Updated the first post with some new photos. Light bulbs have been replaced with LED equivalents.

 

GmPartsDirect.com has the for $16.61 for the Dome Housing and $12.41 for the Lamp Assembly

 

Nice write up man.

 

****, if it's that cheap I may end up doing this

dome lights kick ass

 

hey.. how does the led light output compare to the halogen output on the mirror lights and dome light? i saw the pics but i want your honest opinion.. if its really a night and day differance can you give me a link to where i can buy the leds? what type too if you remember.. thanks!!

 

It's damn near impossible to capture what the human eye can see with a camera, that's why I said the pics may not be that good. But it really is a huge difference, especially in the color of the light. I buy my LEDs from VLEDs, they have a web site as www.v-leds.com but I prefer to buy from their eBay store cause I'll up my feedback that way lol. I don't have time right now to search for the specific ones I bought but send me a PM and I'll send you some links tomorrow morning when I get home from work.

 

great write up, rainy day here i come!

 

dam that came out nice... im scared to cut into my headliner though

 

Alright I retook the photos showing the effect of having a dome light and not having anything. I think they came out perfect for what I wanted. They're at the bottom of the first post.

 

awsome

 

what are the bulb numbers for the mirror lights and the new dome light bulbs? sweet idea by the way

 

Wow, you my friend are a ******* genious and should be the interior light engineer at GM
Can you turn on the big light in that dome kit without opening the door? If so, how? I wasn't sure if the lights would turn on when you push the button on the mirror?

 

Do i really need to cut the liner? seems as it can be bolted on top of it as long as the wires are fed through.

 

you gotta snap the cap onto the base though, that was the point for cutting the liner.

 

The mirror lights as well as the small map lights in the dome light use 194 bulbs, the large light uses a 561 bulb.

The lights in the mirror and the dome light operate independently of each other. You can turn the mirror lights on and off without affecting the dome light at all. The large light in the dome light can be turned on with the doors closed, just use the switch. The switch actually has three functions, light comes on when door is open, light is on, and light is off, even if the door is open. The small lights in the dome light only turn on when you physically turn them on.

 

Sweet!! Thank you!!

 

So... i was looking at the dome light last night... (still haven't installed it)

Anyone know the part number for the plug that goes into the side? Make install a bit easier since you wouldn't have to solder anything... and it'd look more OEM

 

well, of course i fucked something up.. somehow i cut the headliner hole too big so now theres like 2 holes that are there when the dome light is installed... im guessing im going to have to buy a new headliner now right? and i also cant get the big side of the dome light to work.. i have the grey wire soldered onto the second blade on the plug.. the only thing i can think of is that the solder is contacting another blade in the plug? those blades are too close together anyways.. i dont know how you did it man.. im so pissed that i messed my headliner up..

 

Use the big piece of material you cut out to make the hole and try to glue pieces back onto the main headliner to cover up those gaps. Easier than buying a whole new headliner and risk doing it again. As for the wire issue, make sure you tapped into the right wire, but also check to make sure the solder joint is clean and not touching anything. Also make sure the switch in the dome light is working properly, because I think if the switch isn't touching the terminals inside the light it won't work either.

 

Took me a long time to do this about 3 hours or so >< I encountered a few problems tho.

First problem was that the nuts I purchased were locking nuts and they were very hard to screw on so I couldnt use those since its not that easy to hold the other side of the bolt cuz its all in your ceiling... (by the way this also bent my sunroof inner cover a little from me cramming my hands in there a million times)

Second problem was that after I spliced into my wiring in my car the mirror lights would randomly go on when i pushed on the wires a certain way... I ended up taping the wires in place to stop them from moving.

Third problem was that I could not get the back left snap to snap in place since I couldnt get enough leverage behind it to push the light on to the backing.

All in all it looks good and works great!

 

It took me quite a while to get it done as well, I wanted to make sure I didn't bugger anything up so I took my time.

The wiring issue may be something you want to fix. If the mirror lights are coming on randomly when the wires move a certain way, there's a short somewhere in the circuit. I'd recommend you find out the source of it since shorts can lead to very bad things in cars.

I have a hard time getting mine to snap in too. Make sure you don't have any piece of headliner in the way of the snap tab. Doesn't take much to prevent it from going in all the way. As for leverage, I can't help much there. Just try a few different position to see if you find one that lets you put some force on the top half of the light to push it downwards.

 

Yea I was confused... im an electrical engineer so I definitly know how to solder and splice wires very well.. I looked back and none of my solders where even close to anything else and all my splices were twisted soldered and wrapped with a good amount of duct tape... I have no idea how it could be shorting anywhere ><

 

Check inside the dome light itself. Yeah, you'll have to pull the lens off again, but check the metal tabs inside it underneath the big switch. When I first installed mine, one of the nuts was touching the metal in the housing and I blew the fuse. Never hurts to check just to be safe, that's why I only hand tightened the bolts and nuts in. Too much force might warp the plastic and do it again.

 

Yea I gotta take some time and look at it more closely for sure... My arms just hurt really bad from holding them over my head for a few hours straight haha. But definitly shorts are not good in a car, not good at all... I didnt look at the bolt to see if that is touching thats a good idea!

 

i was looking into doing this soon but i have a question...does anyone know if it is possible to use a different dome light? like from a different car or perhaps a universal dome light? most ive seen have 3 leads to hookup so it sounds like it would work if hooked up correctly. i just want light in the car i dont care to be able to turn it on and off. as long as its on when the door is open that would be a-o-k...anyone know?? thanks