Dome light question.

[mitchness]

I have the 04 XLS with just the power mirrors, no puddle/heat. I bought the heated mirrors to find out my harness isn't wired for them. So now I'm just going to ignore the heated part and wire up the puddle light to my dome. The mirrors are slightly higher and I like them anyways.

So I have this wire I'm trying to hook up to the dome light for the puddle light to work. Would hooking it into the switch behind the dash work? What about the door switch? I know most of the switches connect to relays and it can be bad to hook it up directly. If not, what's the best was to get to the overhead light wires? What pillar do they run? What color are the wires?

Note: I don't know how to remove overhead panels, so that's out of the answer. I am also running a LED.

 

[BigRondo]

I should be able to send you the wiring diagrams when I get home tonight.

EDIT: I can also send the procedures for removing the interior trim panels!!

 

[rigbyrigz]

Hi. Novice here trying to get some interior lights goin in my newly purchased 2000 Mercury Mountaineer AWD 5.0L -

a) is it most likley the bulb is out or the fuse or something else?
b) seems like an all-purpose 906-bulb will work? I go to autozone and others, key in my make model year and replacmeent lamps and bulbs, and everything but dome (or interior) show up as valid parts for bulb purchase. sigh.
(The OM says Interior overhead lamp 1 912 (906)0 )
c) will i need any special tools, have to remove compartments, panels, etc?
d) other challenges and surprises?

THANK YOU!

Ooops, a friend suggested a little more info was perhaps needed here...
there IS a working rear dome light, that comes on when you depress the nearby switch (still see no screws or hinges to take the cover off if replacement was needed)

But upfront there is a complcated ****pit overhead thing with a bulb(s) cover, and buttons that say Lamp MODE Lamp. And some other buttons or switches. None turn the light on, nor does opening doors, nor the instruments panel lights control wheel turned all the way up past high into the click position for interior lights.
And no screws, hinges or whatnot.

Also no info in the OM telling how to interpret and operate the Lamp Mode Lamp rocketet ****pit science, Sigh. HELP please? TY!!

photo

 

[rigbyrigz]

Didn't get an answer here, so have been pursuing solution(s). Some of the threads here about faulty overhead consoles and repair tacts did mention some useful aspects that I was able to apply...

...at least I became aware you can use a flat card or screwdriver to pry the lens dome cover off, and there was a slotted area to select for that, and it popped off.

I first noticed there were no visible bulbs in the socket area, aha! Went to Autozone and asked for the proper bulbs, but they didn't fit. Went back and got others, that matched the bulbs in the rear dome lamp ( i popped that off similarly) but they also would not fit. I got a sympathetic Autozone salesperson to come take a look; he was at first befuddled, but after examining the rear panel lamp assembly bulbs, he concluded that the so-called front dome lamp socket area was damaged, probably intentionally due to a short, or a bulb that wouldnt turn off, or whatnot.

He advised I need a new assembly. He does not stock. These parts are apparently only available secondhand, eBay, junkyards, etc. Unless someone knows of a lamp assembly part and an easy way to replace the damaged area, AND there is nothing shorting out there or otherwise askew, it looks like an entire console swapout is an answer.

It appears I need a moonroof console, where the top is the moonroof back-forth switch WHICH IS CUURENTLY WORKING BTW, the middle is LAMP MODE LAMP, and the bottom is the LCD window where it might give temperature and such.

The first question on my mind is that since the Build Paper (per Ford) is that I do NOT have the compass feature, do I need to be concerned and NOT get a console on eBay or elsewhere that IS the compass version? It seems like my console assembly has MODE and a window for it, but it was just not active, nor activated, nor functional? Very confusing.

There are also obvious MOONROOF/SUNROOF NO-MOONROOF-NO-SUNROOF versions of the console for sale. (The NOs have GARAGE instead, in that area.) I of course don't want to lose the working MOONROOF CONTROL facility, so would need a console that supports MOONROOF/SUNROOF of course.

Is it that simple, or do I have to worry about going from NO LAMP YES-WORKING-MOONROOF to NO-NO-NONE from an ill-advised swapout that doesnt go very smoothly or is just not that simple?

IF anyone is reading this, thanks for advice and input. These consoles - even used - are actually fairly pricey, I was surprised.

 

[rigbyrigz]

OH, THIS photo more closely matches what I have in my Mountaineer (Mercury 2000 5.0L AWD)

 

[akdoggie]

Just go out to eBay and check them out. There are 79 listings for 02-05 Explorers right now. You can choose your colors and options. You could take the cheapest one that matches your console, and switch out the parts. You could save a bunch of money and keep your original console color. Just a thought.

 

[sfhess]

If you have a 2000 vehicle it might be more helpful to you to post this in the relevant section of the message board......

 

[rigbyrigz]

Oh Darn, this is the 2002-2005 section, Actually missed that!
I do have a 2000, and yeah I saw a lot of 2002 on eBay, which doesnt look'like a fit. Thanks for the heads up!!

Thanks also for the replies.

 

[rigbyrigz]

HI. I know i'M in wrong forum for model year but this is general question. I got a suitable sunroof dome console on eBay, used, supposedly operable, $40.
Its also the right color and cosmetically is fine.

MY current console has no lights because the dome lamp holders are totally crumpled, like it was ripped and pried and pressed backwards, perhaps because the lamps came on undesired due to some other electrical issue. I have no info, just repeating a guess the Autozone salesguy said when he tried to get me bulbs that would fit (before it was realized that section was effectively destroyed.)

It appears that this eBay was removed from its former vehicle placement by having about 16 wires snipped, leaving very short loose ends. I suspect if I remove my current console I will likewise have to snip wires, then of course match up the right ones from the vehicle and twist or hand-sodder them? Thats just a term I made up. Silly me thought there would be modular sockets a bit like USB ports, that I could just unplug old console wires from, replug new wires.

Any tips or tutorials available on tools and technique for re-wiring things like this? I presume the DIYers here do stuff like that all the time, I have never tried anything like that.

The current domelamp-less console does work the sunroof fine, I would hate to lose that by messing things up. (I currently have an InstaBulb) pasted on as my dome light, LOL. Of course it looks like hell and blocks the view.

One obvious solution is to take the domelight section out of the working eBay console and replace the damaged one in my console. There however does not look like any easy way to snap it out, plug it back in. Would I have to cut my wires, take my console out, do surgery on the kitchen table to make this happen? And are the working parts at serious risk from the effort? Please anyone, I was so hopeful now this!

 

[rigbyrigz]

This is the unit. I suppose I could unscrew the lamp housing section if I had the console off my vehicle and on my kitchen table, but thats gonna need snipping and reattach?

 

[mitchness]

Please post in relevant threads for relevant year/model. My only question was for which pillar the wires run up on my 2002-2005 3rd gen so I can hook up the puddle lights.

As far as re-wiring stuff, it's very straight forward. Match wires, check voltage, solder, heat shrink tubing. If the wires don't match, stick your volt meter black wire to any available bare metal, and touch the red one to other wires. If it responds, you have a positive. If it does not, you touched a ground wire. From there, solder up and borrow any female's hair dryer to shrink your heat shrink tubing around it.

There isn't much to explain beyond that except be careful and don't burn or zap yourself.

And panel removal isn't needed BigRondo. I installed my stereo system just fine. That was pretty straight forward, but I didn't remove them all, just pryed a few back and gave up on the puddle light for now. I might hook it to a toggle for when I off-road in the woods. If I knew the pillar to find the main hot to them, I'll build a little relay box like my reverse lights so I can toggle them manually without messing anything up, and also let the car use them as normal. I could also just run a less bendable wire with tougher braids through the overhead panel and solder it directly to the bulb socket.

I'm currently turning a XLS into a crossbreed EB and LTD.

 

[BigRondo]

I'm currently turning a XLS into a crossbreed EB and LTD.

Shall we call you Dr. Frankenstein? :

 

[rigbyrigz]

thank you@