Thanks lexus27
This is such a small mod but beautiful one. Hope you figure this out cant wait to get these in my car.

 

What it means by pin24 connecting to #19 is that its location 19 on the LA connector, which connects to the junction box. LA is the upper most connector on the vehicle-front side of the junction box. The other pins nearby have a circle with a letter in it, and a number outside the circle. The letter is a reference to a line directly above the top of the Cowl Junction Box L/H which basically maps to other connectors elsewhere on the junction box..I think one is A30, for example. I've only been able to find (in the diagram) two wires that are marked as running to LA yet when I was looking last night it seemed there was at least 6-8 wires on the connector. This is where I'm confused and need to go back and start really taking things apart so I can get a good look.

Another interesting (yet expected) thing I saw in the manual is that the ground (white) wire should output 10-14V when the doors are closed and less than 1 V when the doors are open. I can't remember specifically if I tested the white wire to see if any power was being supplied at all- but this is something I'm going to do immediately when I get home. If the white wire is supplying 10-14V constantly (which would not turn on the scuff plate), we know its probably connected to the ECU and its an issue with the ECU not being programmed how we'd like it to be. Not 100% for sure though since it could be connected to something else providing the voltage. Otherwise, its most likely floating somewhere and not connected where it should be. Of course the wiring diagram shows no other connections from the plates to the ECU- maybe the white wires for the plates are connected to each other and nothing else??

IS Lover,
My hope is that the wire does not connect all the way to the junction box and ECU, and that we can wire it up ourselves or *big hope* we can order a part that will do this for us. Regardless, I think to make it work some amount of wiring/replacing will be necessary. Supposedly two people haven't had a problem, but I anticipate most of us will.

Worst case scenario is that we will have to tap into the door switch line like lexus27 did- with the proper wire known beforehand this won't be very difficult at all. I know most people will jeer at having to tap into a wire though.

This issue has been killing me all day at work- updates soon to follow

 

Terp05 your the man this is killing me why these plates wont work.
I dont see why this would not be a plug and play. Guess lexuse wants to do some searchin for our selfs. Anyways cant wait for your updates. Thanks Again for all the work your doin to help us all.

 

Let me tell you what I know. The blue scuff plate wire supplies the 12V positive and is constantly on regardless of door position. The white wire has no voltage nor continuity to ground regardless of door position. It seems to be floating.

The footwell light wiring is similar to what you are describing. One is constanly on (12V) and the other one - the red one that I used - is about 10V when the door is closed. The voltage drops to a little over 1V when the door is open. THIS IS THE REASON WHY I USED IT BECAUSE IT RESEMBLES WHAT THE SCUFF PLATE NEEDED TO TURN ON.

It seems that the way lexus controls these lights is far from the simple positive and negative connection. The footwell light and scuff light's negative terminal is not just ground, it's voltage controlled - it's a circuit. I mean just look at the footwell circuit, it has a resistor, Zener and the LED. I bet the scuff light has the same circuit. That's why I don't think connecting the scuff light's white wire to the door pin's negative connection is such a bright idea. The only way I see it is EITHER somebody figures out how to get the ECU to send the needed "negative" signal OR tap from the footwell's red wire.

The latter fix of course will leave the scuff lights on when you drive. The fix would be to take the positive wire of the scuff plate (blue one), run it through a relay, and use the doors pin's negative connection the activate the relay. This way, you get the same connection the footwell light gets, but the scuff is off when all doors are closed. Damn too much work.





Good luck and keep us posted.

 

Yeah I agree 100% with your last post. (lexus27)

Well, I got back into it again tonight with proper lighting and a good mirror. Here are my conclusions:

1. The connector that goes into the ECU through the junction box DOES NOT have the white wire attached where it should be. In fact, looking at the back "connection" side of the connector, the metal plating isn't even present to bridge the signal from the wire to the ECU terminal.

2. (the bad one)- I was able to successfully probe the correct ECU terminal and it read 12 Volts all the time. I tested this with both pushing in the door switch and pressing the overhead "door" button. The proper operation of this terminal if the scuff plates are to work is to read ~12V when the doors are closed or the "door" switch is in the outward position and ~1V when the "door" switch is in the inward position and any door is open. So it seems the way to go is to hook into the foot well lighting. Unless you can actually see the plates with the doors closed while driving, I don't see this as being a problem. I guess this is more of a mod than an add-on. Sigh, apologies to all for being confident in the latter.

 

Can some one post with pics how to do this mod.
Thanks in advance

 

They weren't supposed to be a plug and play item to begin with. Notice you don't see them readily listed on the Lexus Genuine Aftermarket parts booklet?

As for the parts being available for sale...they are being provided because of the many requests people have had about these parts.

 

With the mod I did, the scuff plate will be illuminated while the footwell light is on - which is when the door is open or you are driving. If the doors are closed, you'll never see the light from the scuff plates. Those worried about the life span of the LED bulbs, think about this.
The new LEDs have a lifespan of around 100K hours. If you drove 2 hours a day for everyday of the year, it'll take 137 YEARS for the LED to go out. In real life, even if it only lasted 1/10 of that time, that's a long freakin time. Definitely, Lexus uses some quality parts, so I don't think the LEDs will burn out right away. I mean, even Lexus believes that the LEDs will last a long time, cause they are leaving the LED footwell lights on too when you are driving your car.

I keeping my mod as is and I am done for now. They really are beautiful illuminated.
The DIY mod is listed further back in this same topic.

 

I really want to do this mod, but I'm holding off until someone figures out an easy way to get it so the lights come up gradually, in sync with the dome light, like they do on the luxury package. They really should make these standard with the sport package. IMHO they go better with the sporty decor of the sports package interior - the aluminum pedals and metallic effect trim - than with the luxury package. Maybe they felt like the luxury package needed something other than wood trim and a sunshade...?

 

I agree that these look really slick, but I have what may be a dumb question...Anyone inquire about having the dealer install these?

 

If they are connected to the footwell lights, the scuff plates turn on gradually too (like half a second to full brightness). It's cool to look at. They also go off gradually, but you wont see that unless you are just playing with the door switch.

The dome light operation is different when turning off. It dims much much slower but I don't think that's possible with LEDs. They are either on or off.

 

I haven't- I imagine at this point I know more about their operation and what parts are needed than anyone at a dealer...You could either have the dealer do the wiring mod we are talking about (if they actually would) or they would have to order several new parts, including the main body ECU L/H if they aren't able to program it themselves. New parts, labor- I imagine it could get up there in $$.

 

Maybe I will take in the info from this thread to a trusted auto shop and see what they can do about it. If you get the gradual-on effect using the DIY install described above, then I guess it would be worth it. I think you are right that the people on this thread who are experimenting with this stuff know more about it than the Lexus techs... Since it's not an "official" mod...

 

You're probably right... They just look so smooth (Our RX has them), I really would like to do it, but it makes me really queasy to hack up (zero wiring knowledge) the wiring in the new love of my life...

 

Diablo,

Can you post a picture of what your scuff plates look like on your Sports Package car. I'm still waiting on my car and haven't seen what the scuff plate looks like. I love the look of the Luxury scuff plate. I've seen your pictures of your car (I've ordered the exact one) but couldn't get a look at what the scuff plate and pedal area looks like. I had an IS300 so I know what those pedals looked like but can't remember the scuff plate. It may be worth me calling and see if they can make that modification since I still don't have my car.