footwell lighting that comes on with interior light?

Anonymous · November 10, 2005, 23:10

i've looked around on here and a few people have mentioned doing this, but no one has said how to do it. i'm going to buy a couple of little cold cathod lights from ebay and i want them under my seats so they come on when i open my door (either door) and go off when closed.

how do i do this? has anyone got a tutorial?

Slacey · November 11, 2005, 07:16

I think there is more info on Spyderchat, take a look there. I don't think anyone here wrote instructions.

heathstimpson · November 11, 2005, 07:36

Mine are currently just on a seperate switch, the same as others that have done on here. No-one has wired theirs to the door switch as far as I know but this would not be a particularly hard thing to do IMHO s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Jap GT300 · November 11, 2005, 07:43

I've found a really good item for interior lighting. The early MGF came with 2 down lights hidden behind the rear view mirror.

It is only powered by a + & - so you easily link it to the existing interior light.

You would have to replace the whole mirror as the lights are built into the backing.

heathstimpson · November 11, 2005, 07:46

Quote from: "Jap GT300"I've found a really good item for interior lighting. The early MGF came with 2 down lights hidden behind the rear view mirror.

It is only powered by a + & - so you easily link it to the existing interior light.

You would have to replace the whole mirror as the lights are built into the backing.

Sound like a good idea; what colour was the lighting s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

Anonymous · November 11, 2005, 09:34

The MGF lights were plain white, I still remember sitting in the car in daylight and trying to find the damn interior lights which I swore I saw the night before s:oops: :oops: s:oops: ... the set-up of hiding them in the rear view mirror was a cool solution, really neat!

Anonymous · November 11, 2005, 09:50

If you wire it to the interior light then it has to go via the ECU, better off wiring it to the lighter via the back, i put two nean lights in the footwell that come on with a seperate switch.

kanujunkie · November 11, 2005, 10:28

bit of a strange system this one, technically only the passenger door goes via the ECU(on an SMT] and even then i've got no idea why, the drivers is a standard light and switch system and the pax is the same with a tap to the ECU(again for the SMT). Pax door wiring goes via the meter because of a diode pack in it to separate the 2 sides

have a look for yourself click here

heathstimpson · November 11, 2005, 12:25

Quote from: "kanujunkie"bit of a strange system this one, technically only the passenger door goes via the ECU(on an SMT] and even then i've got no idea why, the drivers is a standard light and switch system and the pax is the same with a tap to the ECU(again for the SMT). Pax door wiring goes via the meter because of a diode pack in it to separate the 2 sides

have a look for yourself click here

That is a bit of a strange system. I wonder why Toyota have done it that way; there must be a reason behind it s:? :? s:? Tem/Grant any ideas s:?: :?: s:?:

kanujunkie · November 11, 2005, 15:00

its standard design to separate things up to prevent problems later, What i dont understand is why the SMT ECU would want to know if the pax door is open or not

Anonymous · November 11, 2005, 15:22

There is a quiet beeping (one of the many poxy beeps!) that sounds if you try and set the central locking/alarm with the driver or passenger door ajar....I would imagine the door switch is linked to the alarm somehow in that case also? I'm assuming this wiring set up is the same for all 2's, not just the SMT version?

Anonymous · November 11, 2005, 16:50

why cant i just take the trim off and get to the + & - wire's for the interior light and run it from that?

kanujunkie · November 11, 2005, 20:42

Quote from: "weaselchops"There is a quiet beeping (one of the many poxy beeps!) that sounds if you try and set the central locking/alarm with the driver or passenger door ajar....I would imagine the door switch is linked to the alarm somehow in that case also? I'm assuming this wiring set up is the same for all 2's, not just the SMT version?

the SMT has an additional ECU to control the gearbox, which i'd have thought was the transmission control ECU, your answer does seem logical though s:? :? s:? who knows??

Quote from: "razorsharp192"why cant i just take the trim off and get to the + & - wire's for the interior light and run it from that?

you can, just make sure you pick it up between the interior light and the junction marked 14. I've still got to do my lights install and thats where i'm going to go. If you look at THIS and at page 38 you'll notice a wire disapearing up the left side of the windscreen, i think thats what you're looking for, i'd start by pulling out the glovebox and looking behind there

Anonymous · November 11, 2005, 20:53

wouldnt it be on the right hand side seens that diagram is of a left hand drive?

kanujunkie · November 11, 2005, 20:54

Quote from: "razorsharp192"wouldnt it be on the right hand side seens that diagram is of a left hand drive?

you're right, i'm wrong, its a tunneling job s:? :? s:? s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

Anonymous · November 12, 2005, 08:10

why does it have to be at 14? cant i just take the trim off around the window and get the wire there? that would be easier

kanujunkie · November 12, 2005, 22:19

Quote from: "razorsharp192"why does it have to be at 14? cant i just take the trim off around the window and get the wire there? that would be easier

i only said it has to be between the 2 points not at 14, as for the window surround, well good luck, getting the Softop clip points off is a bastard of a job that really needs air tools, must be torqued to 10billion Lbs/ft

Anonymous · November 13, 2005, 10:54

ah damn. really want to get this done but it sounds stupidly difficult/awkward to do

mg · November 27, 2005, 16:06

I am also trying to install some footwell LED lights. I have purchased this:

http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=47376&&source=14&doy=27m11

I have split this into 2 strips and mounted to some rigid plasic strips. It draws 220mA (3.3W) at 12V. I plan on wiring the strips together in series (as if they were un-cut).

I have managed to fish a 2 core low voltage wire from the dome light to the passenger footwell, that was actually pretty easy. You can push the wire to the corner (from the light) and spread the plasic and rubber just enough to tease it out and push down to the footwell.

Can I safely solder these to the dome light lugs (in parallel) and not damage the existing wiring?

Thanks!
Mike

kanujunkie · November 27, 2005, 17:07

Quote from: "mg"Can I safely solder these to the dome light lugs (in parallel) and not damage the existing wiring?

in a word YES, at that current, you'll be fine, really must get round to doing mine soon, perhaps at the pre-cat meet next week or something

mg · November 27, 2005, 18:11

Quote from: "kanujunkie"
Quote from: "mg"Can I safely solder these to the dome light lugs (in parallel) and not damage the existing wiring?

in a word YES, at that current, you'll be fine, really must get round to doing mine soon, perhaps at the pre-cat meet next week or something

Thanks Stu!

mg · November 30, 2005, 12:09

UPDATE
For anyone thinking of adding footwell lights and tapping into the dome light for power, I have wired my lights up to the existing soldered lugs of the dome light. The footwell lights operate with the doors ONLY, not with the dome light switch. So with the doors closed, if you turn on the dome light, the footwell lights do not go on.

I think this can be solved as there are 2 extra solder lugs inside the dome light that are not used. It was late so I did not do a lot of testing, but it looks like I can move one of my wires to another lug and it would operate with the switch.

Anybody know which lugs to use to replicate the dome light 'on - door - off' functionality?

Also, the light strips I used are perfect for the job. They provide even light coverage, are lightweight, can be mounted easily and are not under/over driven. I mounted mine just behind the glove box (up into the dash slightly) for the passenger side and attached to the fixed portion of the steering column on the drivers' side. Both are completely recessed and can not be seen even when on. I used cable ties for both.

kanujunkie · November 30, 2005, 13:01

you need to earth your line to get this to work, the light unit earths the line internally, i'll go and get the diags for you

kanujunkie · November 30, 2005, 13:13

right heres the origional diags

m http://www.tandridgecanoe.co.uk/roadster/024il.PDF m

and heres how you need to wire it up

mg · December 1, 2005, 01:56

Stu,
Thanks for your help on this - but I'm having trouble translating what you are saying into the physical wiring that I can see. From your PDF it looks like there are 3 'wires' that connect to the dome light - the 2 wires from the pillar (that I soldered to) and a ground wire. The ground 'wire' is actually one of the screws that hold the light in place I think.

When I test with a multimeter, I get 11V with the red probe on the red lug and black on the green lug (in above picture). Yellow and blue are not used.

Can you explain which wire goes where or how I can test to find this out? I have a multimeter but I'm not understanding having 3 wires. Plus, I must have shorted when I was probing around and blew the 10A fuse (Doh!) so I would like to understand what I'm doing.

Thanks
Mike