I have both illumination bulbs out on the J gate, looking at a dead spare, I'd like to know how to read the poles, because I'd like to solder l.e.d's instead of incandescents. I don't like the idea of testing on the car, powered up. I'd rather take it off to the bench and solder then re-install. The area's in question are the one with the bulb in and a white circle around it, and the other white circle, at the top right of the pcb, with the bulb missing....

I can supply a bigger picture, but this is the item I'm planning on modding.

 

well, your "only" issue is selecting the right series resister for the selected LED, and the fact that yiou dimmer circuit may not be very linear in terms of brightness versus dimmer position. The series resistor is set by ohms law. The selected LED will have a maximum current (in ma) and a voltage drop (usually about 1.0 volt) so the resistance, in kohms is= (12 -1.0)/ maxcurrent. you figure out mounting method!

 

Sean, look at the plug that goes to that module. You should see one of the wires being a red wire. That is the power from the dimmer switch (atleast per the drawing I have). It should be on pin #5. Once you find the red wire, you should be able to trace it from the pin on the board all the way to the light in question. From there, you know what the positive post is.

The part that has me a bit confused is the drawing I have shows that board as having 10 posts on it, but the picture only shows 9. Post #10 is your ground wire (black wire). So, there might be a little bit of confusion with this. I am basing this on the 2002 XJ series that you have listed below your name. If we are talking about a different car, let me know and I will look things up for that car.

 

You should be able to trace it -- but my experience is that nothing will happen if you guess wrong with the connection - it just will not light.

Also don't be surprised if you do not like the way it looks when you get it back together -- the color will be different and depending on the way the optics are designed the light will not "flow" the same because of the pinpoint of the LED.

The OE bulbs do have a long life - do you think the car will make another 8 years?