Let there be (dome) light

One of the first things I noticed was that the dome light didnt work. It seemed like a quick job to get the ball rolling. When I pried the dome light out of the headliner I soon realized why it didnt work: it came apart in my hands. The plastic was old and brittle, and the switch had come unmounted from the shell of the fixture.

This lamp is the 3 terminal variety: 12V on one side, with a three position switch on the other. It switches between a permanent ground (on), disconnected (off), and the door sensor (on when open, off when shut). Some varieties have two wire terminals while making use of the metal roof as the permanent ground connection.

I ordered a new dome light from http://www.jbugs.com/. I was going to wire up an led to replace the incandescent bulb, but soon realized someone had done my work for me. They make this wonderful 16 LED array in a package meant fit in the springloaded lamp holder.

old vs new

A quick swap of the slide terminals and its back in working order. Now I can see the interior when its dark.