jemdogs

iTrader: (3)

hokay so:

im trying to do some interior lighting and i want them to work off the switch for the interior light (the on/off/door switch). so i presume that if i used the + wire for that light, the other lights would behave the same way. so my question is this: what color is that wire and where does it go? if i could put a tap on it under the dash by the fuses etc that would be great.

i was curious so i took the drivers side a pillar cover off and there was a strand of wries wrapped in electrical tape. i took some of it off and there are about 6 wires in there. however i had no idea which one is for that light (if any) and i really didnt want to tap every one of them until i found the right one.

any ideas?

jemdogs

iTrader: (3)

update:

i was getting impatient so...

i managed to detach the dome light assembly from the ceiling and took a peek at the wires on it. keep in mind im not very good at this electrical stuff. anyway... i noticed a green wire with a red stripe on it that terminated in the connector at the same spot where a wire on the other side of that connector went to the middle part of the switch, the door part. soo i was like "hmm maybe put a tap on that and see what happens..."

10 minutes later: so my wire is tapped, i run another wire around the frame behind the cig lighter, and i pull out one of the side dome light bulbs to test with (couldnt find or think of anything else that works nice with 12v systems). well... when i connected my tapped wire with the ground, it caused the middle dome light to fully light up, and when i disconnected the two, it would turn off (keep in mind its supposed to fade after a few seconds then turn off). so with the switch in "door" mode, connecting my ground and my tap wire would always cause the light to turn on to full brightness no matter what the position of the door or how long it had been in that position.

at this point i dont know if i have accomplished anything. its obvious that i cant put my lights between those two wires like i had planned to, because putting the test bulb there only caused the dome light to dim because it was stealing some of its juice. could i possibly use this wire in conjunction with a relay to get the desired effect?

again, the desired effect: i want a light that will mirror the behavior of the dome light, including the position of the dome light switch, so that the dome light switch will also control my lights. i do not *need* the fade effect, im going to be used LEDs so that wouldnt matter anyway. i just need to mirror the on/off state of that light.

sorry for the lengthy post, still desperate for help

baggedblue02

iTrader: (10)

I'm not sure about the wire colors, but I know one way to do it....

Theres a green wire coming out from the door pin thats a ground kinda (it may be the same wire you were messing with). When the door opens the pin comes in contact with metal and makes a ground which completes the circuit. If you found a constant power and tapped into it as your power, then use the ground from the door so that the lights only come on when you open the door. Not the best way but it will work.

jemdogs

iTrader: (3)

i dont want to do it that way because then the lights would only be on when the doors were open. the reason i want to use the dome light is because then, the lights will be on when i unlock using keyless, and stay on after i leave the car until i lock with keyless, and be on after i get in the car until i start it. hence why i want to tap off the dome light.

baggedblue02

iTrader: (10)

There is a wiring diagram on this site somewhere... you could try it. Or search under alarm the wire should be listed there

jemdogs

iTrader: (3)

the wiring diagram (the new one at least) had the following listing for dome light:

DOME SUPERVISION comes on with unlock

not very helpful :\

and most of the posts i have read where people asked about wiring things to their dome light just had alternate suggestions or mentioned a green/red (-) wire which i assume is the one i tapped, so no go there either.

jemdogs

iTrader: (3)

ok i finally figured it out:

the keyless entry/dome light/door trigger system all use a 12v constant (+) wire and switch the (-) wires. this is why i couldnt get a test light to work using a ground wire, the wires i was tapping were (-) as well. once i figured that out, i tapped the 12v common off my ignition harness and went right back to the first wire i tried: the green/red wire that comes down the a-pillar to a connector under the drivers kick panel. test light worked perfectly. the only thing that doesnt work is the switch. it still controls the dome light itself but not my lights, but ive decided that i dont care about that anyway

so, if anyone ever wants to install something to turn on/off with keyless entry/ignition, tap the white 12v common on your ignition harness (brown connector) and the green/red wire above the hood release lever (gray connector). youll know its the right connector because if you unplug it, your dome lights wont work.

i hope this will be useful to someone, i know it was very frustrating for me.

chilling_pete

I found the green wire, when i removed the door switch. However I could not located it when i removed the panel.