I wanted to add some white SMD strip lights in the trunk for extra lighting. I was going to add one of those 4 pin relays that I used for the audio.

I found the two wires that power the trunk light. One is solid orange, the other is white with blue strips.

I looked in the Haynes manual and in the car's original manual and even online (In a hurry, since it was getting dark pretty fast) to try to find the wiring diagram. It seems that the Haynes manual had a diagram for most everything EXCEPT for the trunk light. So I went with my gut, and cut the orange wire (Assuming it was positive.)

The half of the wire coming from the from of the car I wired to used as the signal turn on switch for the relay. The half of the wire going to the trunk light I spliced in with the positive cables running to the other SMD strips.

I don't have a relay yet, so I couldn't test anything... But does it sound like I did it right?

 

you can look elsewhere in the haynes manual for color coding for lighting - it's usually consistent.

so you just want the LED strips to turn on with the trunk light? you don't need a relay to add LED strips. you can replace the trunk bulb with ~100 LED strips and use the same power.

 

Well, I want the original bulb two come on, too. And I'll most likely add two or three more strips later, since they aren't that bright. Would I need the relay for, say, five strips and the original trunk bulb?

 

you wouldn't need the relay for what you plan. you're not adding any significant load. besides, if you needed a relay, you'd need a separate feed from the battery to power the new load. the connection to the factory wiring would just be for control.

but why keep the original bulb? the white LED strips i have are much brighter that the factory lamp. maybe you just need better/brighter LED strips (5mm not SMD)?

the typical 5mm LED requires 10-20mA of current each. the typical incandescent courtesy lamp requires 500mA-2A (depending on wattage). the factory lighting wiring is typically good for 5-7 Amps.

you can always verify the additional current with your DMM.

 

The bulb I have now is a blue LED bulb. I kinda like how it mixes with the white lights. But I probably wont use it. I'll get 2 or 3 more LED strips and wire them like you said.

 

if the bulb you have now is also LED, then you're fine to add more LED's and keep it. I assumed you still had an incandescent bulb.

 

Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention that. Lol. Thanks. This is going to make the job a lot easier. I can do it in just a couple of minutes when I get back home tomorrow.

 

UPDATE: Got back home today and went out to wire up the trunk LED strips.

Went ahead and spliced them in with the trunk light positive (So I assume the solid orange cable is positive and the on with the stripe is negative). Connected the cables together, opened up the trunk to see how bright it was and...

*drum role*

The LED lights weren't on. Neither one of them. The trunk light came on, but that's it. So I took them back out and tested them using the cars battery directly. They worked. So I thought "Well, maybe I messed up, I'll try it again"

Know FOR SURE that BOTH lights do work, I redid everything. Went to check it... And once again, the LEDs didn't come on, but the other light did.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention... I didn't use the trunk lights ground for the LEDs. I mde my own ground so I didn't have to cut into another wire.