Ambient Lighting Not Working Argh

[Brigante]

So I've bought this shexy new courtesy light unit as part of a complete black interior from an ST

But for the life of me I can't get the ambient 'submarine' lighting to work

I've followed Haz's guide about connecting a small crimp connector and scotch locking to pin 16 of the headlight switch loom

But nothing happens. No signs of life from the bulbs

The main festoon bulb and 2 map lights all work fine and so do the intrusion censors

But the submarine lighting refuses to work

Its definitely connected to the headlight switch properly and the copper wiring is making contact

I even tried tapping into other wires on the switch loom of a similar colour but still no joy

In case the submarine lighting wasnt earthed properly I tapped it into an earth i know to be working, still no joy

I even tried tapping into its live feed n connecting that to the headlight switch but still no joy either

I found a fiesta st forum where a bloke fitted it to his motor and about half way down the page he wrote a guide

http://www.fordfiestast.co.uk/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=290478&page=0&fpart=all&vc=1

I'd already done every step of what he's wrote but where as his works, mine doesn't

He has however tapped into a different pin on the headlight switch

But comparing the wire colours, it is the same one I tapped into but the fiesta loom appears to have a different lay out

Fed up of playing about with it now and I've got another 12hour shift shortly so if anyone else can offer up any ideas I'd be most greatful

[soulman123]

I'm no expert but sounds like you need a different pin on the focus ?

Maybe worth checked your getting power too... but sounds more above.

Nice work from the look of it your braver than me to do it lol me and electrics ha not a good mix!

Shame about the 12 hours shift I know that pain all too well. I'm not on till later so have some down time. I'm doing the lottery this week hehe

[soulman123]

Back found this more focus related might be more the ticket

http://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/36451-guide-to-fitting-submarine-lighting/

[Brigante]

already seen this guide but cheers anyway mate

this is what i mentioned at the start of my post

its definitely the right pin on the light that i'm connecting to and all the circuit board should already be good as it already has the lights built in as its the proper unit and hasn't had to have the bulbs soldered in like haz did and i'm connecting to the right pin on the headlight switch as per haz's guide.

[johnH]

Best bet would be to get a multimetre and check the voltage is making its way through to the bulb holder.

Try tapping into another 12v source, such as your aux socket and tap into the earth wire for the courtesy light. if that doesnt work, check bulbs and ensure the bulb holders are looking good.

A multimeter will help here

[artscot79]

if you get it working and want rid of youre old interior light brig give me a shout

[DanGersFord]

Are you sure the bulbs havent blown by the way? Just checking lol

[Brigante]

Lol first thing i thought was have the bulbs some how blown but i cant get em out yet to check em. Dont seem to want to un clip.

Also am i right in saying they are led and shouldnt just blow?

[DanGersFord]

They shouldnt but just because they shouldnt doesnt mean that they cant blow. For example ive had LEDs off fleebay which shouldn't technically need to be changed for the lifetime of the car but after a month or so they started blowing

[Brigante]

not cheapy leds off eBay though lol they factory ford ones that shouldnt need changing

i'll try n remove em n have a mooch

[DanGersFord]

Fair enough :) always best to eliminate the most obvious first lol :)

[Brigante]

i tried to but couldnt get the bulbs out with my fat thumbs

does anyone know how to get the bulbs out?

just a case of push the 2 clips in n pull the thing out?

cause it dont seem to be working for me

[Brigante]

i've now tried connecting the earth and live feeds of the submarine lighting into the feeds of the vanity light behind sun visor as I know them both to be working

result is that the submarine lighting still doesnt work

i'm really thinking its a case of 2 duff bulbs now..

heres the route the wiring takes

[Brigante]

heres the bulb that i cant get to

to get to it i think i need to some how remove this

[Brigante]

scratch that

after much faff i got the submarine lighting loom out

this is what it looks like in the holder

this is the bulb that the live supply would attach onto

and this is the other bulb

heres where the earth goes

after finally getting the bulbs out to have a look at em, i'm still at a loss as to whether theres anything wrong with em or not and don't look like they can be simply unplugged

[Stoney871]

Have you tried running power through the bulbs in both directions or even one at a time?

It could be the resistors have gone and allowed the bulbs to go too.

[Brigante]

what exactly do you mean in both directions mate

[Stoney871]

Because LED are polarity specific try a positive feed from both end.

[Brigante]

What i'm trying to ask is do you literally just mean splice in to both ends of the live wire ajoining the 2 bulbs together?

[johnH]

Nope. What he means is try swapping the earth and positive connections around

[Brigante]

Nope. What he means is try swapping the earth and positive connections around

didnt thinkso but thats what was confusing me. i'm not sure if the earth will even reach where the live apparently goes. i'll give it a go shortly n report back

[Preee]

That looks like they are wired in Series , so either one of the LED's or the resistor could be Dud , which will stop the other LED from working.

trip to Maplins for two 12v Led's and a new resistor and it will soon be up and running

[Brigante]

Hmm maplins it will have to be then. I'll get me Missus to check where the nearest is. Got a day off tomorrow (hopefully) so i'll have a trip out when i get this nightshift out the way.

Cheers lads

[Brigante]

Oh by the way, gonna sound silly but which bit is the resistor exactly?

[Preee]

The resistor os the small component with the colour lines on it , which read about 1.6k ohms , all that resistor does is reduce the voltage to reduce the light output of the 12v Led , it's not needed if you want the Led's nice and bright.