Boulderguy Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 Uh oh...the circled wires were supposed to be reversed. Not sure which ones you did, but I bet that's the bottleneck. Ouch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTWag Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 Damn -- I guess if I fried the fade out circuit... re-doing this mod the right way wouldnt work, because then I would have plenty of light that wont fade out (?)! EDIT - just a follow up - I reattached it all with the correct ground switch at the map light, and indeed they all light up together. But alas, as I expected, I must have fried the fade out circuit, because they dont fade out. Now my search on how to fix the fade out without going to the dealer shall begin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graayfa Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 Hey All I did this mod yesturday. I did not have the resister from radio shack, so I did it without. Works great. The only hard part about this mod was switching the wires going to the map light, just took some time, had to be very patient. I will add the resister's, or what ever you call them, at a later date. It's not as "dark as a tomb" at night any more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c_hunter Posted October 17, 2005 Author Share Posted October 17, 2005 Yeah, the circled connector is the one you want to reverse the pins in (notice how it plugs into the metal bars of the maplight circuit). If you reversed the pins in the big white connector that plugs into the map light assembly -- that is for the moonroof switch!! That probably would not affect moonroof operation at all, but I would put them back to be safe. The other plug going into the map light assembly hangs off as a pigtail, and is for the overhead seatbelt indicator. I guess there's no way to tell if opening a door flips on the lights, since they never go off. So it may be more than the fade-out that is burned -- could be the "turn-on" aspect as well. Step 1 would be finding out what/where the "body integrated unit" is. I really hope it's not the ECU.... Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTWag Posted October 17, 2005 Share Posted October 17, 2005 Thanks Craig Moonroof and everything works fine, and the lights all operate fine (map lights are still wired together, so one switch causes both to come on, which I dont mind). I looked at the Vacation Pix, and the Body Inegrated Unit is under the steering column, and has a lot to do with a LOT. Alarm, security, etc etc. So, basically, I think my only way to get things operational is to remove all my wiring and, as was already mentioned, go to the dealer and play dumb... However, does anyone know if there's a way to tap into the circuit that controls the puddle lights on the doors? They operate with the door open/close and I would be more than happy to lose the cool fade, if the map/dome would just turn off when I closed the doors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c_hunter Posted October 19, 2005 Author Share Posted October 19, 2005 Ah perfect, this might save your bacon! Study the vacation pix more. There are wiring diagrams for the interior lighting, and it should show where the puddle lights connect into the B.I.U. If you can find that wire (and for god's sake make sure it switches ground!!!) then you can slice the dome light wiring into that. They give wire color codes, so you should be able to find the right wires. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTWag Posted October 19, 2005 Share Posted October 19, 2005 That is encouraging. I know basically nothing about wiring diagrams, so I might come back at you with some questions... I will take a look. thanks! -w Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTWag Posted October 19, 2005 Share Posted October 19, 2005 Ok - here is the diagram from the service manual with the step light area highlighted. If I knew anything about diagrams I could decipher this and figure out what I need to tap into, and if it switches ground or not... Any clue how I locate this wire? [url]http://www.wardpoulos.com/step_lights.gif[/url] (large GIF file) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
c_hunter Posted October 20, 2005 Author Share Posted October 20, 2005 Looks like positions 18,19,31,32 going into the B.I.U. carry switched ground from the door switches. It should be possible to fab up a circuit with diodes to pass the switched grounds to the dome light while keeping them isolated from one another and the dome switched ground (at the switch). I can't remember, does the rear hatch activate the dome too? That would be another switched ground to tie into if that were the case. In any event, this is not going to be so simple. Essentially, you'd be recreating the dome-on/off function of the B.I.U. without the fade. Better find someone who can make up a circuit and do some soldering. Might be worht pricing up a new B.I.U. too. Craig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenchan Posted September 9, 2006 Share Posted September 9, 2006 um... im probably the last one that did this mod, but just wanted to say thanks to Craig and all for the hack how-to. this mod is great. I guess i can share a little bit updated info based on my experience. I only wired up the driver side map light to the dome w/o the diode. I like to have the capability to turn on the dome while my wife buckles up my kid in the child seat and i can turn it on/off for her.... and dont need to rush any more since the dome will remain on until i turn it off up front. Also, when you solder the terminals just solder onto the tips of the switch's contact terminal where it friction meets the conductor blades of the entire module. you don't need much heat to solder onto that tip so you won't risk damaging the switch. i used a small 18awg wire on mine since i only need to power 2 bulbs. i tested it for 10min for heat build up. no issue. now i need to wire up a secondary light in the wagon's trunk so that i would illuminate the trunk area under the security curtain... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pattali Posted February 20, 2007 Share Posted February 20, 2007 Great mod ! Thanks a lot for your diagram C_HUNTER ! works fine for me. I did this mod on sunday with an European Outback and it's work. Just be carefull for removing 20 A fuse in the engine fuse-box or battery , this in case to switch Plus and Minus (reverse pins on harness going into the map light) I didn't solder wire to map light. Thanks from France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deltabi Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 Sorry for revamping this thread, but having bought a new Outback 2.5i I really would like to do the famous C_Hunter's "Dome lights mod". However I've noticed that the diagrams presented at the beginning of the thread are no longer visibile. Could someone please repost them or eventually post some images to clarify how to proceed? Thanks a lot! PS: This forum rocks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EDV11 Posted February 15, 2011 Share Posted February 15, 2011 Sorry for the bump, but... Too bad the diagrams are no longer visible... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EDV11 Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 Thanks for the write up. I could do the mod just with the text, no images needed. Now I have lit up my cave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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