Frequently Asked Questions

1) I have a dome lamp with map lights. If I decide to buy and install a center dome light module, will my map lights still function?

YES - If you're just buying the center dome module (the easy one) then your map lights will be unaffected. In other words, you're not going to do anything that will interfere with their connections or operation when you install this mod.

2) Will the dome lamp LED module dim down and turn on just like the original bulb?

YES - the LED module dims and turns on in the same fashion you're used to when the regular bulb is in there.

3) Why do some of the LEDs appear to be just barely on after dimming and/or while driving?

This is one minor quirk with the electrical circuit. Technically, when the dome lamp dims, the circuit is still allowing a tiny bit of power to leech out. This behavior goes unnoticed when a regular bulb is in the dome lamp, because this power isn't enough to fire the bulb's filament. However, LEDs, due to their low power consuming nature, are more sensitive to this leakage. The few LEDs that light up here just happen to be the more sensitive ones in your module.

4) But it seems like the dimmed LEDs stay on forever. Won't that drain my battery?

If the alternator isn't running (aka car is off) the circuit will eventually completely shut off. However, even if there was a problem and the power leakage never subsided, the calculation of your battery's runtime (the batt's mAH rating versus the miniscule power being dissipated by the LEDs) would give you quite a few days before complete drain.

5) How difficult is the map LED mod?

This modification is moderately difficult. Not necessarily perplexing, but easily frustrating for those with low patience thresholds (like me!). Essentially, you are removing a regular bulb and instead of putting an LED exactly in that bulb's place, you're going to run a LED with wires and resistor to a pair of designated contact areas on the lamp. The Copper represents (-) and the Aluminum backplate is (+) and the picture guide indicates where the wires go. Then, you have to be creative and find a way to aim the LED such that it points down and into the cabin.

As of this writing, the best thing I found is to take a 3/4 square cube of soft foam (I used a piece of foam from a package of computer parts) and poked a hole in the middle. I then stuffed the LED through it until about half of the dome was peeking out of the foam. Then I put the LED/foam piece into the lamp and pressed it all together. Check to see if the aim is desirable. If so, you're done. If not, keep trimming the foam until you have a suitable setting.