How To: Door Actuated Map Light Install

Well I'm on my way to being done with this. Dash cam, lighted key ring, door actuated map light, and a new stereo. Only spliced in at the a pillar once on the black wire and once on the black/white wire.

Found three connectors behind the dash that were taped back not in use. Thinking some may have to do with my truck possibly being wired for a rear diff lock, as they are the right length to reach the switch blank. One connector was really random with a single pin and a black/white wire.



Tried to make my second wire to the map light go through the OEM male plug but learned that the single wire plugs aren't identical (won't fit) to the double wire plugs. Even though my stock single wire plug had a slot for that second wire. So that wasted a good amount of time.

 

that black 2 prong is a unused connector.. its for a rheostat that never actually ended up in any tacomas.

 

Interesting. After some searching I determined the factory diff lock switch is a 5 pin white connector with one unused pin. So that means I'm partially wired for a rear locker. Would still need an ECU and harness to the axle. Oh and the whole new axle...

 

the dash harnesses are all very much the same... for ease. i mean my base model tundra was wired for power everything (including heated mirrors) but it had manual everything... install the extra harnesses to the dash harness and your pretty much done

(the 02 taco appears to be wired for J shift ADD all i need is a transmission relay and the harness from the ECU to the transfercase

 

What are the black controls on the center of this part? I need a dark gray to match my 96 interior. This should still work on a 96 Extra cab 4X4 DLX? What would be a part # for this part? What would be a part number for the lighted key ring?

 

Another tan one for sale!
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/3-button-door-actuated-maplight-tan.672504/

 

Thank you thank you thank you OP for this write up! This should be stickied if it isn't already.

Question though what led bulbs do you recommend that would work with the map lights? The ones I have when I install them..they don't come on, only the oem halogen ones do. Please let me know.

 

I have no clue as I dont like the harshness of LED's unless its behind the gauge cluster. But I do know that if an LED is used in the door switch circuit it will need a resistor in series with it to work.

 

Blue92, thank you so much for the walk through. I just managed to install my new found three switch. All thanks to the walk through help. I did freak out after the install briefly when I was testing the light without screwing it in. Then I figured out it needed to ground out. Much appreciated!

 

Could someone get some measurements for me? Or approximate?

• the width of the holes for the map lights
• the distance of each hole left and right from the center

I want to do this to my 01 reg cab that only has the single dome light up front. I will have to cut the holes in the headliner. I'm guessing wiring should actually be easier since my "door" light is already up front there.

 

It's probably 3" on each side. If I remember correctly. I.just made a cardboard template.

 

On my '04 I thnk I recall you can feel where to cut as being already stamped out of the metal behind the headliner. I think I followed the metal stamp-out as a perfect template. Been a few years so I could be wrong

 

It looks like there is a small 2-wire harness that plugs into the back of the mirror, do I need to source a unit that has the harness and pigtails, or is this possible without it? Thanks for the write up!

 

Great mod to finish in a day. Do yourself a favor though and do NOT remove the small screw on the back of the mirror itself. I thought I’d disassemble whatever I could to clean it and didn’t realize that screw holds a cupped washer that puts pressure on the ball socket of the mount. Over three hours wasted just fiddling to get it back seated and I only partially succeeded, it’s nearly impossible to get back into place and reinsert the ball socket. I may just buy a brand new mirror unit and swap it in. That said, coming from no map lights from factory, this is an awesome upgrade with the door switch as a bonus. The gray is a bit darker than the Tacoma interior but still looks fitting.

 

I made that same mistake. Unless you're a wizard you won't be able to get the plate inside the hooks by just rattling it around until the screw hold is visible. I have a disassembled one without the glass but it's in the attic. If need be I'll pull it out, just let me know.

• What I did was got a long casserole dish, a pot of hot, almost boiling water, and fill up the dish.
• Submerge the mirror for a good minute or two to let the plastic soften up - it's a friction fit that surrounds the glass.
• Get a plastic pry tool like a spudger and slide it in one of the edges and pry it up. You might need two in order to slowly work the glass out. Be aware that if you scrape the back side of the glass, you'll ruin the mirror coating in that area - it's VERY thin and cannot be repaired unless you go to a special mirror place.
• Once the glass is out, put the metal plate in and make sure you can flip the switch back and forth.
• Then you just heat the plastic back up in the water and slide the glass in. I can't remember if I did the top or bottom corner, but one was easier than the other.

Otherwise, a 3rd gen 4runner uses the exact same mirror but the anti-glare coating might not be in as good of shape as yours is since they tend to peel.

 

Great tips! Appreciate the insight, I was trying to pop the glass out but it felt like it was impossible to do so which makes sense that you had to heat it up.

I basically ran into the issue of not being able to get the two prongs on the metal washer to align into their respective holes while having the actual mirror socket in place. I got it reseated without the mirror installed, but it is impossible to push the mirror back in just due to how the plastic ball socket is shaped. My eventual solve was to get the washer as loose as I could without dropping it out again, and shaving off a bit of both sides of the plastic ball socket, and I eventually managed to push in the mirror and retighten. I ended up losing a little bit of the tightening power of the plastic socket that way, but it still holds firm enough to not move. Was kicking myself for hours for that..

I had a though that I know Toyota still sells new map lights sans door switch, so I’m curious if you were to buy the cover and cut out the hole for the door switch if it would pop right in place the same.