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Finding an interior lighting wire


mmmfloorpie

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I was wondering if anyone could point me in the proper direction as to a location of an interior lighting wire. I hope to add some LED footwell lights and want a wire I can tap into. Eventually, I might also want to add the illuminated door sills.

 

I know that the instructions in the door sills instruct you to tap into the wire up in the overhead console but I have to believe there must be a wire behind the dash or under the carpet that I can use. The power has to get up there some an SJB or something right?

 

Today I pulled back the carpeting in both the driver's and passenger side foot well. There were a couple really big harnesses on the passenger side with lots of wire coming in and out. Could any of these be an interior light wire? I know the wire for the interior lighting is supposed to be violet/gray but that didn't help. I found a violet/gray wire in the passenger well but when I tested it, it wasn't hot with the lights on.

 

I'm hoping that one doesn't have to go all they way to the overhead console as I've heard it's easy to break the clips.

 

While I'm at it, I guess I should ask the location of a good ground bolt/screw. I would prefer to run a new ground with an O ring connector. On my previous car (99 Taurus) there were grounding bolts behind the door sill trim panels. Couldn't find anything like that on the Fusion today. Why do they have to make things more complicated? Lol.

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited by mmmfloorpie
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If you don't mind me piggy backing off this, but is there a wire in the footwells that is hot when the car is turned on, then turns off when you open the doors or lock the car? In my last car I tapped into the cigarette lighter since it turned off when I opened the doors.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Still haven't had any luck. Today I took one of the rear door panels off to scout for a wire for my ambient lighting. I'd like to add one in the map pockets on the doors and above the door handles like the stock ambient lighting.

 

There's something I'm doing wrong with the tester though because I can't get a reading on anything. I have another car battery that I hook the ground to on the tester and then I use the pointy end to test wires. No matter what wire I tried, nothing. Tried the connections into the speaker (with the radio on) and nothing. Tried all the wires into the power windows. Nothing. All 3 of the wires that go up to the LED for the door lock indicators. Nothing. I don't understand why this tester isn't showing a hot wire!

 

Any have any idea as to what I'm doing wrong?

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Ummm, why are you using another battery for your ground? Touch the ground for your tester probe to anything metal on the car.

 

In other cars I've found the most reliable ground is to use another battery. I tried finding good grounding locations by hooking up the tester to the positive end of the battery and then touching bare metal screws or painted surfaces. Couldn't get a good ground on any of them. This is why I use a battery.

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In other cars I've found the most reliable ground is to use another battery. I tried finding good grounding locations by hooking up the tester to the positive end of the battery and then touching bare metal screws or painted surfaces. Couldn't get a good ground on any of them. This is why I use a battery.

 

That makes absolutely no sense unless the second battery is somehow tied into the car's electrical system. The two systems would be isolated and you wouldn't have any true readings from your meter. You would have a floating ground. Question for you. How many volts is it from the ground on the second battery to the 'hot' side on the car? How do you know?

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That makes absolutely no sense unless the second battery is somehow tied into the car's electrical system. The two systems would be isolated and you wouldn't have any true readings from your meter. You would have a floating ground. Question for you. How many volts is it from the ground on the second battery to the 'hot' side on the car? How do you know?

 

If I put the ground on the tester on the second battery and touch the positive on the car battery, the light turns on...

 

I've done this before on previous cars and never had any issues. A second battery is a lot more portable than trying to find a good ground that's within the foot and a half reach of the tester's ground wire... If you say it won't work, fine.

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  • 1 month later...

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