NEED HELP Perimeter Lighting Cap Mod

[$ Khalid ! 9130]

Hi everyone

Yesterday tried to do the Capacitor mod to enable my HIDs to fire at 100% power when I unlock the car at night (Perimeter Lighting). I just wrapped a wire around the capacitors "legs" and spliced a bit of the PNK stripe wire in the Grey Harness and wrapped the wire around it and grounded it to one of the BCM bolts.

It didn't do anything. I would like to find out where I went wrong. Any help would be greatly appreciated

BTW my TB does NOT have DRL system

Below are some pics to how I approached the cap mod :

 

[Mounce]

Did you put the negative leg to the bolt? Capacitors DO have polarity and will only work one way.

 

[$ Khalid ! 9130]

Yes I just got the wire end under the bolt and tightened it down all the way

What about the wiring between the wires and capacitor. Was that done right?

 

[Mounce]

Preferred soldered but if it makes good contact should be fine.

How are you verifying that it is not working?

 

[$ Khalid ! 9130]

Preferred soldered but if it makes good contact should be fine.

How are you verifying that it is not working?

I didn't verify. How would you suggest to verify it working. I was going to say it worked if my HIDs came on at 100% power for the perimeter lighting

 

[dmanns67]

I didn't verify. How would you suggest to verify it working. I was going to say it worked if my HIDs came on at 100% power for the perimeter lighting

I followed the write-up below for the cap mod on the OS. Like Mounce mentioned, I soldered a wire to each leg of the capacitor.

http://forums.trailvoy.com/showthread.php?t=64575

Since your capacitor has the legs coming from the same end, the positive leg should be longer than the negative. The positive leg is the one that splices into the pink wire with white stripe. The negative leg gets the ring terminal and will act as the ground. The ring terminal will fit over the bolt for the rear seat.

Worst case, reversing the polarity of the capacitor can cause this unless you blow a fuse first.

 

[$ Khalid ! 9130]

I followed the write-up below for the cap mod on the OS. Like Mounce mentioned, I soldered a wire to each leg of the capacitor.

http://forums.trailvoy.com/showthread.php?t=64575

Since your capacitor has the legs coming from the same end, the positive leg should be longer than the negative. The positive leg is the one that splices into the pink wire with white stripe. The negative leg gets the ring terminal and will act as the ground. The ring terminal will fit over the bolt for the rear seat.

Worst case, reversing the polarity of the capacitor can cause this unless you blow a fuse first.

Would a ring terminal be necessary? Or could I just wrap the wire under the bolt? Also I used the bolt that holds the rear fuse box in place. Should I have used the Bolt for the seats? I do have a soldering iron, just never used it. I might try once again after my exam today and see if it works. Other than that I will "try" to solder the connections together

 

[dmanns67]

Would a ring terminal be necessary? Or could I just wrap the wire under the bolt? Also I used the bolt that holds the rear fuse box in place. Should I have used the Bolt for the seats? I do have a soldering iron, just never used it. I might try once again after my exam today and see if it works. Other than that I will "try" to solder the connections together

I just soldered the wires to each leg of the capacitor then used a quick splice to splice in the positive leg to the pink/white wire. The ring terminal will crimp on to the wire from the negative leg.

I would suggest using a ring terminal for better contact, more secure, and a cleaner install. I am not going to recommend doing it half assed which might be why you are having issues. Any electrical mod, I would suggest doing it right the first time. Ultimately, its up to you though.

 

[$ Khalid ! 9130]

I just soldered the wires to each leg of the capacitor then used a quick splice to splice in the positive leg to the pink/white wire. The ring terminal will crimp on to the wire from the negative leg.

I would suggest using a ring terminal for better contact, more secure, and a cleaner install. I am not going to recommend doing it half assed which might be why you are having issues. Any electrical mod, I would suggest doing it right the first time. Ultimately, its up to you though.

Gotcha...........
I was doing it to "test" it, then would have gotten it done better. I guess I need to see how to work the old soldering iron I found in the tools closet