bbrewbaker
Full Access Member
Here is the steps i used from a walk through on CSS.
This mod is amazingly simple, and is fairly inexpensive. Less than $60 (supplier pricing) for me and takes about 30 minutes to do.
1) Go to Chevy dealer or GM Parts Direct and get the 3rd brake light for the 2004 Chevy Impala. Part Number is 10319332. This item lists for approx. $70-$75. Go home and disassemble this part. All you want is the piece that looks like a computer board with several led lights.
2) Remove trunk lid liner by removing the 7 plastic retaining caps.
3) Remove stock brake light by removing the 2 10mm nuts. When trying to pull the light out there is a retaining type of clip think on the right side, just push that to the left and pull light out. Unplug.
4) Disassemble Cobalt 3rd brake light. The part that you don't need is the black portion that contains the 3 bulbs.
5) Affix the Impala led board to the silver reflective housing some how. I used 2 sided tape, just like the same that is used to hold on badges and body molding since this is durable to heat. I did this by folding 2 strips about 3/4" long over the 2 creases that seperate the portions of reflective area in the silver housing and then one long strip on the back of the light board. I then centered the board in the housing and pressed firmly down to make it stick. If you do this, be careful to not break the board. Other people have superglued this in. Don't use gorilla glue. It won't work. Didn't for me.
6) To wire the board in correctly first pull the Cobalt plug through the housing and past the light board so that you can plug in the lights.
7) And here's where you need to be very careful to what you are doing. The plug is labeled with which side is "+" and which side is "-" by marking them "A" and "B". Since the Impala didn't have a plug on the board, just 2 colored wires with tabs in which you can insert into the Cobalt plug you will need to make sure You identify "A" and "B". The red wire goes in "A", the black wire goes in "B". I then used electrical tape and wrapped this up to prevent any problems here, though it really doesn't need it. Then push the plug with wires behind the light board.
8) Reattatch red brake lens to housing and reinsert entire light into trunk making sure the light is properly placed.
9) Then tighten down with 2 nuts that you removed earlier and replace trunk liner and reinsert plastic caps.
It's that simple. The Impala light is kept in stock, so no special ordering needed.
This mod is amazingly simple, and is fairly inexpensive. Less than $60 (supplier pricing) for me and takes about 30 minutes to do.
1) Go to Chevy dealer or GM Parts Direct and get the 3rd brake light for the 2004 Chevy Impala. Part Number is 10319332. This item lists for approx. $70-$75. Go home and disassemble this part. All you want is the piece that looks like a computer board with several led lights.
2) Remove trunk lid liner by removing the 7 plastic retaining caps.
3) Remove stock brake light by removing the 2 10mm nuts. When trying to pull the light out there is a retaining type of clip think on the right side, just push that to the left and pull light out. Unplug.
4) Disassemble Cobalt 3rd brake light. The part that you don't need is the black portion that contains the 3 bulbs.
5) Affix the Impala led board to the silver reflective housing some how. I used 2 sided tape, just like the same that is used to hold on badges and body molding since this is durable to heat. I did this by folding 2 strips about 3/4" long over the 2 creases that seperate the portions of reflective area in the silver housing and then one long strip on the back of the light board. I then centered the board in the housing and pressed firmly down to make it stick. If you do this, be careful to not break the board. Other people have superglued this in. Don't use gorilla glue. It won't work. Didn't for me.
6) To wire the board in correctly first pull the Cobalt plug through the housing and past the light board so that you can plug in the lights.
7) And here's where you need to be very careful to what you are doing. The plug is labeled with which side is "+" and which side is "-" by marking them "A" and "B". Since the Impala didn't have a plug on the board, just 2 colored wires with tabs in which you can insert into the Cobalt plug you will need to make sure You identify "A" and "B". The red wire goes in "A", the black wire goes in "B". I then used electrical tape and wrapped this up to prevent any problems here, though it really doesn't need it. Then push the plug with wires behind the light board.
8) Reattatch red brake lens to housing and reinsert entire light into trunk making sure the light is properly placed.
9) Then tighten down with 2 nuts that you removed earlier and replace trunk liner and reinsert plastic caps.
It's that simple. The Impala light is kept in stock, so no special ordering needed.
