Interior Courtesy light and trunk light question.

Gotta love that wiring . . .
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Betis
Posts: 109
Joined: Mon Nov 30, 2015 11:17 pm
Your car is a: 1981 Fiat 124 Spider FI

Interior Courtesy light and trunk light question.

Post by Betis »

It works when I switch it on, but when door open it does not. Any reason why? I replaced both door switches. What else could be wrong?
And how about the trunk light? Is there a switch? ot it works when trunk opens?

Thanks in advance.
jandarah
Posts: 113
Joined: Thu Apr 30, 2015 1:52 am
Your car is a: 1977 124 Spider
Location: Mount Hallen, Queensland, Australia

Re: Interior Courtesy light and trunk light question.

Post by jandarah »

Hi, the courtesy light needs a permanent positive 12v at the light. It should not be controlled by the ignition switch. The door switches work by grounding the negative side of the light to the body. Once this happens, the light should come on. The light switch should also switch the negative side of the light to ground. A multimeter on the resistance setting will tell you whether the switches are wired correctly. Perhaps your light has been wired to switch the positive and have the negative permanently grounded. That will make the light work with the switch, but not the door switches. In my Spider, the light on the console is independent of the door switches. I have my door switches wired to two strips of small LEDs. These are hidden in each footwell and really light up the footwells.

As far as the trunk light goes, the light appears to come and stay on with the dash lights. Again for efficiency, no heat and minimum drain, i have hidden some more LEDS on a adhesive strip up under above me rear battery. Not authentic, but works a treat and cannot be seen easily.

Cheers..
John in Oz
First Fiat: 1970 124 sedan 1970 - 1976
Then horse float towing vehicles up to present.
Current Fiat: 1977 124 Spider 1756cc with twin Weber 40 IDF's
1970 124BC coupe; 1756cc with twin Weber 40 IDF's, used for sprinting
GeorgeT
Posts: 379
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2012 12:41 pm
Your car is a: 1982 Fiat 124 Spider

Re: Interior Courtesy light and trunk light question.

Post by GeorgeT »

jandarah wrote:As far as the trunk light goes, the light appears to come and stay on with the dash lights. Again for efficiency, no heat and minimum drain, i have hidden some more LEDS on a adhesive strip up under above me rear battery. Not authentic, but works a treat and cannot be seen easily.

Cheers..
The trunk light does come on with the headlights and stays on whether or not the trunk lid is open or closed.
spider2081
Patron 2024
Patron 2024
Posts: 3015
Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2006 11:45 pm
Your car is a: 1981 Spider 2000
Location: Wallingford,CT

Re: Interior Courtesy light and trunk light question.

Post by spider2081 »

If you remove the courtesy light from the console you should find:
2 black/violet wires on one terminal of the light. These wires are the door switches and switch a ground to the light when a door is open.
A violet/white wire that has voltage all the time. This supplies the power for the light.
A white/black wire that is a ground all the time. When the switch in the courtesy light is switched on this wire supplies the ground to complete the circuit.

I think if you look at the light connections you can tell what wire belongs on what terminal because the plastic is clear.

Hope this helps
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