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G’day All, took the step today of installing a led light to show when my Insignia is performing a DPF Regeneration so thought I would share my install.
The point of installing the led light is so you have a visible notification when the Insignia is performing the all important DPF Regen, reducing the chances of switching off the car before the regen can fully complete, saving you the worry of having multiple failed regens, causing your DPF to become filled with soot and ultimately failing and having to replace it. The basis behind how it works is the ecu switches on the rear demister and heated mirrors to increase load on the vehicle to help the DPF reach the optimum temp to perform the regen while driving. Unfortunately it does not switch on the demister light on the dash so there is no visible sign when this happens. We can therefore take advantage of this by connecting into the electric mirrors terminal to power the led when the DPF starts the regen process.
The total cost of this install was £1.50 for the LED and 15mins to install it. My LED was installed inside the drivers side tweeter speaker and I purchased a 3mm Blue 12v LED Diode from E-Bay but there are other colour options and sizes available as well as other locations within the car to install this. I found the 3mm an easier size to install inside the tweeter and also not too bright to be a big distraction when driving.
Items Required:
1 x 12v LED diode
1 x Pointy Nosed Pliers
1 x 6mm Drill bit and drill
1 x small flat head screw driver
Step 1: Remove the drivers side tweeter cover. This simply pulls out and doesn’t need much force. There is a single plastic plug that holds this in. Be gentle removing this as there is a short lead connected to the tweeter.
Step 2: Remove the insulation foam. This just pulls out.
Step 3: Disconnect the tweeter lead from the tweeter. Simply push in the clip and pull out the lead.
Step 4: Remove the tweeter from the plastic cover. There are only 2 notches that hold this in. We remove the tweeter so we can later drill a hole in the plastic cover to place the led bulb in.
Step 5: Unplug the electric mirror connector. You will need the long nose pliers for this as it’s in an awkward location. There is a small notch holding this in so gently use the flat head screw driver to lift it slightly then pull straight out with pliers.
Step 6: Connect LED to wing mirror connector block. With the notch on the block facing towards you we need to use the 4th pinout from the left (Black Lead) to connect our negative LED wire and the 6th pinout from the left (Black Stripped Lead) to connect our positive LED wire. There are many ways online that show how you can connect the wires such as splicing the wires or soldering, but I found the easiest and least intrusive way to do it was to simply slide the grey plastic cover holder on the block off by lifting the tab on it and sliding it to the left. I then inserted the negative LED through the same hole as the Black Lead and the positive LED through the same hole as the Black Stripe Lead. Make sure there is enough bare LED wire to push through to the pin connection points. Once these are both in place then slide the grey cover holder back on which clamps the wires in place. Makes everything tidy and secure.
Step 7: Drill a 6mm hole at the base of the larger side of the tweeter holder. It needs to be in that location so as not to interfere with the tweeter when it’s put back in.
Step 8: Place LED bulb holder in hole and secure LED bulb through it.
Step 9: TEST. Make sure you test the LED is working before putting everything back together. Simply start the car and press the rear demister button to on. The LED will light up while the rear demister is on. If it does not light up then the connection to the block is not right. Check negative and positive are in correct pinout and have secure contacts with the pins.
Step 10: Put everything back in place. Reconnect electric wing mirror block. Place tweeter back in speaker cover and reconnect tweeter block. Insert insulation foam. Push tweeter plug back into place so tweeter speaker is secured to door.
Step 11: Do a final test. Start car and turn on rear demister and check LED light shines through speaker cover.
Step 12: Drive car as usual and when LED turns on continue to drive car until light turns off. Do not turn off the car when the LED is on as the car will be completing a DPF Regen.
One thing to note, some Insignias have auto demister functionality, so if you have this feature the LED may turn on when the car is first started on cold mornings. This is because the LED is connected with the demister circuitry. Your car must meet certain requirements before a DPF regen will occur, one of which is the car must be at full driving temp, so do not panic and think your car is doing a regen when you first start it up and it’s minus 10 degrees outside.
Hope this might help others that think spending £1.50 on a visual aid is better than spending £1,500 on a replacement part.
The point of installing the led light is so you have a visible notification when the Insignia is performing the all important DPF Regen, reducing the chances of switching off the car before the regen can fully complete, saving you the worry of having multiple failed regens, causing your DPF to become filled with soot and ultimately failing and having to replace it. The basis behind how it works is the ecu switches on the rear demister and heated mirrors to increase load on the vehicle to help the DPF reach the optimum temp to perform the regen while driving. Unfortunately it does not switch on the demister light on the dash so there is no visible sign when this happens. We can therefore take advantage of this by connecting into the electric mirrors terminal to power the led when the DPF starts the regen process.
The total cost of this install was £1.50 for the LED and 15mins to install it. My LED was installed inside the drivers side tweeter speaker and I purchased a 3mm Blue 12v LED Diode from E-Bay but there are other colour options and sizes available as well as other locations within the car to install this. I found the 3mm an easier size to install inside the tweeter and also not too bright to be a big distraction when driving.
Items Required:
1 x 12v LED diode
1 x Pointy Nosed Pliers
1 x 6mm Drill bit and drill
1 x small flat head screw driver
Step 1: Remove the drivers side tweeter cover. This simply pulls out and doesn’t need much force. There is a single plastic plug that holds this in. Be gentle removing this as there is a short lead connected to the tweeter.
Step 2: Remove the insulation foam. This just pulls out.
Step 3: Disconnect the tweeter lead from the tweeter. Simply push in the clip and pull out the lead.
Step 4: Remove the tweeter from the plastic cover. There are only 2 notches that hold this in. We remove the tweeter so we can later drill a hole in the plastic cover to place the led bulb in.
Step 5: Unplug the electric mirror connector. You will need the long nose pliers for this as it’s in an awkward location. There is a small notch holding this in so gently use the flat head screw driver to lift it slightly then pull straight out with pliers.
Step 6: Connect LED to wing mirror connector block. With the notch on the block facing towards you we need to use the 4th pinout from the left (Black Lead) to connect our negative LED wire and the 6th pinout from the left (Black Stripped Lead) to connect our positive LED wire. There are many ways online that show how you can connect the wires such as splicing the wires or soldering, but I found the easiest and least intrusive way to do it was to simply slide the grey plastic cover holder on the block off by lifting the tab on it and sliding it to the left. I then inserted the negative LED through the same hole as the Black Lead and the positive LED through the same hole as the Black Stripe Lead. Make sure there is enough bare LED wire to push through to the pin connection points. Once these are both in place then slide the grey cover holder back on which clamps the wires in place. Makes everything tidy and secure.
Step 7: Drill a 6mm hole at the base of the larger side of the tweeter holder. It needs to be in that location so as not to interfere with the tweeter when it’s put back in.
Step 8: Place LED bulb holder in hole and secure LED bulb through it.
Step 9: TEST. Make sure you test the LED is working before putting everything back together. Simply start the car and press the rear demister button to on. The LED will light up while the rear demister is on. If it does not light up then the connection to the block is not right. Check negative and positive are in correct pinout and have secure contacts with the pins.
Step 10: Put everything back in place. Reconnect electric wing mirror block. Place tweeter back in speaker cover and reconnect tweeter block. Insert insulation foam. Push tweeter plug back into place so tweeter speaker is secured to door.
Step 11: Do a final test. Start car and turn on rear demister and check LED light shines through speaker cover.
Step 12: Drive car as usual and when LED turns on continue to drive car until light turns off. Do not turn off the car when the LED is on as the car will be completing a DPF Regen.
One thing to note, some Insignias have auto demister functionality, so if you have this feature the LED may turn on when the car is first started on cold mornings. This is because the LED is connected with the demister circuitry. Your car must meet certain requirements before a DPF regen will occur, one of which is the car must be at full driving temp, so do not panic and think your car is doing a regen when you first start it up and it’s minus 10 degrees outside.
Hope this might help others that think spending £1.50 on a visual aid is better than spending £1,500 on a replacement part.
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