Quote:
Originally Posted by rockyfeller
Quote:
Originally Posted by ctlong65
I purchased an LED ambient light kit. The passenger and rear doors plug into window switch. The driver door doesn't have a compatible window switch, so I spliced into existing fiber optic power connection no longer being used. It provides power to the LED but the rotary dimmer switch next to headlight switch now only controls dimming of passenger and rear door ambient lighting. The driver side stays illuminated at full power.
The OEM fiber optic ambient lights on driver side could be dimmed by same rotary dial, so I don't understand why it's not working.
Looking for help on how/where to connect driver side power so it dims with others.
I believe it's recommended to wire through door and plug into trunk release switch, but I was hoping to avoid having to wire through door and open up door sill and kick plate trim.
Anyone else encounter this and have a recommendation?
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Yes I went through this exact situation. I also thought it made more sense to tap the driver's side into the pre-existing ambient LED. But I ended up same way as you. I even opened up the driver side switches to find a way to tap but there was no clear way without hacking it up. Also if you tap into other sources, when you switch the stock ambient lighting modes from classic to modern the ambient lighting in the roof doesn't respond! Not worth doing it that way trust me. You'll be stuck in one mode forever. You want it to match the doors.
I realized I had to route the wire exactly as they described, to the trunk button. Even though it seems like it makes no sense, they made the wiring this way on purpose. These are all sites that are wired into the dimmer. The trunk wire connector is the same as the power window connectors on the other 3 doors. It's the closest source to the driver's door to get this tap.
Needless to say, in order to get the wire through the door jamb was extremely tedious and time consuming. I was trying to avoid it obviously but had no choice. It took me an extra 2hrs. I highly recommend you use a "snake" type tool to help you route it through the wire loom/insulation etc to make it all perfect. Because I took my time, the install came out clean, safe and stock looking to anyone that opens up the door. Do it right the first time. End result, it was worth it. So bite the bullet and dive in.
One thing that I noticed that kinda sucks is the ambient lights used to kind of have a soft off/on. When connected to the main dimmer you lose that. It's a sharp on/off. Not a big deal but a detail I thought I'd mention since no one else has.
The other problem now is that the ambient lights are too damn bright! I don't know who can seriously drive like this down the highway. Lol. Sure I can use the dimmer and dim them. But then the gauges get way too dim at that level.
I'm now working on a project to rectify this by installing individual dimmers in each door and the passenger side dashboard, so that the gauge dimmer can be set to Max, yet have the doors LEDs have a maximum extent to which they can be dimmed, if that makes sense. The dash dimmer will still work for manual control but the doors will no longer overpower the dash lights. And these dimmers will maintain a soft on/off feature. I tested it out and it works so far. Just have to complete the install. Started a few months ago but the car is in storage. Will get into it in a couple months and report back later. |
Thank you for responding! I was hoping to avoid going through door jam, but I guess I have no choice. Wish I could find some videos detailing this step.
I also noticed how bright they were and issue with dash lights being too dim to get ambient lights down to tolerable brightness. Putting a dimmer on each door and then dimming to acceptable brightness at maximum dash output makes sense. That way the dial would still control everything together, but with restricted maximum output.
If you don't mind, can you share details of the dimmer you found and how your hooking it up? Not sure how to find help on this or who to talk to about it.