12v power supply on doors

[jstar]

Hey guys,

was wondering if there was a 12v power supply in the doors of a mk2 forte multispace (05 plate)... planning on hooking leds into the door pockets! if not would it be an easy job to get it there? as ideally only want them on when doors open - might be too distracting if they're always on!

cheers

[jericlin]

Just been looking at circuit diagrams and think about the same question. 99.9% sure that the 12 volt live feeds into the doors cannot be used for anything other than their intended purpose. vis :-
Central locking live feed only live when operating locking motor.
Electric windows, again feed only live when winding up or down.
Electric Mirrors - Control again feeds only live when adjusting and demisting only live when rear window heater being used.
Door speakers, Don't even think about it.

You could get power into the doors by feeding a live cable through a protective sleeve between the door and the A post or wheel arch. This would require drilling , paint protection to the raw metal edges etc. There are some plastic grommets ? fitted to door and A post but what for, and whats behind them I do not know and hidden somewhere are the courtesy light door switches. They could be proximity switches behind the " Grommets ".
One may be able to fit another pin and socket in the loom coupler between the door and A post. That may be easier said than done, they may be available as spares or have to to be carefully stripped out of an identical pair of couplers from a scrap yard.On the other hand the couplers may be sealed shut once assembled, I have not looked.

What ever you do in adding additional electrical kit, you must be sure that the original cable is capable of taking a greater load. The car manufacturer will only use the lightest cable that is capable of carrying the intended load. eg rear light cables are capable of supplying only the rear lights, not rear lights and trailer lights together.
trailer lights have to be feed by new fused supply from battery via a relay switched by lighting circuit.

If you want to put leds in door pocket you could use rechargeable batteries ( !0 at 1.2 Volts ) or alkaline ( 8 at 1.5 volts ) in battery holders ( Maplin ) and a switch !

[jstar]

thanks jericlin!
Have been looking at length for what to do with this, and have decided to not try anything!

[Ol'Jeffers]

FWIW I believe that the courtesy light switch is part of the door lock.

[jericlin]

Hi :wave:

I had heard the same, but have not checked it right through tudy:, but I would suspect that if it is, it would be a switch to earth in the same way as the interior light switches mounted on the door frame in other vehicles.
My other thought was to see if spare pins fitted or could be retro fitted in the door "plug and socket" connection :whistle:

cheers alut:

Jericlin