map lights on with dome?

[tran.man48]

Hey everyone,
I have an 09 LX and I noticed that the map lights don't come on when I open the door. Having the extra light would be useful, and I've read that the ex/SI models have a switch to turn the lights on along with the door.

Has anyone tried to wire their LX's map lights to the dome light? Is this even feasible? Could i just install the map light module from an ex/si model into my car?

thanks

[ethlar]

yes its possible, i did it several years ago on my car, you will have to tap the pink wire going to the dome light and run a wire from there to the map lights. There are 3 pins on the map light connector but only one wire is present, a constant +12v to the switches. I can never remember which pin it is but im pretty sure its the opposite side from the existing wire, they ground to the car through a bolt to the roof structure so you have to partially reinstall the map light to test and find out if you got the wiring right.

I ended up using a coat hanger to fish the wire from dome to map lights but there are roof structures that make it a little harder.

[ethlar]

i found some pictures of what i did, pardon my use of duct instead of electrical tape, i was a poor college student at the time and didnt have any electrical tape.

dome light side

the pink wire is tapped inside the tape and the other end runs to the map lights

map light side, im pretty sure that wire is tapped into the opposite side of the connector from the existing wire.


to connect the wires i was stupid and just shoved the stripped ends in where they needed to be and hoped for the best, it was a foolish thing to do and not the most reliable method. I haven't had any issues in 3 years but i really should go in and connect things properly.

[av911]

Yep, I followed Ethlar's DIY back in the day. Never had any problems, still holding up 'til this day. You can actually see your cabin at night when you remove the key.

[tran.man48]

sweet! thanks guys

I'm not too good with wiring and electrical stuff, so I'll probably ask my friend to help me with this.... it looks simple enough though.

[djvillar]

I have a 7th gen civic. The connection on the dome light look the same [4pin connector w/ only two wires] different color wires, the map light has a two pin connector with only one wire present.

When I use the empty connection in the map light to the outside wire in my dome light, the 7.5 amp fuse under the hood just pops.

What am I doing wrong?

[ethlar]

sounds like somethings shorting to the chassis, i dont know enough about the 7th gen electrical system to help directly. What you can do is get a voltmeter and check power at the map and dome lights. Black lead of the voltmeter to the body metal or ground bolt on the light, red to one of the two contacts in the plug for the dome, you should have one wire will be constant +12V and the other should read 0 with the door closed and 12 with the door open. Then on the map light side switch to the continuity tester, so it beeps when you touch the two leads together touch the ground bolt on the light to that pin and see if there is a constant connection, then make sure that there is no connection between the other pin and the empty pin regardless of switch position.

It is also possible the the map light in the 7th gen was never designed to come on like this, maybe you could swap it out for a 8th gen light?

[djvillar]

Okay, got a multimeter and watched a youtube on how to use it... I still don't know how to use it but I think I got I good amount of info from messing around with it.

When I tested the two pins [with door closed, engine on] both pins read 13.5. When I opened the door [dome light turns on] the outside pin [the one you tapped] read 0 the other was constant 13.5.

I don't understand why they would both read 13.5 and the outside would drop to 0 when the door is open and the light turns on. Is there a relay somewhere that keeps the light off when the door is closed? Does that even make sense?

On the map light side there are two pins one for constant on the other is not used, its directly connected to the ground bolt.

[ethlar]

im not sure what to tell you about the map lights, if theyre the same shape as the 8thgen ones, which are also pretty much the same as the 7th gen accords you might be able to swap them. But that pin dropping to 0 when the dome light comes on confuses me.

[djvillar]

The only thing I could think of is that for some reason, they're switching grounds by applying two positive feeds.

With a positive feed at either side of the bulb, current doesn't flow and the light stays off. When the door opens and the one wire drops to 0, the constant power finds the ground and current starts to flow across the bulb... as voltage increases in the first wire the current cancels again and the bulb turns off. Or at least that's what I'm theorizing.

[ethlar]

theoretically that works but it would be one of the weirdest wiring configurations ive seen

[djvillar]

That's what they did. I got it working. I don't know how they get the variable 12v to come on slowly and be a ground while power up... crazy. The wiring was a bit nuts or at least for me. I have know electrical experience. I'll post pics later.

I love having the maps and dome coming on together. I'm going to get some festoon high power LEDs, cool white up front and blue in the back. I've seen it done elsewhere. I really don't like colored lights but with the white up front it creates fade from white to blue in the back seats. The only way this works, of course, is if the maps and dome come on together.

Score one for me!