Well I finally got around to seeing if the front dome lights on my Sequoia will function as a regular dome light when the doors are open and it works. I have not seen the interior of a DC but if they have them then this could probably be used on them as well. It took me about 20 minutes to do the whole job. Was pretty straight forward to do this and here's how....
1.Pull down front light. 2 Screws in the sunglass holder area then there are 2 snaps that you must release. Comes out pretty easy.
2.Unplug from harness then take to work bench.
3.Locate White wire on dome lamps. These are the ones that control the light on & off. They work off ground so when you push the switch they get ground.
4.Solder a 1amp diode (I used a 5 amp but 1 should be fine) with the stripe facing away from the light. Do this on both sides to make sure that they are isolated from each other so when one light is turned on the other will not come on.
5.Run wire to rear dome light and solder the end of it to the middle wire which is also white.
6.That’s it!! Now you have front dome lights when the doors are open. They will function just like normal when the button is pressed.
If you have any questions please post or feel free to email me!!
Funny you should ask about that as they behave just like the factory rear dome light. When you get in the car and turn on the key, they will slowly fade to off and the same will happen when you hit the remote to lock the doors. Now I could get them to do that with the switch as well but that will take alittle bit of work. Give me alittle bit of time and I will see if I can get that to work. I uploaded a diagram on how to do it. If anyone has any questions on it, please feel free to email me. I will take a few pics tomorrow and post those as well. I can't tell you how much of an improvement it makes at night when you get in the car. Toyota should have done this from the beginning...
Scott,
Makes perfect sense, thanks for the info. Just last night I was getting into the Seq. and was thinking about this idea. Now I just need a little spare time. One question, what is the best way to run the wire to the dome light? Did you have to remove the headliner or just fish the wire through? And if we are talking about a 1A diode, I figure most any gauge wire would do. What did you use(12AWG, 14AWG..)? If you fish the wire, I'm thinking 12AWG may be easier to fish through. Anyways, I'd like to see your comments. Thanks.
/Mike
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2001 2WD Silver Tundra: 4x4 TRD springs, Daystar 1", Carson AAL, red/blue Bilsteins, 265/75 Revo's, IS kit(minus bumper) and rims(hand polished), RF851X amp, Alpine HU, JL 6.5"XR comps, Qlogic with JL 8W3V2 subs. 185k miles and counting......
2005 Silver Sienna LE with 12" Overhead DVD
I used 18 ga wire just like you would find in the factory loom. The way I ran it is around the sunroof moulding. I just pulled off the front edge of it and then tucked it in. I think it took me all of about 20 minutes from start to finish. I thought it was going to be a big process but it was not. I uploaded a picture into my gallery so you can see the back of the front lights. If you look closely, you will see the WHITE wires on the back of the lights. This is the spot where you tap into the light. Just tap there install your diode with the stripe facing away from it and do the same on the other side. Once you tap both wires just splice the wires you attched together and then run it to the rear light. Good luck!! If you have anymore questions please feel free to ask... I also uploaded a picture of my new center channel that I fiberglassed into the front tray area.
I have never been asked about voltage on a diode. Diodes are measured in amps. There are 1 amp diodes and 5 amp ones even 20 amp ones which are found in alot of Car amps for protection. I would find another Radio Shack or a specialty electronics place. So the amperage is what your looking for not voltage. I used 2, 5amp diodes but 1 amp should be fine. Good luck...
I finally got around to trying out this mod on my '04 DC. Man, this is really easy to do, and makes a really nice addition to the rig. This is one of those "why the heck didn't Toyota build it like this in the first place" kinda mods.
One minor difference with the DC, though. The wire you tap into inside the dome light is actually yellow. I think the original instructions for the Sequoia mod said it was white there.
I also went one minor step further. I wired up a simple rocker switch between the dome light and the diodes on the lights. This gives me the option of setting it up so the map lights don't come on when the doors open (switch open), or I can let them come on with the dome (switch closed). I found a low profile, black rocker switch that fits pretty nicely in the punchout blank next to the map light.
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MrBeanley
Glenville, New York
2004 Tundra Double Cab 4x4
How did you run the wires on your mod? I'm interested in doing this as well, but I don't want to ruin the headliner or have any weird wire bumps showing. Did you just fish the wire through from the front to the dome light? Any additional info on how you accomplished this would be appreciated.
I finally got around to trying out this mod on my '04 DC. Man, this is really easy to do, and makes a really nice addition to the rig. This is one of those "why the heck didn't Toyota build it like this in the first place" kinda mods.
One minor difference with the DC, though. The wire you tap into inside the dome light is actually yellow. I think the original instructions for the Sequoia mod said it was white there.
I also went one minor step further. I wired up a simple rocker switch between the dome light and the diodes on the lights. This gives me the option of setting it up so the map lights don't come on when the doors open (switch open), or I can let them come on with the dome (switch closed). I found a low profile, black rocker switch that fits pretty nicely in the punchout blank next to the map light.
Got any pix of rocker switch you added? But I thought the map lights coming on with the door would be a function of the rear light switch position that you are tapping into?
/Mike
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2001 2WD Silver Tundra: 4x4 TRD springs, Daystar 1", Carson AAL, red/blue Bilsteins, 265/75 Revo's, IS kit(minus bumper) and rims(hand polished), RF851X amp, Alpine HU, JL 6.5"XR comps, Qlogic with JL 8W3V2 subs. 185k miles and counting......
2005 Silver Sienna LE with 12" Overhead DVD
I just tugged, oh so gently, down on the headliner and ran the wire from the dome light switch up to the overhead console. The run is a couple of feet long, so I used a wire coat hanger as a sort of a fish tape. Fed it from the front to the rear, taped the wire to it and pulled it on back through. No muss, no fuss, no signs that there is anything above the headliner besides the roof!
Mike:
I'll try to get some pictures up there tonight.
If you were to cut into the green wire on the harness side of the dome light, you could probably make the forward map lights operate as a function of the dome light switch. What I did, however, was cut into the yellow wire (which must come from the interior light delay computer/relay) at the dome light. That's before the dome light switch, so no matter which position the dome light switch is in, the maps will come on when the door opens.
If that doesn't make sense, feel free to IM or e-mail me.
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MrBeanley
Glenville, New York
2004 Tundra Double Cab 4x4
2004 Sequoia Front Dome Light Mod
Linear Mode
