Let's say you want your rear reading lights (C-pillar) to come on when you open the door, since you keep stuff in the back you'd like to find at night. What would be the easiest way to trigger the rear lights with a door opening signal?
Tap the wire from the passenger side dash-to-floor light and run it to the switch in the console? That switch has me confused and the EVTM isn't helping.
And yes, I've converted them all to LEDs, so the electrical draw shouldn't be much more with the additional lights.
do you want it so the switch in the back of the center console will still activate the lights also? Or just so they strictly turn on with the regular inside lights and the switch does nothing?
I would like for the lights to do both: take input from the switch and the door. Can't be too hard, Lincolns do it all the time :)
Well it can be done but it's gonna require liberal amounts of pumpkin spice...is that something you're willing to abide? ;)
If you like redneck you could drop a wire down from the dome light to the switch.
But any simple wiring of the courtesy lights to the reading lights will work both ways.
Turning on the switch will light the courtesy lights along with the reading lights.
You could replace the single throw switch with a double throw switch. That way the OFF side of the switch could tie courtesy and reading lights together.
The ON side of the switch would power just the reading lights.
Hmm...maybe I will dig into my Lincoln EVTM manuals to see how they make it work without activating every light when you hit the switch.
I added a solution in my post.
I had thought about this very scenario years ago. What I wanted was an either/or situation: either the entry lamps OR the rear switch could operate those courtesy lights, but never both simultaneously. And also, I wanted to run everything through stock fuses.
Only thing I came up with was redoing the wires for the door post switch so that the rear switch could only get power when the door post switch was closed. Opening the door would override the rear lamp switch. But I never pursued the theory as I'd sold the car.
(Pumpkin spice is an inside thing...)
"punkin' spice"?
Wasn't that one of those scantily clad bimbos in that ~band~ called spice girls? (i really hesitated calling them a band...more like a travelling bordello choir?) LOL
That's how the 83's are wired. They have the lights at the backside of the console and come on with the dome light.
I think you are on to something. Maybe I can hack one of the Mark VII reading light switches and put it into the same location without ruining the factory look of the console.
Hmm...time to see if one of those older buttons is on eBay.
I had a Mark VII and , if I recall correctly, the rear lamps came on with the dome light and also with a switch. There was a rocker switch on each rear sail panel that controlled the lights independently. The Thunderbird/Cougar use a push button single pole on/off switch on the back of the console. Frankly I'm not sure how to make the stock switch function the way you want and retain the factory look. I'm sure it can be done but it's above my head, electrically :hick:.
A diode would do it. Really wouldn't be a big deal. Just wire power on with the dome light (bet you could just tap into the ash tray light in the console) and the hook the same power wire up through the switch with a diode in between.
leme think...
i agree with softtouch................
and
my first thought is a single wire ran from the overhead dome light "hot" wire
to............
rear cpillar lamp "hot" side.
open door then c pillar lamp comes on.
close door cpillar lamp goes off.
push button for rear cpillar lamp and light comes on.........
with door open and c pillar lamp button pushed on... i dont see any harm in the bulb getting dc power from two sources.
thoughts on why a single wire solution is wrong?
havent looked at the evtm yet to see if there is a conflict
DONE! Here's how you do it:
1. Get the 3 wire light switch originally from a 1980 Thunderbird: Motorcraft SW-1581 or E0SZ-13713-B
2. Remove the factory light switch at the back of the console, note the 2-wire plug.
2. Splice the new switch's green wire to the green wire on the factory 2-wire plug
3. Splice the new switch's black wire to the other wire (sorry I forgot the color) using the factory 2-wire plug
4. Test to ensure you retained the reading light functionality retained with the new switch before adding the 3rd wire. (as the 1980 Tbird switch doesn't have a unique color for the 3rd wire)
5. Run a power wire from the courtesy light that's under the glovebox (it only has one wire) run it under the carpet/console and up to the 2-wire plug.
6. Connect the power wire to the remaining wire on the switch, by now the switch will no longer be connected to its 3-wire plug.
7. Gently pry off the 1980's wordless button and switch it out with your "LIGHTS" button so it looks correct. Make sure the spring stays with the button.
DONE!
well thats kinda cool..
like to see a wire diagram though.......
good mod!!!
There's really no need for a wiring diagram* once you see both switches next to each other.
*says the guy that's removed his dashboard 3 times
Cool. Glad you figured it out. I'll add this to the list of little thing I want to do to the car.
So I probably could just swap the switch out from my 83 as well. That's pretty cool.
Is yours an early 1983 build? Because I was looking at console switch/ashtray panels on eBay and the two I saw had the 2-wire switch but had 1983 part numbers.
Not Sure the build date, but it has lights on the side of the end of the console that come on and off with the rear lamps button that would normally go to the rear reading lights as well as the dome light.
I really don't see just the dome light's, plus the under dash lights and the door locks lighting up to be too little light though.
It's not too much light when you have a moonroof with the useless lights in the overhead console, even with the reading lamps on I still can't find behind the front seats. Maybe I shoulda got an earlier console too :)
If the moon roof takes any more head room away, id have to walk away from the car. Im 6'5 and usually sit with an inch or so above my head.
Probably negligible if you keep the moonroof shade open :)
dang,,
your prob gonna have to pay an oversize fee when it comes time to burry you!! :hick:
Maybe not if you live long enough. I used to be 5'11'' , now I am 5'9.
Now that it's getting darker outside sooner, I am more in love with this mod. Every time I walk away from the car...