Map Lights on with Dome light Mod

I did this mod... Thanks! Works terrific! And I used 2 31mm 6 LED Super High Flux festoon bulbs per page 5 of this thread and within a few days both LEDs burned out. Has this happened to anyone else? I plugged the old bulbs back in and they work fine. I am returning the bad LEDs back to autoillumination who btw have been great to work with.

 

 

yeah, hopefully they'll replace them for you! I've had mine in for 2 years now and they're all great still!

It's been almost a year since I did this MOD to my wagon. IMHO still the best Mod I've done because there's no light in the front on a limited wagon due to the sunroof pushing the interior light to the back seats.

 

For christmas I bought my brother all the parts for this Mod on his 'new' LGT, maybe $5 worth of stuff.

 

Yep, if you get something silly wrong/swapped, that $5 could easily cause $$$ damage.

this mod is BADDDDDDDDDDDDDD... It keeps blowing up peoples internal BIU's and causign $700 in damage.

I wouldn't go quite that far, but certainly you better know what you're doing. I am an electrical engineer and I spent some time making *sure* I was not gonna fry the BIU. The problem is exarcerbated by the fact that the wiring diagram (in the vacation pix) is incorrect for the way the dome light is originally wired.

 

Re-reading the OP, I agree there should be some more explicit warning near the top of the post.

I'm no electrical engineer. Quite the opposite actually. I'm a toothless redneck from the high hills of the Pacific Northwest. I took about an hour off from my moonshin' bidness to do this mod a year ago. No issues with it at all. Even works well with my "stage III" LED's from Diode Dynamics.

There is a reason why I say use a meter to check everything.

 

I don't know why people are frying their BIU's... I do electrical work on cars everyday and have never damaged anything.

 

Just remember the creedo, " I am a modder and I have no warranty."

Edited February 8, 2012 by mwiener2

There is a reason why I say use a meter to check everything.

 

I don't know why people are frying there BIU's... I do electrical work on cars everyday and have never damaged anything.

 

Just remember the creedo, " I am a modder and I have no warranty."

I think each of your sentences explains why you've never damaged anything.

 

Some people aren't as smart or careful as you (I'm not being sarcastic); that's why I think the guy is right that a more explicit warning in the OP would be good.

If you don't know how to use a meter properly, don't do electrical work.

I do know how to use a meter, I would love to have my map lights come on with my dome light, and in spite of following this thread since day one, I haven't tried it... because I'm afraid of killing my BIU.

NSFW....I can do it for you, with our without killing your BIU. Your choice.

I would like my map-light mod:

 

[_] With BIU killed

[X] Without BIU killed

 

I have a couple other little things in mind too... I'll call tomorrow. Plus there's that lunch thing we keep not doing.

I do know how to use a meter, I would love to have my map lights come on with my dome light, and in spite of following this thread since day one, I haven't tried it... because I'm afraid of killing my BIU.

 

Haha. Not just you. I bought the diodes like 5 years ago. And still have not done this mod Well, I am usually busy replacing engine, so that's my excuse...

I never even considered that the mod could harm anything. I just did it according to the destructions on the DIY. NSFW - Order received. Scheduling....

I never even considered that the mod could harm anything. I just did it according to the destructions on the DIY.

Which could get you in trouble if your car were somehow factory wired as shown in the manual, as opposed to the way it really is. If so, you wouldn't want to reverse the wires. And if you get that wrong, fried BIU.

I attempted this mod. Got too ahead of myself and put the diodes in backwards. There is no longer dimming of the dome light so I put everything back to "stock." I bought a used BIU at a local junk yard for $50 and now my dome light dims again. But when I try to start the car, it does not start. Key goes forward in the ignition, but no clicking or anything. Do I have to have Subaru "program" the new BIU to my ignition or is this one I got crap? I am using the original BIU now cause my car starts but no dome light dim.

It's probably a maximum current that you can draw from the BIU for the internal light and if you exceed it then it will melt down. A lot of electronics is also sensitive to static electricity so synthetic clothing can also be a culprit - especially in the winter when the humidity is low.

I attempted this mod. Got too ahead of myself and put the diodes in backwards. There is no longer dimming of the dome light so I put everything back to "stock." I bought a used BIU at a local junk yard for $50 and now my dome light dims again. But when I try to start the car, it does not start. Key goes forward in the ignition, but no clicking or anything. Do I have to have Subaru "program" the new BIU to my ignition or is this one I got crap? I am using the original BIU now cause my car starts but no dome light dim.

 

Yes, BIU needs to programmed with your keys. BIU handles immobilizer. Perhaps it also needs to be married to ECU.

^^^ Thanks for the input!!! Now to see how much it costs to have it programmed..

^ one butsecs from the dealer

I attempted this mod. Got too ahead of myself and put the diodes in backwards. There is no longer dimming of the dome light so I put everything back to "stock." I bought a used BIU at a local junk yard for $50 and now my dome light dims again. But when I try to start the car, it does not start. Key goes forward in the ignition, but no clicking or anything. Do I have to have Subaru "program" the new BIU to my ignition or is this one I got crap? I am using the original BIU now cause my car starts but no dome light dim.

 

I fixed my BIU, in my case the problem was different but I think the cause is the same - fried 3377 MOSFET transistor in BIU. Here's link to my post (rather long), hope this helps:

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/diy-05-bl-bp-stereo-heat-switches-mirror-switch-illumination-177954.html

It's probably a maximum current that you can draw from the BIU for the internal light and if you exceed it then it will melt down. A lot of electronics is also sensitive to static electricity so synthetic clothing can also be a culprit - especially in the winter when the humidity is low.

 

 

BIU transistors that handle dimming lights are rated at 30W.

mwiener2, I just did this mod and was LONG overdue. I did slightly overheat the drivers map light but I was able to work it back out and now is working normally. Close call. Thanks a bunch for the write-up! What's wierd is the wife's Tribeca has the mod done form the factory (and the same year car). Strange that they couldn't be bothered to do the outbacks. This also gave me an excuse to grease the sunroof. Cheers!

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.

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa46/sw126687/LGT/maplightmod1.jpg

 

I also opted to swap the pins in the map light connector rather than cut & resolder. Trying to get those pins out probably made the whole mod take three times as long as it should, so I took some pics that might save some man hours for anybody doing this in the future. You just need a small flathead screwdriver and some patience.

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa46/sw126687/LGT/maplightmod2.jpg

 

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa46/sw126687/LGT/maplightmod3.jpg

 

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa46/sw126687/LGT/maplightmod4.jpg

 

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa46/sw126687/LGT/maplightmod5.jpg

Hey I know who you are.

 

Nice pics Scott, I like how you used the heat shrink tubing. I was able to remove the pin from the connector on my obxt and my brother's lgt without removing the clip.

 

I prefered to use no solder at all.

 

http://www.absurdflow.com/obxt/maplightmod1.jpg

 

Best mod ever, especially on sunroof wagons.

^^^ Timmmaaaahhhhh! I've been neglecting mt.net since I've been working on sorting out this LGT and reading up on open source tuning. Little bit different than Megasquirt. I need to get caught up on the other forums soon.

 

And now I have to poke around the driver's seat area and try to find the one map light module screw that I dropped yesterday.