Door Courtesy Lights

[davidjt]

Boxster 1997.

Both of these lights were not working.

Removed the light fitting (they just pop out with a small screwdriver).

The connections to both of these light fittings were corroded. Strange, as the interior of the doors did not show any signs of moisture (like there was no residue).

Cleaned up the fittings, and, presto, lights ON.

After a few minutes, I found that the whole fitting was getting somewhat quite hot. No wonder, these are 5watt bulbs, and if you leave just one door open, both door lights are on, and for an extended period, I could see that the battery could suffer.

Also, with this amount of heat, and trapped on the door panel, I can also understand why the connectors were corroded.

So, I built LED fittings for each door.

I used 24000 mcd LEDs at 30mA.

A few photos to show the part I had made, and then fitted to the door.

No1, shows the construction. The original bulb thickness in the socket is about 2mm, so I used some perf board, which is also about 2mm. This just thick enough to allow the wiring (which is wrapped on the ends) to spread the prongs in the socket for a good, firm fit.

No2, shows the assy fitted to the socket.

No3, shows the outcome.