Moving Interior Dome Lights

AKCrafty

New member
2018 144 LR Cargo. I want to move the swap the rear dome light with the toggle (on/off/door activated) with the forward position so that it's above the bench seats. What gauge wire do I need to extend the front?
 

manwithgun

Unknown member
I’m guessing, but I’ll say 20awg. The interior lights on my 2007 cargo are sourced from fuse #19 @ 7.5amps. The splice taps that I used were sized for 20awg and worked perfect with factory wires. If in doubt, use 18 but not necessary. It’s only carrying the load of the bulb, and a signal voltage to the canbus/lighting module. Depending on chart and application, 20awg is good for 10amps. 15 watt lamp draws 1.25 amps max.
 

gltrimble

2017 170 4x4
Be aware that the connector on the switched light is different than the unswitched light. You will need to extend the wiring to make it work. I believe the crew and cargo van use the same wiring harness. My crew van had extra lighting connectors intended for the cargo van at the slider and the rear door buried under the headliner. The rear door connector was wired for the switch while the slider door was not.

I purchased additional OEM light fixtures with and without a switch from Europarts SD. Less than $20 each and the one with the switch was the cheaper of the two. Plug n play. I now have a switched light at both the front and rear. Both function but one will not turn off the other (not a three way switch).

I also replaced the bulbs with LEDs. Cut power consumption by a factor of more than 10X. So small gauge wire will work if you need to relocate a light.



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manwithgun

Unknown member
I just realized that you are talking about the REAR switched dome light and not the front. If your 18' is like my 07', the switch has 4 wires as follows:

RED = +12VDC CONSTANT ON sourced from fuse #19 @ 7.5amps. This is "common" for the switch AND bulb. Meaning the bulb always has voltage and only turns ON when it is "sinked" to ground (-) by canbus or auxiliary "aftermarket" switch (added by you). The factory switch does not turn on the light directly, but tells canbus to close the ground circuit (Brown/Blue) which then completes the circuit and illuminates the bulb...

Brown/Blue = SWITCHED (-) GROUND, meaning this ground closure is controlled by canbus based on the input signal from switch, and vehicle status. This is the wire that actually controls the light.)

Violet/Green = input signal (+12) from switch TO canbus for standard ON command.

Violet/Blue = input signal (+12) from switch TO canbus for "DOOR ON" command.

A simple way to command cargo lights ON is to put add a switch to "short" the Brown/Blue wire to ground. This can be done anywhere in the van. The wire harness runs near the roof on the drivers side and all wires can be found there. You can "create" a ground by threading a screw into the vans body to attach a wire or tap/add to one of several factory grounding points. When this wire closes to the Brown/Blue wire via switch, lights will be forced on regardless of rear door switch position. This method keeps full functionality of the light control when the new auxiliary switch is off.

EDIT: When I tried to incorporate the canbus logic, I was not satisfied with the "timeout" feature and used the above work around.
 
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Bandit13k

Member
I just realized that you are talking about the REAR switched dome light and not the front. If your 18' is like my 07', the switch has 4 wires as follows:

RED = +12VDC CONSTANT ON sourced from fuse #19 @ 7.5amps. This is "common" for the switch AND bulb. Meaning the bulb always has voltage and only turns ON when it is "sinked" to ground (-) by canbus or auxiliary "aftermarket" switch (added by you). The factory switch does not turn on the light directly, but tells canbus to close the ground circuit (Brown/Blue) which then completes the circuit and illuminates the bulb...

Brown/Blue = SWITCHED (-) GROUND, meaning this ground closure is controlled by canbus based on the input signal from switch, and vehicle status. This is the wire that actually controls the light.)

Violet/Green = input signal (+12) from switch TO canbus for standard ON command.

Violet/Blue = input signal (+12) from switch TO canbus for "DOOR ON" command.

A simple way to command cargo lights ON is to put add a switch to "short" the Brown/Blue wire to ground. This can be done anywhere in the van. The wire harness runs near the roof on the drivers side and all wires can be found there. You can "create" a ground by threading a screw into the vans body to attach a wire or tap/add to one of several factory grounding points. When this wire closes to the Brown/Blue wire via switch, lights will be forced on regardless of rear door switch position. This method keeps full functionality of the light control when the new auxiliary switch is off.

EDIT: When I tried to incorporate the canbus logic, I was not satisfied with the "timeout" feature and used the above work around.

I have a switched light in the rear and a couple without switches in the roof that all function together. I would instead like to remove the factory lights and replace them with some led light strips at floor level but still like to keep the "timeout" or always on feature. Am thinking would then add a 3 way switch on my control panel to function same as the factory switch in the rear light.

Any suggestions or drawings on how to do this? Where is the "timer"?
 

manwithgun

Unknown member
I have a switched light in the rear and a couple without switches in the roof that all function together. I would instead like to remove the factory lights and replace them with some led light strips at floor level but still like to keep the "timeout" or always on feature. Am thinking would then add a 3 way switch on my control panel to function same as the factory switch in the rear light.

Any suggestions or drawings on how to do this? Where is the "timer"?
The timer is part of the Body Control Module (BCM). Any light that you want to function as factory "normal" will simply be connected to the RED (+) and the BROWN/BLUE (BCM controlled/switched ground). If eliminating the factory light w/switch with your own on/off/on switch, connect the RED to the "common (usually center)", then connect the VIOLET/GREEN to one contact/screw/post for "normal ON" and the VIOLET/BLUE to the other contact for "door ON". Note that most switches are backwards, meaning that the bottom contact closes when the switch is up and vise versa but better to test to confirm. This is sending a +12vdc command signal to the BCM which then grounds the BROWN/BLUE which completes the circuit and turns on any lights connected to it. If you ever want the option to force the lights on or override the time-out, just add a switch to bring the BROWN/BLUE to ground, either with your own chassis ground or any SOLID BROWN wire you stumble across.

EDIT: Be aware the the RED wire is CONSTANT +12vdc, always. Be sure that any abandoned leads are insulated from ground. I would recommend removing FUSE#19 while working on the system, or at least have spare fuses! And I cannot confirm that newer model year vans are wired in this same way...
 
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Bandit13k

Member
Thank you. Will take a look at a new wire feed from fuse #19 or tapping in to the existing harness. Thought about it some more last night and since this is powered by the starting battery I want to leave it connected to the door switches and keep the time out feature to use the lights for step in only. I will run separate LED lights off my aux battery for full van lighting.
 

manwithgun

Unknown member
By using a double pole/double throw (DPDT) switch, you can select the power source that powers ALL of your lights. Either door switch/timeout from start battery OR constant on from house battery. Wiring diagram provided by Hodakaguy in link.

 

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