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For those that own a 10thGen LX/Sport models, one thing that's really annoying is that the map lights in front don't come on with the dome light when you set it to "Door" mode. Luckily, the harness for the map lights has an empty slot that allows you to do so. You just have to get a bit creative of how to get the map light to turn on. Fishing a wire through the headliner is the trickiest part, since there's a nice layer of insulation between the roof metal and the headliner, but rest assured, it's doable.
I can only speak on behalf of the hatchback models, though I'm sure the same is true with regards to the coupe/sedan sub-ex models.
______________________________________________ DISCLAIMER
Do this at your own risk. I'm not responsible for any damage you may cause on your vehicle.
This includes, but is not limited to: superficial plastic damage, headliner damage, damage to electrical system, damage to light assemblies due to excessive force.
______________________________________________
1) Remove the map light lenses and remove the 2 screws that hold that whole assembly on. Disconnect all pigtails (in my '18 sport, there were 3) and finagle the assembly from the headliner. Protip: gently pull on forward part of light assembly first, then drop the light assembly down and forward. There's a little lip on the back end that grabs onto the headliner.
2) Remove dome light lens and the 2 screws holding it on. The dome light assembly should drop right out. Remove the one pigtail harness from the dome light.
3) Fish a wire between the two newfound openings in the headliner you just created. I found it easier to fish the wire from the front (initially used 20ga solid wire as it was more resistant to bending) since you have to get between the headliner and layer of insulation. I later switched to 18ga stranded wire since I found pins that work.
4) On my original iteration of the mod, I just shoved a piece of 20ga solid wire to make contact with the empty pin slot above the map light. In my current iteration of the mod, I took a trip to Fry's Electronics and got some 0.156" Molex female terminals and finagled them to work.
I suck and forgot to take pics of what I did, so step 4a will include a drawing and explanation. If you decide to go with just wire and shove it in the empty pin slot, ensure the wire makes connection with the pin and ensure the wire is secured in place and won't lose connection.
4a) How to make .156" female Molex pins work
4a1) To make sure I didn't have to make multiple trips, I used a file to shave down the "wings" of the connector. In the linked picture, you can kinda see where it flares out a bit right before it gets to the wire-connector interface portion. This was simply a pre-emptive measure just in case they didn't fit with those little flared out portions. Refer to this drawing for steps 4a2-4a4
4a2) Take your pin and flatten it out. Easily accomplished with a pair of pliers.
4a3) Insert the flattened pin into the connector's empty 3rd pin slot and pull it through as far as you can.
4a4) Bend the pin back and reinsert into the connector. You'll see a little lip if you look down the connector; make sure the pin bends around that lip. Pull the wire side of the pin back to secure it in place. I guess now is a good time to test it out. The pin from the light assembly will make connection on the "bottom" side of the pin, a little plastic spring mechanism inside the connector should press against the bent/reinserted part of the pin, ensuring the flat part keeps contact with the male pin.
In any case, this is what it looks like when the female pin in installed with wire connected.
Or if you just shoved a wire in, this is how it looked, wire kinda peeking out and a zip tie holding it all together. I should note that when I was reinstalling the light assembly, the light did intermittently go out with this method, but stayed on once the assembly was fully reinstalled.
After installation of the pin, reinstall pigtail connectors and reinstall the light assembly. I would personally leave the screws off, for now, until after you've verified the mod working.
5) On the dome light side, I took another Molex female connector, flattened it like I did in step 4, inserted it into one of the open slots on the top side of the dome light assembly, bent it around the bulb wedge holder, and pulled to secure it in place. Before you bend the pins in place, test out the function of the door light. Flip the switch to "door" and open the door. Both map lights should turn on with the dome light. Close the door and you should see that slight immediate dim, then the lights slowly turn off. Congrats. You're almost home free. Bend the pin in place like I mentioned above.
I did play around with the various exposed areas, and this was literally the only connector with which the map lights will turn on with the dome lights. I tried the empty pin slot on the dome light, the other bulb wedge holder, and every other exposed piece of metal, and nothing worked except for this length of exposed electrical connection. Where I inserted the pin was the cleanest installation, though a person on CivicX.com used a female spade connector on the bulb wedge holder itself. I like this one better, personally.
and a view from the bottom (facing the cabin) side
6) Button everything up and enjoy the extra light when you open your door at night.
Note: This does make it so when you turn the dome light to "On" the map lights turn on as well. The reverse is not true, as the dome light does not turn on when you turn on each individual map light.
In action, hitting the unlock button my my fob
Flipping the dome light switch from off/door to on
The weird dimming transition is because the dome light was in the middle of its "auto-off" phase when I started messing with the switch.
11-30-2017
