spta97

iTrader: (1)

I have the info on how to switch out the security LED on my 2k3, but when I opened the clock this weekend the LED is held on by a plastic "shaft" for lack of a better word. I can imagine that the wires run through this, but am I just supposed to cut the shaft in order to un-solder the LED? I was a little nervous messing it up as the clock assembly looks pretty expensive.

Any help would be appriciated.

spta97

iTrader: (1)

You aren't gonna let me break it are you?

lcf

iTrader: (6)

You might want to try searching for that one thread where people posted that they had done this mod successfully. From there I'm sure you can find the usernames of people and simply PM or email them.

(It's possible they might not catch this thread unless you bump it 5x a day!)

mYkEi2KmAx

iTrader: (1)

To remove the LED all you have to do is take a soldering iron and un-solder the old LED from the back of the circuit board. That plastic piece holding the LED stays on.

spta97

iTrader: (1)

Yep. I figured that out last night, thanks. All and all it went well but here's some tips for people who want to do it:

1) Get a small tipped soldering iron and thin solder. I was using a big clunky soldering gun (it was the kind that's shaped like a gun) and it was very easy to slip when soldering off the old LED and soldering the new one on.

2) Be careful when drilling the hole wider to accomodate the new LED. I drilled mine from the front and the plastic cracked and split in a few places around the hole. I'm thinking now that I should have drilled once the bit was up to full speed but I was afraid to melt the plastic. On the back end of the face of the clock I just used a dremmel to grind down the "lip" that was there for the other LED.

3) I ended up using a Radio Shack LED like others on the board. It's bright when you are sitting in the car (much brighter than the stock red) but I have a feeling that the Varad might be brigter as people have claimed it lights up the whole front of the car.

4) It was hard to hold the LED, solder, and the gun at the same time. A pair of those "helping hands" that my friend told me about might be useful here.

All and all I'm very happy with the mod and the light blinks with no problem like the old one. I'm not sure how the alarm is supposed to get set off as I could not do it by setting the alarm and opening the door? I'm gonna look in the manual tonight to see if there is some sort of delay.

My next mod is going to be changing the LEDs on the driver side window / lock controls. That looks more complicated, but I think I can do it now that I have experiance with circuit boards!