355 - US to European spec tail light turn signal conversion | FerrariChat

355 US to European spec tail light turn signal conversion

Discussion in '348/355' started by ruey220, Feb 8, 2020.

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  1. ruey220

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    #1 ruey220, Feb 8, 2020
    Last edited: Feb 8, 2020
    If anyone is interested to do a conversion to US spec to European spec tail lights, at least for the turn signal and brake lights, I've recently done it and it is very simple with the purchase of the European tail lights assembly to get the bases that accept the turn signal bulb. The US tail light housings still can be retained, you just need to punch out the cover which is perforated inside the center on the existing US spec tail light.

    I did this modification since I prefer having the amber turn signals in the defunct white center of the outside tail lights which have no use in the NA spec tail lights. Also the brake lights are now on the outer tail lights, so they work with the same dual filament bulbs which served as parking light and turn signal.

    Just throw in an amber LED bulb in the new base for the turn signal, and it works just like normal once you change the pin outs on the base. The brake light and parking light now also works with the outer tail lights just like the Euro spec lights, the only thing lacking with this setup is the inner tail rear fog light as found on the euro spec cars.

    The overall installation took around 30 minutes once I figured how everything works, I can post the pin outs for the wire which is a straight forward swap and can be reversed just as easy if anyone interested to do the conversion.

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  2. Qavion

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    Did you find a cheap tool for swapping over the wires, Ruey?

    Also, what brand/type of yellow LED did you use for the turn lights. I see it didn't affect the flash rate.
     
  3. ruey220

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    It is very simple to remove the wires. Literally took 5 seconds each once you find the clips on the harness just lift it with a small flathead then pull the wire out cleanly. It also just slips and snaps into the new hole

    I have the scud ing led blinkers so it takes out the hyper flashing concern. I will post pics of the led bulbs plus the pic of the harness how to remove the wires when I get home.
     
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  4. ruey220

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    This is the led lights I used for the turn signals.

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/173685602939

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    For the removal of the wires just lift the black tab a bit then pull on the wire from the harness it should slide out really easily. To insert in the hole just slide back in and it will auto clip.


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    These are the wire positioning using the euro tail light bases. This is the left side tail lights. The other side is basically turned upside down.
     
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  5. Qavion

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    Thanks for the explanation and photos, Ruey.

    Bookmarked for future reference. Cheers.
     
  6. Iflickr

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    Hello guys ,

    i hope someone can help me with my issue , i have a 355 eu spec , and I ordered a morimoto tail lights , i installed them, but know i have problem when i push the brake paddle the tail signals become on , but not the brake lights .

    if someone can help me with this issue I’ll appreciate it .

    thanks .
     
  7. Qavion

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    (EDIT)

    The website says:

     
  8. Iflickr

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    I have read the guide and follow it exactly , but one of the pictures for the factory cables its says both connections should have the missing wires , but mine one have missing wire and the other cable dont have missing wire . As you can see in the uploaded picture.
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  9. Iflickr

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    Yeah i saw it , so there is no chance to modify it to make it work?
     
  10. Qavion

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    I'm not sure of all the functions of the Marimoto resistors. The USA rear lights have two turn bulbs on each side. The Euro doesn't. The turn indication system doesn't like it if the circuit resistance is incorrect (you may get hyperflashing or no flashing). Even if you got the wiring to line up, the indicators may not work properly.

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  11. Iflickr

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    Hmmm , i dont know how to solve this issue now . Since iam overseas and i ordered this morimoto.
     
  12. Qavion

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  13. Iflickr

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    This layout you mention for morimoto or factory ?
     
  14. Qavion

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    Layout? The last photo shows your setup with the function of the wire colours (Euro car). The USA car/Morimoto shouldn't have a rear fog.

    The wiring changes to be made are beyond my capabilities (as I don't fully understand the wiring for the Morimoto lights). I certainly wouldn't want to experiment with something so expensive.
     
  15. Qavion

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    I can't make any sense out of the markings on the Morimoto plug:

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    The colours on the Morimoto diagram don't match the car's wire colours. The pin numbering seems different, too.
     
  16. Iflickr

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    I can do experiments with expensive things , just let me know what do you need so we can start our testings .
     
  17. Qavion

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    #17 Qavion, Jan 29, 2023
    Last edited: Jan 29, 2023
    What do you mean by "tail signals"?

    Are the turn lights the smaller rings on the Morimoto lights?

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    Can you run a wire from, say, your battery terminal strip (on the right hand side of the engine bay... marked "+"), to your Morimoto adaptor plugs and find out which pin illuminates the turn lights on the Morimoto adaptors. See below for RH lights:

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    You'll also have to attach an earth wire to pin 4 of the outer plug.

    The USA turn lights are on the outboard/outside lights, so I assume the applicable pin is on the outside plug. The OEM wiring diagrams say that the turn signals are on pin D, but the actual plugs are marked 1 ~ 4. "D" may be pin 1?
     
  18. Iflickr

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    Can i have your WhatsApp number so i can send you directly, i just left my work heading to the garage.
     
  19. Qavion

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    Midnight here, so perhaps another time. To be honest, I'm not a big fan of instant messaging... I need to think through (carefully) these kind of problems... and sometimes I need to prepare drawings.
     
  20. Iflickr

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    here is an picture while i hit brake , and i will check the wiring as soon as i get to the garage.
     

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  21. Qavion

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    To make things easier, what we probably need is a photo of a USA car's tail light wiring (showing wire colours), similar to your photo above. The photo would have to include the connector clip orientation and pin numbering.

    If you have a problem with the lights not flashing or flashing quickly after the rewiring, you may be able to install a USA Hazard/Turn Module. It depends on how much the Euro round turn lights on the side of the car affect the resistance of the circuits.

    Do you have a Motronics 2.7 or 5.2 car?
     
  22. Iflickr

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    Sorry for late reply my friend, im very busy with work mow a days ,
    Its a 2.7 , and i still didnt test the wires maybe by the weekend i will .
     
  23. Qavion

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    At the moment, I'm hoping someone can take some photos of their rear light plugs (USA). Our Euro/Australia cars seem to match the OEM wiring diagrams, but I'm not sure if the USA cars match the OEM USA diagrams (assuming pin A in the diagrams = pin 1, pin B = pin 2, etc)

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    As mentioned above, the Morimoto diagrams show different functions for different pins.

    Here are our Euro lights (letters changed to numbers)

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    This modification may involve removing and relocating pins on the plugs and perhaps using jumper wires between the light assemblies. It may look messy. If the Morimoto adapter leads are sealed, you may have to modify the wiring on the car side of the plugs.

    Are there any regulations in your part of the world about what colour the turn lights should be? USA turn lights are red, Euro lights are amber.
     
  24. Qavion

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    #24 Qavion, Feb 2, 2023
    Last edited: Feb 2, 2023
    Here's a video showing the Morimoto tail lights



    Start at about 8:13.

    Tail lights (dim) and brakes (bright) are the outer rings of each lamp assembly
    Turn lights and hazards are the inner rings (of each lamp assembly)
    Reverse is the centre of each lamp assembly
     
  25. Qavion

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    I've just noticed that the Morimoto website diagram may be wrong (and the Ferrari diagram may possibly be wrong)

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    I realise now that:
    Bright red is brake
    White is reverse
    Amber is turn/hazard
    Dim Red is tail/marker/parking

    The labelling under the plugs is incorrectly swapped over in the Morimoto diagram. On USA cars, the inside light is brake and reverse, the outside light is turn and marker/tail/parking.

    If we re-label the Morimoto diagram, we get

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    This makes the inside/inboard light match the OEM wiring diagram (if A is 1, B is 2, C is 3, etc)

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    Unfortunately, the outside/outboard light still doesn't match.
    We still need pictures of a USA car's connectors (or for you to figure out which pins on the Morimoto adaptor harness activate which lights). The latter may be harder to do because we don't know which pin to use as a ground (earth).
     

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