door light switches for dome (interior) light

[jfd3604]

Does anyone know how to wire the door switches to activate the dome light to come on when you open a door? I have the switches but there is no wiring inside the door jamb where the hole is for the switch at least I haven't found it.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by jfd3604

Does anyone know how to wire the door switches to activate the dome light to come on when you open a door? I have the switches but there is no wiring inside the door jamb where the hole is for the switch at least I haven't found it.

There will be a small hole in the kick panel above and behind the emergency brake pedal assembly. See if the wire is there. It will be a small white wire. There should be one on the passenger side too. If you don't see the wires then someone probably removed the wire loom. If I remember correctly the wires from each side are crimped together at the fuse block and plug into a wire harness there. Let us know what you find.

LockDoc

[jfd3604]

thanks i will look for those wires.

[67ChevyRedneck]

If I remember right, 67's, or early 67's did not have them. If your cab does not have a flat bump out at the front of the door jam where you would normally expect to find the switch, you won't find the wiring either. My truck does not have them.

[jfd3604]

My truck is a 71 and the hole is there to mount to switch but on the wiring diagram i have there is no reference to this switch. Thanks for the information.

[magicoolbus]

Do a search in the electrical section. Lots of info on this subject. Courtesy lights and dome lights are not like the other lights in the truck. The white wire is ground and the orange is the power. The headlight switch is the best place to find the correct wires. Both orange and white terminate here. The orange wire also provides power for the brake lights I believe.

[Hawghauler]

On my '67, the orange and white wire run down the drivers side next to the hi/lo beam switch. The orange is a constant power to the dome light and this should be left alone.

The ground is how the dome light is controlled.

The white wire is the ground for the dome light.

You can connect to the ground wire anywhere and make a completed ground and the dome will light up. The switches are designed to complete a ground,(You'll notice only one connection on the switch) so all you have to do is spice into the white wire while leaving the original connection intact, and attach it to the switch. When you open the door, the switch automatically grounds out, making the dome light turn on. Only the white(ground) wire goes to the door switch, the orange wire remains untouched.

For the passenger side, you need to run another ground wire to the same white wire. You could run a ground wire under the dashboard or under the carpet, from the passenger switch and connect it to the same wire you connect the driver's door switch. Or you can connect to the white wire at the dome light and fish a single wire from there (in the opposite direction as the original wiring) and connect to the door switch.

In a nutshell: Ground out that white wire anywhere and the light will turn on.

[jfd3604]

Thanks everyone for the information. I should have a lot of time to work on it this weekend. Rain Rain Rain.

[Mayo]

I'd like to add a set of switches to my truck eventhally, I've always thought that was a nice feature.

[jfd3604]

Thanks everyone for the information. Got my lights working last night for some reason on my truck it ended up being the orange wire not the white. Figures that out after I blew a fuse and then put a meter on it and the white was getting the 12V not the orange. Spliced into the orange with 2 wires run from the switches on each door and they both work. Thanks again everyone!

[Classic Heartbeat]

That is the dome lamp extention harness. We sell them, correct factory reproductions no splicing necassary. WES