hooked up as well since in the US there is the law about brake lights not being on a moving panel. Other then those that it does make a nice mod that looks as it should.

 

The way they're wired up they work as the rear fog lamps now.

There is absolutely zero chance you'd get in trouble for this. Nobody would know any different, and they'd really just care that you had working brake lamps. In Oregon we don't even have vehicle inspections, but I doubt anyone would even catch this if there were. IMO it looks weirder to have the lights where they came from the factory. A cop or inspector seeing these light up wouldn't even think twice.

it just couldn't be sold from the factory this way. So say what you will about it "being against the law", but in actual practice who is going to care?

 

Makes perfect sense, thanks for the clarification. Are the blinkers still located in the bumper or integrated into the upper lamps?

 

They're still in their normal location in the bumper.