DISCLAIMER
This modification removes the rear fog light, therefore making your car illegal to drive on public roads and will cause you to fail MOT. Guide is posted for informational/educational purposes only and I take no responsibility for any damages to your car, personal injury, fines you might receive or any other consequences of you doing this mod.
You are doing it on your own responsibility.
Now with the legal mumbo jumbo out of the way, let's get to the actual mod.
There are multiple ways it can be done and I'll cover all of them here. I will also briefly describe each way with it's pros and cons and mark the latter parts with steps specific to each way.
Please excuse poor quality images, these were mostly an afterthought as I wasn't really doing it with the intent of making a guide in the fist place.
What you'll need:
7440 male to wiring adapter
7443 female socket with wires
Speaker wire (20-24 AWG)
Crimping tool and spade terminals
Heatshrink tubing
For housing conversion (DIY):
Razor blades
Blowtorch (a stove will do in a pinch)
Superglue
RTV silicone
8mm deep socket + 1/4 ratchet
Plastic trim removal tools
A steady hand and a lot of patience
For housing replacement:
2009-2014 Acura TSX USDM boot light (approx. 100gbp on ebay)
8mm deep socket + 1/4 ratchet
The different ways of approaching the modification:
To keep it short, you can do it in two ways:
1. Split open your existing EUDM tail light and remove the red filter from the inside of the housing and then glue it back together
or
2. Buy an USDM Acura TSX tail light that doesn't have the red filter in the first place.
Option 1 is a lot cheaper but also irreversible and can potentially ruin your tail light (cracked lens) so I highly recommend getting a spare before attempting this.
Option 2 is a straight swap with no modification to the light necessary but it's also few times more expensive.
Personally I decided to go with the DIY way since it's a lot cheaper so the guide will be based on that. Note that most steps (except modifying the tail light itself) will be the same for swapping over a TSX housing.
There is a way to keep the fog light functional using specific switchback LEDs after doing this mod and I will be describing it in the footnotes so please read them!
Part 1 - The wiring
On the reverse light side:
wire the male 7440 and female 7443 as a simple extension with extra positive and extra negative wires coming out of the terminals.
positive 7440 to first 7443 positive (21w filament)
ground 7440 to ground 7443
On the fog light side:
wire reverse ground (extra wire) and fog light ground together (no connection to GND when switched off so you need to run grounds together) to 7443 negative.
wire reverse positive (extra wire) to first 7443 positive (21w filament)
wire fog light positive to second 7443 positive (5w filament)
Crimp all connections and verify everything is connected properly with a W21/5W bulb. Reverse should light up both sides with a 21W filament and the fog light should light up only the right side with a 5W filament.
Once you've verified everything is working apply heatshrink to the exposed connectors to avoid any shorts.
For anyone asking why do it this way: I wanted to keep it 100% plug-and-play, easily removable and without the need to cut/splice the original harness. It can be done cleaner by splicing original wires but that's exactly what I wanted to avoid in the first place.
Your completed wiring should look similar to this:
Part two: Modifying the housing
Pull out 4 plastic clips holding the boot liner in place. Peel off the liner and undo three 8mm bolts holding the tail light in place.
Reach inside the tailgate, pinch 5 white clips with your fingers to release them and pull off the plastic trim piece around the camera/plate lights.
Pull out the bulb socket and the tail light should pop right out.
YouTube video (link)
Once you have the tail light out, the hard part begins. Honda *really* did not want anyone to disassemble these so instead of using glue to hold the outer lens in place they decided to melt/fuse them to the housings. Heating and baking is not gonna do anything and the only way to remove the lens is by wedging a hot razor blade behind the lens and very slowly and carefully working your way around with the blade and plastic picks.
Alternatively you can use a dremel with a thin cutoff disc which should reduce the risk of cracking the housing and /should/ be the easier way to do this.
Once you have the outer lens separated (hopefully without cracking it) remove the screw on the back and push the clip to detach the inner reflector from the housing. You will find a red domed filter inside - that's held in place by two clips is very easy to remove. Just squeeze the clips and it pops right out.
Once you have that out, join the unit back together without the red filter and glue the outer lens back on. Add a dab of RTV along the joint line to make it watertight again.
Put the modified tail light back in the tailgate, fasten three screws holding it in place, pop the plastic trim back on, swap over the bulbs and plug in the wiring adapter described in part one. Secure it to the tailgate with tape, foam or whatever else is going to stop it from rattling behind the boot liner. If you did everything right, you should have two white reverse lights now.
Part 3 - Footnotes and questions you might have
Can I reverse this mod for MOT (or for any other reason)?
While the modification to the housing is irreversible, you can always remove the wiring adapter and plug in a red W21 bulb which will result in original functionality being restored (single white reverse light, single red fog light)
Is there is a way to make this mod road legal?
You will need to source a 7443 WHITE/RED SWITCHBACK LED and plug it in your modified tail light housing. This way you get two colors in one bulb. Unfortunately for some reason these are very hard to come by and the only ones I could find outside of aliexpress come from the US and are fairly expensive.
store.ijdmtoy.com
But why?
Because having asymmetrical lights annoyed the hell out of me and because I wasn't exactly happy with the stock light pattern when backing up.
This modification removes the rear fog light, therefore making your car illegal to drive on public roads and will cause you to fail MOT. Guide is posted for informational/educational purposes only and I take no responsibility for any damages to your car, personal injury, fines you might receive or any other consequences of you doing this mod.
You are doing it on your own responsibility.
Now with the legal mumbo jumbo out of the way, let's get to the actual mod.
There are multiple ways it can be done and I'll cover all of them here. I will also briefly describe each way with it's pros and cons and mark the latter parts with steps specific to each way.
Please excuse poor quality images, these were mostly an afterthought as I wasn't really doing it with the intent of making a guide in the fist place.
What you'll need:
7440 male to wiring adapter
7443 female socket with wires
Speaker wire (20-24 AWG)
Crimping tool and spade terminals
Heatshrink tubing
For housing conversion (DIY):
Razor blades
Blowtorch (a stove will do in a pinch)
Superglue
RTV silicone
8mm deep socket + 1/4 ratchet
Plastic trim removal tools
A steady hand and a lot of patience
For housing replacement:
2009-2014 Acura TSX USDM boot light (approx. 100gbp on ebay)
8mm deep socket + 1/4 ratchet
The different ways of approaching the modification:
To keep it short, you can do it in two ways:
1. Split open your existing EUDM tail light and remove the red filter from the inside of the housing and then glue it back together
or
2. Buy an USDM Acura TSX tail light that doesn't have the red filter in the first place.
Option 1 is a lot cheaper but also irreversible and can potentially ruin your tail light (cracked lens) so I highly recommend getting a spare before attempting this.
Option 2 is a straight swap with no modification to the light necessary but it's also few times more expensive.
Personally I decided to go with the DIY way since it's a lot cheaper so the guide will be based on that. Note that most steps (except modifying the tail light itself) will be the same for swapping over a TSX housing.
There is a way to keep the fog light functional using specific switchback LEDs after doing this mod and I will be describing it in the footnotes so please read them!
Part 1 - The wiring
On the reverse light side:
wire the male 7440 and female 7443 as a simple extension with extra positive and extra negative wires coming out of the terminals.
positive 7440 to first 7443 positive (21w filament)
ground 7440 to ground 7443
On the fog light side:
wire reverse ground (extra wire) and fog light ground together (no connection to GND when switched off so you need to run grounds together) to 7443 negative.
wire reverse positive (extra wire) to first 7443 positive (21w filament)
wire fog light positive to second 7443 positive (5w filament)
Crimp all connections and verify everything is connected properly with a W21/5W bulb. Reverse should light up both sides with a 21W filament and the fog light should light up only the right side with a 5W filament.
Once you've verified everything is working apply heatshrink to the exposed connectors to avoid any shorts.
For anyone asking why do it this way: I wanted to keep it 100% plug-and-play, easily removable and without the need to cut/splice the original harness. It can be done cleaner by splicing original wires but that's exactly what I wanted to avoid in the first place.
Your completed wiring should look similar to this:
Part two: Modifying the housing
Pull out 4 plastic clips holding the boot liner in place. Peel off the liner and undo three 8mm bolts holding the tail light in place.
Reach inside the tailgate, pinch 5 white clips with your fingers to release them and pull off the plastic trim piece around the camera/plate lights.
Pull out the bulb socket and the tail light should pop right out.
YouTube video (link)
Once you have the tail light out, the hard part begins. Honda *really* did not want anyone to disassemble these so instead of using glue to hold the outer lens in place they decided to melt/fuse them to the housings. Heating and baking is not gonna do anything and the only way to remove the lens is by wedging a hot razor blade behind the lens and very slowly and carefully working your way around with the blade and plastic picks.
Alternatively you can use a dremel with a thin cutoff disc which should reduce the risk of cracking the housing and /should/ be the easier way to do this.
Once you have the outer lens separated (hopefully without cracking it) remove the screw on the back and push the clip to detach the inner reflector from the housing. You will find a red domed filter inside - that's held in place by two clips is very easy to remove. Just squeeze the clips and it pops right out.
Once you have that out, join the unit back together without the red filter and glue the outer lens back on. Add a dab of RTV along the joint line to make it watertight again.
Put the modified tail light back in the tailgate, fasten three screws holding it in place, pop the plastic trim back on, swap over the bulbs and plug in the wiring adapter described in part one. Secure it to the tailgate with tape, foam or whatever else is going to stop it from rattling behind the boot liner. If you did everything right, you should have two white reverse lights now.
Part 3 - Footnotes and questions you might have
Can I reverse this mod for MOT (or for any other reason)?
While the modification to the housing is irreversible, you can always remove the wiring adapter and plug in a red W21 bulb which will result in original functionality being restored (single white reverse light, single red fog light)
Is there is a way to make this mod road legal?
You will need to source a 7443 WHITE/RED SWITCHBACK LED and plug it in your modified tail light housing. This way you get two colors in one bulb. Unfortunately for some reason these are very hard to come by and the only ones I could find outside of aliexpress come from the US and are fairly expensive.
60-SMD White/Red Switchback LED Bulb Fit Ford Chevy For Rear Fog Light, Reverse Backup Light
60-SMD White/Red Switchback LED Bulb Fit Ford Chevy For Rear Fog Light, Reverse Backup Light
store.ijdmtoy.com
But why?
Because having asymmetrical lights annoyed the hell out of me and because I wasn't exactly happy with the stock light pattern when backing up.