How-To: Rear Hatch Dome Light

If you've seen my mods, you'd know so far it's been mostly light related to help out when I load my car at night. This modification is yet another rear cargo area lighting mod, this time adding an OEM dome light into the hatch/liftgate, turning it on when the hatch is opened. Difficulty is a 2/5, some hard wire routing and rear interior panels have to come off. Takes about 1.5 hours start to finish.

Tools: 8mm, pry tool, Dremel or small saw, crimp/strippers.

Materials: OEM dome light, marker, wire taps, ring terminals, ~27 ft (3 runs of ~9 ft, I used 4 conductor wire), Back strap, screws/bolts

Step 1: Remove the rear hatch interior plastic, rear dome light, rear ceiling plastic, and driver side rear hatch opening plastic. You'll need to remove 2x 8mm bolts inside the rear dome light, and 1 inside the driver side rear hatch opening plastic. Note: I also have installed a rear door handle, which is the cable hanging in the left of this picture.

Step 2: Mark and cut the hole for the new dome light. The light hole measures 4" x 2.25". This is slightly larger than truly needed, we will use strapping to hold it in. Just make sure it won't hit any components, and you can place this hole wherever. I chose opposite the interior handle I installed.

Step 3: Mount the light. Bend the strap into a very wide U-shape to brace against the plastic around it. Here, we will also install a ring terminal on the screw hole which has the grounding terminal baked into the housing. That way, the light will get a ground to be able to turn on at any time. Additionally, the 2 outermost pins of the light need wires connected and ran into the car. (green and white here)

Step 4: Run the wire! It will go up the driver side of the hatch, through the grommet in the hinge, into the ceiling, and over to the rear dome light. Once the wire is run, you can re-mount the hatch interior plastic.

Step 5: Reassemble the rear interior, with the wires hanging out of the rear dome light hole. When attaching the dome light, just like the hatch light, be sure to attach the ground of the hatch light to the ground of the rear dome light with a ring terminal under the bolt that attaches and grounds the rear dome light to the ceiling. Tap the 2 wires feeding the rear dome light to the wires you ran to the hatch light.

All done! Slap the cover back on the dome light and enjoy your increased rear lighting! If you've done it right, the hatch light should turn on with the rear hatch opening, and allow you to turn the light on at any time with the hatch closed. This mod is also compatible with the dual dome light mod, allowing it to turn on with any door being opened.