05 taillight mod idea...

[Not My Murano]

Hey everyone. We just picked up a Glacier Pearl 05 last week, and I want to start doing some subtle mods to it. I debadged it over the weekend, and I was wondering if anyone has swapped out the center (turn signal) bulb and socket in the taillight with a dual filament bulb and socket. I basically want the entire taillight to light up with the parking lights. Make sense? I tried searching the forum, but all the posts are about doing the LED swap. I'm not ready to tackle that right now. I attached a picture, its not my Murano, but you should get the idea. Thoughts?

[Not My Murano]

Nobody has any bright ideas? Does anyone else think it would look good? Maybe I'm just too bored.

[turbizzy]

I hear ya bro. I've thought of many different ways to redo the lights myself. The LEDs are cool but i've got a really good idea for my 04s lights somewhere along the lines of your idea. Just gotta get off my lazyasz and draw up a wiring diagram.

[biggun]

NMM,

I also was thinking of doing that mod, but like Turbizzy I have not gone to the next level. First, you need to verify when the three lights sections (top, mid, bottom) come on for which function (lights, brake, turn). I think the middle comes on for signal (not sure about brake). If it is signal only, then it will be an easy mod. Tap on filimant to lights on bottom and you are set. If braking is included in the middle section, then you need to add a directional capasitor or something like that.

[Not My Murano]

I already looked into that.

The top is just a marker light
The middle is turn signal only
The bottom is taillight and brake

Really just need to pull the taillight and figure out the socket issue. Maybe I'll get that done tonight.

[njjoe]

NMM-

Food for thought... instead of changing the socket and going with a dual-filament bulb, what about powering the center light off the parking-light circuit, but run it through a NC relay that is tied to the turn signal? So when you activate the turn signal it causes relay to open the circuit and the center light to go off.

I would think wiring mods are easier to do than a lamp housing mod, no?

-njjoe

[Not My Murano]

I see what you are saying, but wiring it that way would power the middle bulb at full brightness. It would be brighter then the top and bottom.

I pulled of the taillight and looked at the sockets. I would need to get 2 additional sockets for the 7443 style bulbs (dual filaments) I found some online, but the indexing on the twist locks are wrong. If I can get 2 of the factory brake lamp sockets, I believe it will be an easy mod. CourtesyParts wants $25 each for the harness. Hmmmm.

[biggun]

I went to Autozone to see what bulb is used for the bottom tail/brake light. It is a 7443 (or T20) dual filament bulb. Then I went on ebay to find a socket, since Autozone did not stock one. I found this:

7443 T20 Wedge Car Truck Light Bulb Socket Connector | eBay

I took off my taillight to see if the picture matched any of the Mo's sockets. It matches the bottom perfectly. I then tried to install the bottom socket in the middle socket location. The middle is very similar except the two small tabs are offset very slightly to prevent you from mixing them up. I think I will be able to shave down those tabs to get it to fit without cutting or modding the housing.

It was less than $6 for the parts, so it is worth a chance. I will keep you all updated as soon as I get the parts, which unfortunately takes 2-3 weeks for shipping from Hong Kong. Price you pay for free shipping.

-biggun

[Not My Murano]

Originally Posted by biggun

I went to Autozone to see what bulb is used for the bottom tail/brake light. It is a 7443 (or T20) dual filament bulb. Then I went on ebay to find a socket, since Autozone did not stock one. I found this:

7443 T20 Wedge Car Truck Light Bulb Socket Connector | eBay

I took off my taillight to see if the picture matched any of the Mo's sockets. It matches the bottom perfectly. I then tried to install the bottom socket in the middle socket location. The middle is very similar except the two small tabs are offset very slightly to prevent you from mixing them up. I think I will be able to shave down those tabs to get it to fit without cutting or modding the housing.

It was less than $6 for the parts, so it is worth a chance. I will keep you all updated as soon as I get the parts, which unfortunately takes 2-3 weeks for shipping from Hong Kong. Price you pay for free shipping.

-biggun

I also have been down that road. When I compared the ebay picture to the sockets, it looked different. Like it would end up being deeper. I still want to tackle this modification. Let us know how it all works out.

[biggun]

I recieved the socket and it fit perfect without doing any modifications to it or the housing. I connected both powers to the turn and park light and ground to turn ground. The issue that I am having is that I believe the computer is recognizing that the power or ground is off. Is there a way to use a relay to power each ground at seperate times when the park light and turn light come on?

[Not My Murano]

Originally Posted by biggun

I recieved the socket and it fit perfect without doing any modifications to it or the housing. I connected the both powers to the turn and park light and ground to turn ground. The issue that I am having is that I believe the computer is recognizing that the power or ground is off. Is there a way to use a relay to power each ground at seperate timeswhen the park light and turn light come on?

I also ordered those sockets. I'm still waiting for them to show up. When they do, I'll put them in and see if I can solve the issue you are having.

Can you post a pic of all the taillights on? I'm curious to see how it looks.

[Bambus]

I read your posts and it got me thinking that I like the idea. So I DID IT

Its not that hard really. Took about 10 min per light if you got the parts.
The part you will need is 2 X DUAL Filament sockets ( bulb 7443 ) and a jumper wire ( 18 GA , about 5 inches ).

NOTE: Best thing to do is find a 1st Gen Murano on a junk yard and cut off the break light ( bottom) sockets. I could not find a Murano so I got the sockets from 2000-2003 Maxima - they will do ( they have the same wire coloring too) .

What you do is first cut off the turn signal - middle socket off - won't need it anymore. Than you attach the new Dual Fillament socket - wiring is: Black to Black and Green to Green/Yellow (on the socket)



Then run the jumper wire from Green/White (on the new socket) to the Green/White on the existing brake (bottom) socket like so




Thats it..... almost.

If you got a socket from another Murano than you are done - it fits perfectly without modifications into the middle light hole.

If you got it out of a Maxima, you will need to "trim" the two little tabs on the new socket and then it will fit nicely into the middle light hole.

New Maxima Socket before


New Maxima Socket after


After the trimming is done, just insert the new socket into the middle light hole and you are done, works perfectly and all lights are evenly lit. Your turn signals and breaks light up as before.

[biggun]

I did the same thing and it was not working. I wonder if it was the ebay socket. May need to find a junk socket.

[Bambus]

Hey Biggun,

Because the wire colours are different, you have to compare your e-bay socket wiring to the brake (bottom) socket wiring. Make sure you match up the wires to their locations within the socket and go from there and wire it up like I said above. It should work no prob.

[biggun]

I did that. I also tried swapping the wires when I was having some issues. I will play around with it again this weekend. Not sure if it also has something to do with the year. Mine is a 2005.