Cabin lighting
 

Posting up to ask for some advice on some custom wiring I am working on.

I'm planning on installing six to eight LEDs inside the car for cabin lighting. I'd like for it to be entirely indirect - so the LEDs will be mounted behind and/or under the seats, in the footwells and maybe on the parcel shelf. I don't want to see the actual source of light (no direct bulb view) so it will all be reflected/indirect.

So far I have a simple harness soldered together along with a control switch mounted in the center console. I have a power and ground lead and would like the ability to turn on these LEDs at any time night or day. Am I trying to tap into the ACC line and if so - where can I tap close to the center console?

I noticed two un-used connectors under the console - one is the ashtray light and the other may be the speaker connector for the OEM headrest speakers. Not sure about that but there are six wires.

I have the full wiring diagrams from the How-to section and while they are good for identifying the wire color codes, they don't show where connectors are located. I'm also at least thinking about the load on the circuit - do I need to add a fuse or relay depending on where I am tapping ACC?

The hot leads going to the power window switches run under there and have plenty of juice to do what you want. They also are powered at ignition on only.

I put indirect led lighting in my boat and really like it. Very low draw.

I guess you are talking about the six wire connector under the console? Any idea which wire?

i used the ash tray light, it comes on when the dash lights come on. im running 2 very bright led's with it so it should work for you.

I actually saw your write up but that power source doesn't work for me. I have 8 banks of 3 LED bulbs. When I tried the ash tray light connector, none of them came on. I hooked them up to a 12V power supply to check the circuit and they all illuminated. Either I have a short or there's no power to the ash tray light.

Ash tray light won't be good because LEDs don't like dimmers.

I don't know which color wire offhand. You said you had the diagram, didn't you? I think mine might be a different color anyway because it is a different year.

I'm not going to have the answer other than that it is there somewhere and is a good source to use. :)

Well I played around with it till it worked.

I did end up using the ash tray connector for power but not for ground.

For some reason the ash tray ground was broken. Touching the wire lead to the chassis turned on the LEDs so I just used a ring terminal and tied the ground wire to the chassis under the console. Works great - might want to add a couple more lights. Photos once it actually gets dark out.

that is kinda weird, but glad you got it to work.

6shooter, do you know which wires go to the window switches? The smaller connector for the ash tray light has a red wire and a red wire/black stripe.

The six wire connector has two black, two green and two red, each of the pair has a colored stripe. One of the black wires is ground.

I printed out the entire wiring diagram PDF and I'm trying to figure out the rest of the wires. The diagrams don't always show connectors, just where the wires end up. I had very few options on my car so not sure where my wires begin and end in the diagrams I have.




These LEDs were actually on display wired to a dimmer. They seemed bright enough in the store. Is it a life thing?

I'm not claiming victory yet although the circuits work like they should. I'm just not getting the effect I had envisioned. Might need some more lights.

You could use the ash tray light as a trigger for a relay, then use a stronger power source for the led's themselves.