1993 Cvic tail light to trailer light wire color question

[Cd]

I'd like to get a second opinion on this, since most Honda forums deal with direct tailight bolt in scenarios.
I have two trailer lights that I would like to connect to my tail lights, but they are just plain ol' red lights.
There are no amber turn signal, and no back up lights.

For the back up lights, I plan to use a seperate LED interior light, and just wire that in.

The LED trailer lights I have say RH side :
stop & turn ( green )
Tail ( brown )
The LH side light says Stop &turn ( yellow )
Tail ( brown )


Based on the attached photos, how should I wire this up ?

How would I wire in the LED interior light so that it lights when in reverse ?

Thanks

[Gasoline Fumes]

The mounting studs provide the ground for the trailer lights. If you aren't bolting them into metal, you'll need to add a terminal and wire to ground them somewhere. You could tap into the car's harness, but any convenient spot on the body of the car is fine.

I looked at three different Honda manuals and the wire colors seem to be pretty much the same.

Red/black from the car goes to brown on both trailer lights.

Green/black is the backup lights, which you would connect to the positive wire on your LED light. The other wire from the LED light goes to ground.

You'll need a taillight converter if you want the trailer lights to act as both brake lights and turn signals. The converter output wires will match the trailer light wire colors. You could also get a pair of amber turn signals in addition to the trailer lights.

Brake = green/white

Right turn = green/yellow

Left turn = green/blue

[Cd]

Thanks. I had just assumed that since the lights were advertised as stop / turn + tail lights, that they did not require buying something to make them function as turn signals.

Stamped on the lights, it says : LH Stop & Turn ( Yellow )
Tail ( Brown )
RH
Stop & Turn ( Green )
Tail ( brown )

That's a good tip about the grounding.
I was thinking that the white ground wire would work simply by connecting it to the black ground of the car.

[Gasoline Fumes]

Originally Posted by Cd

That's a good tip about the grounding.
I was thinking that the white ground wire would work simply by connecting it to the black ground of the car.

Yeah, you're right. Sorry about that. I didn't notice the white ground wires! I don't think I've seen trailer lights with them.

[Gasoline Fumes]

Originally Posted by Cd

Thanks. I had just assumed that since the lights were advertised as stop / turn + tail lights, that they did not require buying something to make them function as turn signals.

The problem is that American-style trailer lights are really outdated. Older vehicles don't need the converter because they use the same light for brake and turn.

[Cd]

Thanks again. So you say older cars don't need the converter.
Is 1993 an 'old' car ? LOL
I looked up a bit on it, and read that you need a converter if you have seperate wires for stop and turn.
My lights have a single wire for both, a wire for tail lights, and a ground wire.

Though not ideal, I'm hoping the LED interior light ( ceiling light ) can be wired in to function as a reverse light.

Not sure how though.

[Gasoline Fumes]

1993 is old (I guess), but it still has separate brake (red) and turn signal (amber) bulbs and wires. Imagine a 1985 Chevy pickup; one brake light blinks as a turn signal. You need the converter.



The LED interior can be used as a reverse light if it's bright enough. Positive lead to the green/black wire on your car, negative lead to the chassis or black wire.

[Cd]

I bought some more lights.
This time, I made sure they SAID that they had a reverse light function.
Well ... they don't.
( Good job E-Bay )
They have an outer ring of red, but the center part glows amber.
That very center LED ? - yup, amber.
( I tested them using a small 12v battery )
Here is the wiring :
So It looks like I will be buying the same interior LED dome light to use as a reverse.
The wiring looks pretty straight forward in the 'tailgate' section of the car.
I notice each light has it's own ground.
The lights I have only have one ground wire.
How would I make this work ?
As far as the amber turn signal, I'm guessing I would just wire into the one going to my original amber lights found in the lights located in the rear fender.

So am I still going to need a converter thing mentioned prior to make these work ?

Also, I'm wondering about D.O.T. approval.
These are obvioulsly not certified, but then the ones I bought prior to this didn't have a D.O.T. stamp on them either.

BTW, I plan to remove the tail when getting the car inspected.

Lastly, I notice the name brand ones I bought earlier specified Driver side and Passenger side for the lights.
Why was this ?
These generic lights look identical, and I don't want to fry anything.

The bottom image here is my reverse light .

[me and my metro]

Those are neat 4” round lights that I have not seen before. You can purchase 4” round LED backup lights. We use them in our trucks.
You will not need a trailer light adaptor now. You now have 6 circuits, I would use a trailer light connector with 5 on the outside and one in the center. This is still a popular connector. You may want to install two connectors so you can disconnect the factory lights when the tail is installed. Be aware that the factory flasher may be load sensitive and not blink correctly with just an LED load. There are LED rated flashers for most cars that do not care about the load, they just flash at a predetermined rate.

[Gasoline Fumes]

Originally Posted by Cd

The wiring looks pretty straight forward in the 'tailgate' section of the car.
I notice each light has it's own ground.
The lights I have only have one ground wire.
How would I make this work ?

All of your original lights are connected to the same ground wire somewhere in the wiring harness. You can ground the new lights to any of the taillight ground wires. Or anywhere on the car's metal body, if that's more convenient.

As far as the amber turn signal, I'm guessing I would just wire into the one going to my original amber lights found in the lights located in the rear fender.

Yes

So am I still going to need a converter thing mentioned prior to make these work ?

Nope, no converter needed now!

Also, I'm wondering about D.O.T. approval.
These are obvioulsly not certified, but then the ones I bought prior to this didn't have a D.O.T. stamp on them either.

I wouldn't worry about it.

Lastly, I notice the name brand ones I bought earlier specified Driver side and Passenger side for the lights.
Why was this ?

One light usually has a downward-facing clear lens to illuminate the trailer's license plate. If you swap them left-to-right, that clear lens will face up, not down. Also, the wire colors are different to make the wiring easier. There might also be a drain/vent hole on the bottom that could let water in if the light was mounted upside-down.


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