Hi...

Just wondering if it's possible to mod the dome light so that it fades in/out when the engine is running (i.e. when you open the door when the engine is running, the dome light lights up softly (i.e. it brightens up from off until full brightness); when you close the door when the engine is running, the dome light dims/fades - I know our dome lights does this ONLY if the engine is not running). Yes, this dome light fading in/out is a feature on all late models BMWs and MBs - just thought it would be nice to have this feature in our TLs too.

Thanks in advance.

 

Any one?

 

our TL doesn't have that feature?? OMG i never realized that cux i put the dome light switch all the way to the off position, hahahaa
but I just found out even my dad's 98 sienna dome lights fades out even when the engine is on

 

Do a search and I think it is there - I just did this mod but I can't verify the engine running question you have as wifey has the car at the moment. I put two small lights up under the dash powered seperately (in series ended up very dim) from the third fuse down on the pass. side fuse box. It is labelled DOME LIGHT or something like that. You must use a special ground to get the dim down effect. In the search a guy took photos of the ground to tap. There is a green small connector just above and to the right of the fuse block, it has three plugs. The middle one is the one to tap. Run your two grounds to it and that should do it, the wire going in there is black and white. I have an '00 so there may be differences but I hope not. Good luck. Now my dome and floor lights dim down together, a nice touch.

 

the dome light fades for me in my tl and my accord when i close the door...

 

oh wiat nevermind...my bad..didnt read the engine running part.. but i dont see the point it that...

 

Damn. You must have every detail down on your car to be worried about this.

 

Well,

The reason that I brought this up is that at night, the interior is completely dark after I close the door when the engine is running. This is quite annoying because a lot of times, I may start the car to get it to warm up (yes, Toronto's winter is really bad), then get out to sweep the snow off the car. When I get back into the car and close the door, the dome light switches off right away, making the interior completely dark, which makes it difficult to find the car adaptor for my cell phone to plug in. What I have to do now is manually switch on the dome light, and when I'm done, switch it off.

I know this is *not* a lot of work to manually switch on/off the dome light...but, it would be nice if the interior light delays for even 1 second, then fade out to darkness over 3 or 4 seconds. (Yes the TL does this while the engine is not running, but in my situation, the engine is running.) This will give me more than enough time to plug in my cell phone.

Yes, MBs and BMWs do have it (even the Toyota Sienna has it too - as mentioned by a previous poster) - and it's a nice feature (I want this feature because it's useful, not because I want the TL to imitate MBs or BMWs). And no, I don't want to keep my door open to keep the dome light on because 1) it's a security issue (especially at night), and 2) it's really cold in Toronto, especially now (Winter)!

Now, why I also want the light to fade in as well (regardless of engine running or not)? Well, at night, after driving for a while, my eyes will be used to the dark environment (my pupils would have dilated). When I stop and get out of the car, the dome light comes on at full brightness, which can momentaily cause some discomfort to the eyes (until the pupils have been constricted) - it's even worse if you have those superwhite dome lights. Therefore, if the dome light can fade in over 3 or 4 seconds to full brightness, this discomfort to the eyes could be eliminated.

Yes, MBs and BMWs do have this feature too, but again, I want this feature not because it's "cool" or MB/BMW like, but because it serves a practical purpose.

Now, does any one know how to set this up for the TL's dome lights?

Let me know. Thanks in advance.

 

sorry. I shouldn't have given you any Sh!t. I just thought it was a lot of work for such a little gain.

As for the pupil adjusting, I swear mine take the longest to adjust when I go into a dark movie theatre. It seems other ppl can just walk around and fine their seat but I have to wait awhile so that I can see.

 

The dome light fading function is controlled by the passenger side multiplexing unit (or computer). It is virtually impossible to modify anything because all functions are already pre-programmed into the unit's microprocessor.

 

Speaking of which, I heard that those with dark eyes (dark brown mainly) have the worst night vision compared to those with less pigment in the eye.

I'm colorblind (red/green) with dark brown eyes so these, i'm sure, don't benefit me.