Dome lIght questions

I was recently gifted a great little 2003 Tacoma. I'm going through lighting updates now. I don't know about any modifications made before I was given it.

Can anybody confirm if the dome light should turn on when the door opens? I confirmed my dome light switch is set to door, however, the dome light only turns on with the door open if a key is in the ignition. Seems like it should open when I unlock and open the door. Needing to put a key in the ignition kind of defeats the purpose. I tested all of the doors and get the same results. Very unlikely that it is a door switch causing the issue in my opinion.

The dome light works when set to on. And like I mentioned before. The door mode seems to work when there is a key in the ignition. Door mode only doesn't work when there isn't a key in the ignition.

 

Looks like a problem with the Body ECU if I'm reading the pinout correctly, it should ground pin 9 on connector 1H anytime a door is open thus turning on the light.
Any aftermarket alarm systems installed?, that could be a factor as well.
Also look for signs of water intrusion.

 

I just figured out a major clue. I took out the LED upgrade bulb and put the regular old incandescent bulb back in. It started working as expected. Something is up with using LEDs on that switch. I do remember reading in another thread about needing a resistor in order to use LED bulbs in the dome. I didn't pay much attention to it since nobody else seemed to be saying that, but I think he may have been onto something. Can anybody verify that? I've never installed a resistor. Is it difficult?

 

Interesting I have LED dome and map lights in my 2nd gen and it's happy, I wonder what's different I would think the body ECU on a 1st gen wouldn't be "smart" enough to notice the different resistance of an LED.
It's not difficult to install a resistor just get the correct one and be careful where you put it because they can get quite hot.

 

Some people had to install resistors for their map lights too. In my case I think I only need the dome.

100 ohm 3 watt resistors seem to be what people are using in this thread. Will that cause more heat than the incandescent bulb that was in earlier?

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/led-dome-light-issue.585539/

 

It shouldn't, it would be dissipating around 140 mA or 2 watts of current at 14 volts so you should be good as long as it's not touching anything that could melt or burn.

Found another thread here but they were using 1 watt resistors, I think I'd use a 3 watt to be safe.

 

There needs to be some resistance in the dome bulb to trick the integration circuitry function properly. Basically, you just solder a resistor to each end of the LED bulb.

 

Thank you both for your advice. I appreciate it.

 

Welcome to TW

 

Just a follow up on LED dome lights, I can confirm that these from Amazon are full function (dimming etc) in the '01-'04 trucks. No need for adding resistors.

$11 Yorkim DE3022 LED Bulb 31mm Festoon LED Bulb White Super Bright CANBUS 10-SMD 4014 Chipsets, 3175 LED Bulb, DE3175 LED Bulb, 3022 LED For Car Interior dome map Lights, Pack of 4

Amazon.com: Yorkim DE3022 LED Bulb 31mm Festoon LED Bulb White Super Bright CANBUS 10-SMD 4014 Chipsets, 3175 LED Bulb, DE3175 LED Bulb, 3022 LED For Car Interior dome map Lights, Pack of 4 : Automotive