DIY: 360 Spider Overhead light LED upgrade | FerrariChat

DIY: 360 Spider Overhead light LED upgrade

Discussion in '360/430' started by whatheheck, Apr 22, 2014.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. whatheheck

    whatheheck F1 Rookie
    Owner

    Mar 27, 2006
    4,138
    Seattle, Wa
    Full Name:
    Dan L.
    #1 whatheheck, Apr 22, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Here you go for sharing in case anyone here is interested.

    Situation:
    OE bulb is an incandescent boring amber 194 type bulb that is too dim to light up the interior of our car at night.

    A regular 194 type LED bulb will not work due to the way Ferrari design the overhead dome light switch. It reverses the polarity of the bulb when you switch from door open mode to full time on mode slider switch.

    Target:
    Find a replacement 194 type LED bulb that is brighter than stock, color cool white (my preference, my favorite color), has a built in LED driver, Polarity Free to resolve the dual mode switch issue (switches the LED light in both modes.)

    I found the bulb at Amazon dot com. You can either buy one or but a pack of 10 for $23.00, a little over two bucks each (use the rest as spares or for other locations.)

    Steps:
    Remove the overhead dome light by prying from the left edge with a plastic wedge tool, then pull down.

    Disconnect the connector from the light assembly by squeezing the sides.

    Inside the light assembly is an aluminum reflector. (This makes up for the dim stock OE bulb) Pry open the light assembly and remove the aluminum panel inside the assembly.
    Discard the aluminum reflector.

    Reseal the lens back using either superglue or hot melt glue.

    Place the new LED bulb inside the lens housing, then plug in the LED to the connector and re-seat the connector back to the holder.

    Done!

    This bulb is bright. I love it, but it may be a bit bright for someone eyes as the lens projects the light to the entire cabin. If this is the case, simply apply a black tape to half of the lens to project the light down as shown on the photo below.

    Hope that helps some of you. Photos below.

    Bulb here: Amazon.com: GRV T10 921 194 24-3528 SMD LED Bulb lamp Super Bright Cool White DC 12V Pack of 10: Automotive
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  2. whatheheck

    whatheheck F1 Rookie
    Owner

    Mar 27, 2006
    4,138
    Seattle, Wa
    Full Name:
    Dan L.
    Important note:

    To prevent short circuit or burning out a fuse = always turn battery power main switch off first before working on any electrical circuit. Turn on once you are done.

    Dan
     
  3. ccalo

    ccalo Karting

    Aug 20, 2013
    99
    CT us
    Full Name:
    Carmine Calo
    I love all your LED upgrades, thx for sharing. Lol You must have the brightest house on the planet
     
  4. whatheheck

    whatheheck F1 Rookie
    Owner

    Mar 27, 2006
    4,138
    Seattle, Wa
    Full Name:
    Dan L.
    Thanks ccalo!
     
  5. English Rebel

    English Rebel Formula 3

    Aug 13, 2013
    2,158
    Piedmont Area of NC
    Full Name:
    Alan
    .....and the lowest power bill. :)
    Alan
     
  6. whatheheck

    whatheheck F1 Rookie
    Owner

    Mar 27, 2006
    4,138
    Seattle, Wa
    Full Name:
    Dan L.
    Thanks guys.

    As I mentioned I love LED's. They consume much much less power so you can run them for weeks and not drain your battery power; they dont heat up so you can touch them and not burn your fingers; they last a long long time; and we can play around with the colors of our choice.

    Dont forget to convert your glove compartment bulb to LED's too. Mine is done.

    Next is side marker bulbs.

    I am currently upgrading my stereo head unit, upgrading the power amp, and cleaning up stereo wiring. On my 360, stereo was upgraded and supposedly "Professionally Installed".

    It looks good on plain sight but when I checked the wiring what I discovered is totally unacceptable. Wire clippings, metal shavings all over, wire routing unsecured and hanging loose, wires touching metals, loose connections, etc. Totally unacceptable by my standards.

    I am an electrical engineer for Boeing and there is no way we can approve such wiring installation design. Its considered Safety Hazard by our standards.

    So I am doing all kinds of clean up and wire re-routing in my car, and also time to upgrade the head unit and power amp as its 8 years old technology.

    Dan
     
  7. jpk

    jpk Formula Junior

    Can you clarify what you meant by the dual mode switch issue with the overhead light? I have been confounded for a while now with the interior dome light on my Modena coupe. It has two lights, a small and a large. The small one switches on/off with the smaller button switch. The larger one lights up when the door is open, but doesn't respond at all to the large button on the dome light.

    Is this because the light can only work either as triggered by the door or triggered by the switch, but not both? And I change the bulb direction to decide which I want? Or are you describing something else? Thanks!!
     
  8. whatheheck

    whatheheck F1 Rookie
    Owner

    Mar 27, 2006
    4,138
    Seattle, Wa
    Full Name:
    Dan L.
    Hi JPK,

    My 360 is a spider. On a Spider we only have one bulb for the dome light. Three position switch. Center is Off. Slide up = door open / welcome light mode. Switch down and its Full On mode that works like a Map light. The circuit design basically reverses the polarity (positive and negative wire) between the switch up position and bottom position.

    I am sorry but I am not familiar with the Dome Light operation on a coupe. Perhaps one of the guys here will chime in and explain how it works and what bulb it takes. Then I can possibly recommend an LED bulb that may work for you.

    Or perhaps take a photo and post it here. Thanks.

    Dan

     
  9. mello

    mello F1 Veteran
    Silver Subscribed

    Jul 12, 2013
    5,035
    CA Bay Area
    Full Name:
    Steve
    #9 mello, Apr 28, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    I got this one off fleabay and it works in all switch mode setting. It is smart enough to switch polarity automatically. I paid $1.18 which include shipping. The seller ID is PEOPLEMARKETING. The description is titled "P4PM T10 W5W SMD 5050 4LED Car Interior Panel LED Wedge Dome Light Lamp Bulb"
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  10. MortgageRockstar

    Feb 8, 2013
    99
    Mansfield, MA
    Full Name:
    Geof
    Thanks for the info, Steve. I had been looking at that same LED from a different seller, but was wondering if it would fit and be bright enough.

    How do you think it compares in brightness compared to the stock bulb?

    By the way, I could not find an eBay listing with that exact description, but I think this is the same bulb and it's even slightly cheaper than what you paid.

    T10 W5W SMD 5050 4LED Car Interior Panel LED Wedge Dome Light Lamp Bulb New | eBay
     
  11. mello

    mello F1 Veteran
    Silver Subscribed

    Jul 12, 2013
    5,035
    CA Bay Area
    Full Name:
    Steve
    #11 mello, Apr 28, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    It's comparable, if not brighter. I think the pure white makes it standout more. I wasn't going after the brightness but rather the lower temperature and current draw of the LED bulb. I'm very happy with the choice.
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  12. whatheheck

    whatheheck F1 Rookie
    Owner

    Mar 27, 2006
    4,138
    Seattle, Wa
    Full Name:
    Dan L.
    Excellent find!

    Glad to hear that one works great too.

    Thanks for sharing info!

    Dan

     
  13. English Rebel

    English Rebel Formula 3

    Aug 13, 2013
    2,158
    Piedmont Area of NC
    Full Name:
    Alan
    Thanks Steve -- just ordered one. $0.99 with free shipping!!!
    Alan
     
  14. RBarbieri

    RBarbieri Karting

    Feb 11, 2014
    227
    Bradenton, FL
    Full Name:
    Rich Barbieri
    I did this mod. Only problem is when on the door setting the LED's have a slight illumination when they shouldn't be illuminated at all. I've checked all the connections and tried another LED to no avail. Seems like there must be a small voltage leak that wasn't enough to illuminate the incandescent bulb.

    Anyone have any thoughts on this?

    Thanks.
     
  15. mello

    mello F1 Veteran
    Silver Subscribed

    Jul 12, 2013
    5,035
    CA Bay Area
    Full Name:
    Steve
    The slight voltage leak is coming from the ECU which controls the auto dimming of the bulb. It is not shutting down completely. I would live with it since it cost $$$ to replace, or don't leave the switch in the door setting, or swap it out because it is parasitic voltage. I don't remember the location of the ECU. You'll have to dig into the WSM. I hope this is helpful.
     
  16. RBarbieri

    RBarbieri Karting

    Feb 11, 2014
    227
    Bradenton, FL
    Full Name:
    Rich Barbieri
    Thanks Mello. I agree that the ECU is likely the problem. I've also read that the wires could be picking up induction current from other devices. My understanding is a very small amount of voltage will cause an LED to glow.
     
  17. mello

    mello F1 Veteran
    Silver Subscribed

    Jul 12, 2013
    5,035
    CA Bay Area
    Full Name:
    Steve
    Drop the induction current theory. What I'm about to say is pure speculation since I do not know how the ECU is designed or how the internal looks like. I'm going to hazard a guess by saying that If you back-trace the dome light wiring, it will most likely terminate to a power transistor (~$3.00 cost) in the ECU that does the switching. It would be easy to trace the ECU circuitry if it is a single/double sided board design. Otherwise, forget it.
     
  18. whatheheck

    whatheheck F1 Rookie
    Owner

    Mar 27, 2006
    4,138
    Seattle, Wa
    Full Name:
    Dan L.
    I don't experience that slight issue with the type of LED bulb that I used.
    When the doors are closed the LED bulb I used is completely off

    Dan

     
  19. GordonF355

    GordonF355 Formula 3

    Aug 13, 2005
    1,017
    Cincinnati, Ohio
    Full Name:
    Gordon
    What is the correct bulb for a 2000 Euro 360 Modena? My bulb looks way different than the one in the spider! Manual calls for a "10W" light whatever that is supposed to mean. I assume it is 10 watts or 10w is the type of bulb?
     

Share This Page