Right, so I'm about to install a small LED light bar in my car, and I want to hardwire it so that you can't see anything and so that I can turn it on and off with a button on the dash. I already know how I'm mounting it (should just fit above the rear-view mirror, but I won't be able to use the nifty mini sun-visor anymore) and how I'm running the wires, but I have a couple questions before i do all this and find out it won't work.

In a '98 a4, does the cigarette lighter circuit have power even when the ignition is off, or does it turn on and off with the ignition? (somebody aparantly found it amusing to put a fruit snack into mine and it has since become an inpenetrable mass of stickiness that I am unable to test)

Also, where can I get some extra buttons like the fog light buttons or the hazard button on the dash? I'd like to put a few in the faux-button places to make everything look stock.

 

cigarette lighter circuit has power all the time. Y don’t u connect your light to the front interior light, on my 2000 I have 3 different switches on the front at the top, take apart on of the lights and have it wired into it, it would be a lot easier. and how often do we really use all 3 interior lights… huh….

 

Yeah, not quite so easy as I just tore that all apart to reverse the polarity on the two map lights to mount some red LEDs in there.

I just figured I'd use the cigarette lighter circuit since it isn't being used for anything and the wires are some-what accessible.

I really want those switches, though, and I can't seem to find any... Where do people get the blank ones, or the ones that say ABS on them?

 

[] reverse polarity??? red LED???... r u shure u know whach u doin ??????????????????????
btw.... i have some underbody red light for sale… want it????

 

Yes, the only LED housing I could find to fit the socket didn't work because the polarity was backwards for them. They didn't work before I reversed the polarity, they work now, so I guess I did something right...

As for the underbody lights... No, sorry, never saw any point to them. I only did the red LEDs for map lights so that you wouldn't be able to see the lights from outside the car, which is pretty sweet. Plus there's no glare in the windshield with the lights on.

 

That sounds cool looking. Post a few pictures of it!!!

josh

 

once again… [talking slowly] cut the wires from your led light and connect it to one of the light switches (u have to take it apart first) on the top instead of running wires first to the cigarette lighter and then to your dash board for your new led light switch…. ok?

btw underbody lights was a joke
good luck with your project…

 

Yeah, i know what you're saying, but there's a mess of wires all covered with hot glue up there...

I ended up putting another switch next to the passenger side light button, though and tapped into some random wire with 12v constant on it that's aparantly on the same fuse as the map lights cause it blew a few times before I realized the problem was with the blue light wires touching.

It looks really cool though. I ended up just bolting it directly onto the mini sun-visor above the mirror and you can't see it from insde (except for the visor being down and a little bit of black on either side) or from the outside because it's behind that blue strip across the top of the windshield. It's probably just barely bright enough to catch somebody's attention during the day, but it lights up my entire street right now as the sun is setting.

I'll take some pictures tomorow when it's light out.


Right after I finished a friend called to tell me that he found me one of the buttons for the dash, too...

Anybody have any suggestions for that one? I'm thinking either brake light disabler or have that control the headlight washers separately from the windshield washers. There's gotta be something better than that, though...

 

why the hell would you want to disable your brake lights? that's gotta be illegal...

 

Probably, but haven't you ever not been able to beat a ticket in court because the cop says you "breaked hard" through the timing zone?

I don't know, I think I'll just start a new thread asking people what cool stuff I could do with it...