Getting confused now :confused:

I have rear interior lights fitted as standard on my 02 Octy L&K which do not come on when the door is opened. Is it or isn't it possible to have them come on automatically? I find that when I turn them on I tend to forget and then have to climb out of the front seat again and switch them off.:(

I have them on my '01 (facelift) Elegance estate and they are manual on/off.

It sounds as though the each light has a simple on/off switch and it just depends whether you wire them to a +12V supply or to the switched (door-open) line.

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Checked tonight - on the Superb the fog lights go out when you put main beam on

:confused:

You have fog lights in the rear interior ?????

Oops well spotted - wrong thread!

Stress is getting to ya !

Nah, think its the 4hrs sleep in the last couple of days! :tired:

Pat, If lights are fitted as standard then they don't come on with doors opening, they are just switch on /off.

It is it is possible to have them come on with doors opening by either wiring into the door switch or direct to the front interior light. As stated I opted for front interior light as less hassle. There are 3 wires in the Front Light, Can't remember the colurs but you just need to route both wires for the rear light to 2 wires in the front. It is not hard to quickly work out which wires are correct for lights to come on with doors open.

Great Mod though.

Bowders.

Mine are standard fit and come on when door opened.

Pat, If lights are fitted as standard then they don't come on with doors opening, they are just switch on /off.

It is it is possible to have them come on with doors opening by either wiring into the door switch or direct to the front interior light. As stated I opted for front interior light as less hassle. There are 3 wires in the Front Light, Can't remember the colurs but you just need to route both wires for the rear light to 2 wires in the front. It is not hard to quickly work out which wires are correct for lights to come on with doors open.

Great Mod though.

Bowders.

Briliant - I'll get started on it this weekend.............but.....

Mine are standard fit and come on when door opened.

Now I'm even more confused....:confused: :insane:

Kenny - perhsps someone had modded them before you got the car (unless you got it new of course)

Personally I fitted two LEDS in each lights that come on with the door leaving the normal bulb for on off, works well I think.

Could anyone tell me if these have two or three wires going to them? By the description of their operation it sounds like two but I just want to be sure. I've got a set on their way and want to fit the wiring for them tomorrow if possible.

Thanks

Did you order them through a dealer?

Standard on my 02 Elegance estate, but as Bowders says they are not switched by the doors. Didn't know I had them for two years, only found them when I was sitting in the back as a passenger!

Easily switched on while standing outside the car as they are so quickly located in the grab handle, make very good lamps for loading/entering back seats but I wish they were double switched, door/on the lamp as is the front one.

Did you order them through a dealer?

Nope, I got a set of 4 on ebay from a Ford Galaxy (same part).

I was quoted

I don't really have time to be modding my car at the moment, but this thread has given me an idea: In a nutshell, use the rear-window locking switch (on the driver's door) to switch the reading lights between door-activated and manual. It would be very simple in electrical terms (a change-over relay and not much else) although I don't know how fiddly it would be routing the wires.

Then the lights and windows would share the same "trust" basis: If you trust the people in the back, unlock the windows and the lights are manual on/off; if you don't trust them, lock the windows and the lights come on when a door opens. The only caveat would be that to run the lights in "automatic" mode, they units themselves would need to be left switched on.

VRSPhil, I can confirm that there are only 2 wires that route to each Light. If you are going to fit them as I did, I recomend that you take off all grab handles and pull down door rubbers, and unclip centre belt plastic surround, so to get enough gap in the roof lining to feed the wire through to the interior front light . You can then use a straightened out coat hanger to tape round the wire and feed through to the front.

If you have never taken out the front interor light then you need to unclip the clear lens to expose the 2 screws that hold the light in place. I know of a few people who just thought the light was push fit and broke then trying to pull out. A small srew driver to lever the front of the lens is enough to get it to pop out.

Rgds

Bowders1

You can then use a straightened out coat hanger to tape round the wire and feed through to the front.

You don't even need to do this, just feed the wire under the roof lining by the windscreen (there is quite a gap there) into the hole for the light, then whilst holding the cable between the front and rear door, pull the cable gently through the hole at the front and the cable will find its own route.

Thanks guys

I'm going to connect mine into the front light itself rather than it's wiring loom, so that they come on when the doors open or if you turn the front (centre) light on.

Just fitted mine I wired them to come on with the front light so they come on when the doors are opened or can be turned on with the switch on the front light.

I don't know if I'm allowed to say this here, but I got a set of 4 off ebay so have two spare if anyone wants them. They're a light cream colour rather than the dark grey shown in the photo in this thread). My vRS has a light roof lining so they match, but I think others are dark?

I received a set of four from a Galaxy/Sharan yesterday - got them off eBay for less than

I'll have the two spares from one of you if you're willing to post to New Zealand

VRSPhil, Nice mod glad you did it.

Cheep mods are so rewarding.

Now to think of some more. Should start at thread of Members mods if not already done.

Bowders1

Stuby aerial? 3 quid!

I'll have the two spares from one of you if you're willing to post to New Zealand

Sorry Rob, I would be happy to post to NZ but I got a PM asking for them almost as soon as I put the message up yesterday.

I'll keep my eyes pealed for some more.