Map Lights on with Dome light Mod

Just did this mod (new LGT owner) and I'm loving the extra light up front. Instead of soldering the diodes directly to the wire that runs to the dome light, I used insulated spade connectors there in case I ever need to remove the whole module again.

Nice work. I did something very similar in post #191. Note I wrapped the wires a little, to give some strain relief.

I,v been reading this tread for days. But i maned up and did the mod. took the map lights out and did part of the work last night. This afternoon I ran wire from passenger A piller and reversed terminals in the plug, installed map light and vualla, let there be light, it all worked out. No burnt BIU

Thank you all for your input.

I am currently in the first few steps of this mod.

Why not just disconnect the battery Neg cable when switching or cutting the wires to avoid frying the system ?

When soldering the diodes can't you solder them closer to the bulb opposite of the switch? same metal strip just further down.

Thank you for the mod and all the input !

WOW, and there is light ! I just finished this mod and lights all work and dim ! Thank you all for the vast information and mwiener2 for the detailed pictures and instructions.

Best mod so far.

This is awesome, i was going to do this to my 08 leggy and checked if anyone had done this before me and there is this great thread! Thanks to OP for thinking of this many years before me and gathering alot of useful info.

Waiting for my diodes from ebay to get started with this mod. Definitly going to measure if mine is wired according to the schematics in the haynes manual or not.

For those of you that are nervous of frying the BIU: put a fuse holder for glass fuses in line with the dome light and find a fuse that is rated <30w (read a post that the transistor handeling the dimming was rated at 30w) so there is no way to fryi the BIU.

30/12=2.5A

Any fuse smaller than 2.5A should keep your BIU safe.

Going to post some pictures when i head into the BIU frying water and doing this mod on my car.

Any fuse smaller than 2.5A should keep your BIU safe.

I believe I'd use one quite a bit smaller than that, assuming you put LEDs into the map lights (which you should, if you care enough to do this mod). They should draw well under 1amp, probably not much more than 100ma.

Why not just disconnect the battery Neg cable when switching or cutting the wires to avoid frying the system ?

I just read all 19 pages and I'm baffled too. It's not that hard to set the clock and re-input the radio presets...

Why not just disconnect the battery Neg cable when switching or cutting the wires to avoid frying the system ?

If you wire it wrong, it'll still fry the BIU when you reconnect the battery cable.

Trust me that I know my own strengths and lack of same :-)

It really isn't hard, just do it yourself and make sure to read the instructions carefully. Took me about 45 minutes

Does anyone or any shop do this mod as a service? In particular, Northern California.

Yeah. I do.

Thanks. Wish you were closer...

Yeah. I do.

Hello you all,

As I'm new to the legacy scene, I've got a question... I've got a nice 2004 Ouback 2.5i. It's an october 2004 car, so will the interior-light mod work? As I have been reading, it's for the 2005-on cars only.

Is my Outback ( euro-spec, with sunroof) a 2005 model?

Thanks and greetings from Holland!

Hi,

My car looks the same as yours. So I guess that's smooth and "audi-like":lol:

It has the 2.5i, 165 hp engine (no turbo..) and factory satnav. It's a 5-speed manual.

Hi all, just finished this update on my 2006 Legacy 3.0R (European version).

I wanted to share some experiences:

- In my car the wire I had to tap was a black with a red stripe one.

- I experienced soldering directly onto the switches is the easiest way and doesn't require any baking which can melt the switch. See attachment.

- I tapped the wire near the front seats instead of at the dome light. This reduced cable length a bit.

- Added a car connector to the wire so the map light unit is easy to detach.

- Replaced all interior lights with LED ones.

Thanks for the original post!!

I did this mod years ago and it went fine, except on of my map buttons broke. I replaced the map light assembly and plugged everything back in, but now the map lights don't come on with the door when I open the door. They work independently when I push each button.

Any ideas what I might have disturbed to undo my mod?

I did this mod years ago and it went fine, except on of my map buttons broke. I replaced the map light assembly and plugged everything back in, but now the map lights don't come on with the door when I open the door. They work independently when I push each button.

 

Any ideas what I might have disturbed to undo my mod?

I think when you reattached the LEDs to the new map light assembly, they must be reverse-biased now. And/or you are now trying to get the BIU to pull down on the 12v side of the map lights; if that is the case, then you're lucky the LEDs are reversed, because you'd fry the BIU otherwise. So be care ful ! Also be aware that the map light circuit shown in the vacation pix is not exactly accurate.