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Has anyone added map lights?

Old May 10, 2005 | 08:04 AM
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From: ft worth tx
Has anyone added map lights?

I am wanting to add map lights above the rearview mirror. I only have a dome light in the middle and I found a 03 lancer that they are parting out that has the map lights. I went to the dealership but they were wanting $200+ for the whole fixture. I wasnt sure if my car would have the same screw connector in the roof (where the screw holds in the fixture). I was just wondering anyone knows if it there before I start cutting a hole in my ceiling. I was also thinking of just wiring those little led map lights (see attachment) and mounting them behind my mirror(I have a wideview mirror and there is room on either side for them)

Last edited by bbradj; Mar 12, 2007 at 07:55 PM.
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Old May 10, 2005 | 02:14 PM
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Those look cheap and IMHO would look like crap if you put those in your car. personally, if i were you, id get the OEM stuff, you may end up paying a large sum, but the quality is a helluva lot better and much cleaner looking.
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Old May 12, 2005 | 07:21 AM
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they would actually be behind my mirror, you wouldnt really be able to see them. But yeah I am kinda leaning toward oem but i want to know what im getting into.
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Old May 12, 2005 | 03:01 PM
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how would you wire them?
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Old May 12, 2005 | 05:19 PM
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If you're worried about the price, hide and watch for a totaled lancer. You should be able to get something like a map light for a song. How many people go to a junkyard looking for maplights anyways?
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Old May 12, 2005 | 06:42 PM
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how often do you read maps?
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Old May 12, 2005 | 06:59 PM
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Originally Posted by bbradj
they would actually be behind my mirror, you wouldnt really be able to see them. But yeah I am kinda leaning toward oem but i want to know what im getting into.
They have some nasty wires that would be hard to hide.
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Old May 12, 2005 | 09:14 PM
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Try this http://www.sportsimportsltd.com/autdimrearvi.html
I had a mirror simular to this in my WRX (installed at the port). I had LED map lights that did NOT interfere with driving ie; no light in your eyes.
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Old May 13, 2005 | 07:11 PM
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Originally Posted by CF-Ninja
how often do you read maps?
I actually spend a lot of time studying in my car ( thats where I study best) and the dome light isnt bright enough at night. But yeah i think Illl look at some junkyards!!
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Old May 13, 2005 | 07:38 PM
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you could go to a sporting goods store and get one of those really really sweet LED headlamps!!
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Old Jun 4, 2005 | 08:30 PM
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Did anyone ever find out if the wiring is already located in the headliner for the map lights? I can buy a maplight/sunglass holder for my Sportback, but the dealer said the map lights only came in conjunction with the power sunroof option and the point of this accessory was to add the sunglass holder to a car that already had the map lights. Since the Sportback didn't offer the sunroof, he doubted the wiring was up there for the map lights. They called corporate and couldn't find out an answer so they said they could install it but there was no guarantee they could hook up the lights unless I wanted them to go cutting the headliner all apart. Since I wasn't about to pay $90 for a sunglass holder or get my headliner messed up, I told them to forget it. I really would like to add more lighting to the front since the dome light is too far back for good light so any insight here would be appreciated.
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Old Jun 5, 2005 | 10:29 AM
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According to the wiring diagram, there's only wiring for one light above the headliner, so it's setup to either run a dome light or a map light, not both. So in order to install the map lights, you'd have to run another power wire up there from the fuse box. This would actually be really easy, just takes some time to remove the headliner and to run the wire. I would hook the power up to an ACC spot on the fusebox, so you don't have to worry about accidentally leaving it on.
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Old Jun 5, 2005 | 01:10 PM
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Originally Posted by otter
According to the wiring diagram, there's only wiring for one light above the headliner, so it's setup to either run a dome light or a map light, not both. So in order to install the map lights, you'd have to run another power wire up there from the fuse box. This would actually be really easy, just takes some time to remove the headliner and to run the wire. I would hook the power up to an ACC spot on the fusebox, so you don't have to worry about accidentally leaving it on.
Hmmm...is it possible to splice the wire going to the dome light so the map lights and the dome light come on when the doors are opened?
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Old Jun 5, 2005 | 04:20 PM
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Originally Posted by Sportback79
Hmmm...is it possible to splice the wire going to the dome light so the map lights and the dome light come on when the doors are opened?
You'd pull too much current and start popping fuses. Better to run a fresh wire for it with its own fuse.
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Old Jul 30, 2006 | 10:14 PM
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reviving this post, i just got one of these and took my headliner apart... heres what i found, there is no harness, just the dome, but rewring would not be that hard, the problem is there are no holes to mount it, now maybe a ralliart is different, but there were 4 sets of holes, a set of two regular and 2 oblong holes, but both are two far away, you could drill two holes in the headliner support but if you go to far, hole in roof or you might be able to make a bracket with those holes or jbweld a bracket and also there is a third hole in the center of the map lights i have no idea where that would screw into
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