DIY 2012 Civic Illuminated Door Sills/Side Steps (4 Door)

jasonandre

jasonandre

Deal with it
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Alexandria, VA
DIY 2012 Civic Illuminated Door Sills/Side Steps (4 Door)

civic_doorgarnishillumin.jpg

This article covers the illuminated door sill kit installation for model year 2012.
This kit is NOT compatible with model year 2013.
Click on any of the pictures to see them in a higher resolution.

What you need:
  • Genuine Honda Illuminated Door Sill Garnish Set
  • Phillips screwdriver
  • Pliers
  • Scissors
  • Marker
  • Utility knife
  • Masking tape
  • Long-nose pliers
  • Wire clippers
  • Ruler
  • Insulation/electrical tape
  • Alcohol wipes
Important Notes:
  • Be extremely careful to the handling of the retaining tabs and clips particularly. The plastic parts can be forgiving, but the clips holding them in place are not.
  • Even being as careful as possible, clips still do break. You can purchase replacements directly from Honda, your local dealership, or from one of our wonderful vendors right here on this site.
  • Attach the accessories by pressing it firmly with the palm of your hand. Be careful not to damage the accessories and the vehicle parts.
  • Carefully place the adhesive tape on the proper position. Once the adhesive tape touches the surface, do not try to detach and relocate it. If you attempt to move after it touches the surface, you will damage the part before the adhesive will give way.
  • Not to wash the vehicle or moisten it for 24 hours after you finish the full installation to allow the adhesive to cure.
Let's Begin:

REMOVING THE VEHICLE PARTS
  1. Remove the passenger’s front door sill trim and kick panel.



  2. Open the glove box and push in the rear stoppers to allow the box to open fully.



  3. On the driver's side, unlock the trunk lever, pop the plastic cover, and remove the screw.
    Remove the driver’s front door sill trim and kick panel.



  4. Remove the driver’s dashboard lower cover.



  5. Attach masking tape to protect the center console panel.



  6. Remove the two self-tapping screws, then remove the center lower panel by pulling it towards you from the bottom.



  7. Slide both front seats forward fully and remove the B-pillar lower trims on both sides of the vehicle.
    The rear door sill trim doesn't necessarily have to be removed, but it does need to be partially opened on both sides. In the second graph in the photo below, while pushing down on the rear seat cushion (A), pull the seat hook handle (B) to release the hook (C). While pulling up the seat cushion, pull up and/or remove the rear door sill.

 
jasonandre

jasonandre

Deal with it
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Alexandria, VA
ROUTING THE HARNESS
  1. Attach the fuse label.



  2. Disconnect the vehicle connector.
    NOTE: You will either have a 4-pin or 20-pin connector. In this article, the 20-pin connector is shown.
    Cut two inches (50 mm) off of the harness insulation/loom. Be careful to not damage the harness.



  3. Connect the pink wire from the accessory harness to the same pink wire on the vehicle's harness using the supplied harness connectors.
    Connect the blue wire from the accessory harness to the same blue wire on the vehicle's harness using the supplied harness connectors.
    Refer to the graphs in the photo below to install them properly.



    Attach the harness connector covers using pliers.



  4. Cut the urethane tape in half and wrap them over the harness connectors.
    Use insulation tape to wrap the connector harness wires to the vehicle's harness.
    Reconnect the vehicle connector.



  5. Route and secure the harness with tie straps in the locations shown in the photos below.






  6. Using the second accessory harness, snap the green connector together with the first accessory harness.
    Continue routing and securing the harness with tie straps in the locations shown in the photo below.



  7. Clean the area shown in the graph below using an alcohol wipe.
    Route the harness and secure it with two pieces of aluminum tape.

 
jasonandre

jasonandre

Deal with it
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Alexandria, VA
INSTALLING THE ILLUMINATOR DOOR SILLS

Front Driver and Passenger side sills:
  1. On the driver's and passenger's side front, apply masking tape next to the forward clip holes.




    Position the front step illuminator garnishes as shown below.



  2. Pull the illuminator cables over the door opening seal and mark the door opening seals, then remove the front step illuminator garnishes.



  3. From the center of the mark, measure and mark a 20mm x 15mm square.
    Using a utility knife, cut along the marks. Using long-nose pliers, remove the rubber within the square, exposing the steel wiring.
    NOTE: The steel wires are sewn into the stripping in a loop, similar to a Slinky, and can't be removed as shown in the graph without first using wire clippers to cut the wires on both sides of each line.



    After cutting each wire on both ends, pull them out using long-nose pliers.



  4. Clean the vehicle panel's application area with an alcohol wipe.
    Remove a portion of the adhesive backing on the illuminator garnish and fold the adhesive protection backwards (shown below).
    Position the front step illuminator garnish to line up with the masking tape.
    Attach the front step illuminator garnish, then remove the adhesive backing and masking tape.



  5. Cut the guard tape into four 40mm x 30mm squares.
    Clean the application areas with an alcohol wipe and apply the guard tape over the car's body where the garnish harness will rest.



  6. Reinstall the door opening seal and connect the harness.




  7. Secure the wire harness with the white tie straps.
    NOTE: Make sure NOT to secure them next to any hole in the car body. As you can see in the picture, I did just that :|
    If you place it too close to one of the holes, the clip on the trim won't reconnect properly.

Rear Driver and Passenger side sills:
  1. Attach masking tape one inch to the right of the end of the center pillar lower trim.



  2. Remove a portion of the adhesive backing on the illuminator garnish and fold the adhesive protection backwards and position the rear side step garnish.



  3. Attach the rear side step garnish, then remove the adhesive backing and masking tape.



  4. Repeat same procedures for the other side.
  5. Reinstall the door opening seal and connect the harness.
  6. Secure the wire harness with the white tie straps.
 
team3d

team3d

Well-Known Member
713
487
Los Angeles
i believe we have a winner !! amazing diy, extremely detailed, i think you should be a professional instruction manual writer/illustrator
 
C

CivicCanuck

Well-Known Member
782
853
North
Vehicle Model
Civic
Do you have the part number handy? I was looking at a similar set off of ePay.... but obviously not genuine Honda, thanks in advance!
 
jasonandre

jasonandre

Deal with it
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2,279
Alexandria, VA
honduh1424 said:
would you happen to know if before you install them you can switch the led light from blue to red? thanks man
Click to expand...
The LED is molded into the plastic underneath, so you'd have to break it off somehow and wire new LEDs...something I wasn't interested in doing.
The safe bet is to put some sort of red film overlay on the top of the "Civic" to filter the light through. I haven't ruled out installing an overlay, but I haven't gotten around to it.
 
Bruce Bartlow

Bruce Bartlow

Late apex everything
1,408
808
Sacramento, CA
Vehicle Model
SI
Body Style
Coupe
jasonandre said:
Finalize

Reinstall all of interior trim and you're all done!

Here are photos of the final results:







Big thanks to Andy for obtaining the correct genuine garnish kit for me.

Questions? Feel free to post your comments below!
Click to expand...
______________________________

OMG... I have to have these. Red, blue, purple doesn't matter. What foreign dealer can make me happy?
Thanks so much.
 
Nix

Nix

Jötunn Moderator
10,765
8,162
Lew-vul, KY
Body Style
It's A Fast Pig!
Nicely done. That is a beast of an install. You make it look easy though! hahaha thanks for pointing out the spot where you made a mistake too. Very helpful.
 
jasonandre

jasonandre

Deal with it
2,607
2,279
Alexandria, VA
Illuminated Door Sill Garnish confirmed as a new accessory for the 2013 US Civic

11-9-2012 10-55-09 AM.png

Part 08E12-TR0-110
$213.60

They are available for Sedan and only come in blue LEDs. They are NOT the same kit depicted in this DIY article and they are NOT compatible with 2012 models.
 
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