Installing Door Panel Lights from an older Marquis

[Fast Jag]

ok, I just recently went to a Junkyard that has a lot of cars that somewhat match mine... though I am jealous with some of the interior these brokendown cars have compared to mine. my doors don't have lights installed behind the door handles and some of the same make cars there have lights installed on their doors... by all means that says I don't have any wiring ready for the new door handle covers with lights on them. they fit perfectly and look nicer than the previous covers with tan leather (the new ones have Mohagany "woodgrain" texture with light bulb covers)

getting the light to work isn't really a problem but it would just be nice to get them to do what they are supposed to do.

to put everything in a few words...
"Where do I connect the lights to in the car"

[87_crown_vic]

the arm rests you pulled are probably from newer versions. i would see about if there is wiring in the door for it, or if you could run a wire to the light switch that engages the lights when you open the door. i have noticed that aa lot of these cars came with wiring, that way if somebody wanted a different option they could install at the dealer.

[drock96marquis]

You can ground them right to the door shell, the ground will be stong enough for as small of a current that these will pull.


If you have NO illuminated switches in your door panel, run a wire to the dash, to the nearest backlit switch, the radio, hvac controls or even the lighter's illuminated ring.

If you DO have some illuminated switches in your door, just run the postive wire to that existing, fused, illumination feed.



I did the same thing in my Marquis, I wanted mine to be illuminated like our town car

[Fast Jag]

the arm rests you pulled are probably from newer versions. i would see about if there is wiring in the door for it, or if you could run a wire to the light switch that engages the lights when you open the door. i have noticed that aa lot of these cars came with wiring, that way if somebody wanted a different option they could install at the dealer.

but all of the wiring in my doors lead to the the Electric Locks and Electric Windows, but like you said I can try to figure out how to run the wiring to the switch on the driver side by running it along with the rest of the wires.

and if I do that, Would the doors trigger the new lights on if one of the doors open?

[drock96marquis]

Wait, are you talking about illuminated door handles or courtesy lights?

Illum door handles should be on anytime the park or headlamps are on (tap of illumination feed wiring)

Courtesy lights should only come on with door open - see if any exisitng wiring is present otherwise run wire to nearest courtesy/dome lamp.

[Fast Jag]

You can ground them right to the door shell, the ground will be stong enough for as small of a current that these will pull.


If you have NO illuminated switches in your door panel, run a wire to the dash, to the nearest backlit switch, the radio, hvac controls or even the lighter's illuminated ring.

If you DO have some illuminated switches in your door, just run the postive wire to that existing, fused, illumination feed.



I did the same thing in my Marquis, I wanted mine to be illuminated like our town car

the Illuminated switches may not help the lights to trigger on and off when the doors open and shut, but you just gave me an idea with those switches.

[Fast Jag]

Wait, are you talking about illuminated door handles or courtesy lights?

Illum door handles should be on anytime the park or headlamps are on (tap of illumination feed wiring)

Courtesy lights should only come on with door open - see if any exisitng wiring is present otherwise run wire to nearest courtesy/dome lamp.

they are courtesy lights, I can try to find the wire that goes to the dome light and share it with the courtesy lights if that doesn't stress the dome out

[saiyaneye]

Drock I like your idea with the lights by the handles! I need to upgrade my lights under the dash, and I would like to put something for the back seat floor area so when I am looking for crap I drop through the seat at night time I can actually find it .

White LED Strips for under the dash, and those LED bulbs that replace in our sockets are what I would be going with.

[FatNasty]

First of all to GMN! Finally, i'm not the only member on the site from Idaho!

I'm assuming you are talking about the LS door panels that look almost exactly the same as the ones you have now, but with the light and wooden looking part in the armrest instead of the colored plastic part. I upgraded to those door panels, and unfortunately they dont just plug into anything. I did find a harness in the door to hook the light into, but the wire ended near the emergency brake pedal. That wire, and the wire from the other door goes into a little box (in cars that have that option) that is the illuminated entry switch or something. It would be located above the gas pedal in the car that those door panels came from. I'm pretty sure using that box involves a lot more wiring and switches though. If you just want the door lights to come on when you turn on the dome light or open the door though, i would think it would be easiest to just tap into the wiring for the dome light. I havent exactly finished this project yet so i cant say for sure though, but that was my plan.

[86GmLsCoupe]

From what FatNasty said, the wiring should be present as is usually the case on these cars. I'm thinking that if you go to the junkyard you can pick up the courtesy light module (guessing the name). I'll try and get a pic of the diagram on here so you can see what I mean. That should be all you need for the door lights, plus you can add the lighted door locks if you don't already have those (since you'll be in the door already). This way, you don't have to worry about stressing the dome, adding the module shouldn't be much more work if any, than if you ran wires from the dome (dropping the headliner, pillar trim, ect.), you get the delayed shutoff, and can add the lighted locks.

[Fast Jag]

I never thought of that but that would be cool. but the wiring isn't set for the Courtesy lights, the only wire that isn't plugged is a factory speaker connector

but right now I'm setting up new wires for the door speakers and damn, I never thought it would be so painful to get a 16 gauge wire through the wiring holes in the door

[86GmLsCoupe]

You can certainly do it, you just need to gather the parts and have some patience. I know what you mean about running wires to the doors though. I added the ashtray lights that the Lincolns have and fed it from the unused light socket behind the digital clock. I took some pics from the book of the Illuminated entry system for you. Hope that helps you some.

[Fast Jag]

haha i just made some fancy electric dice on my mirror light up when the head lamps are on

those diagrams will be very helpful, thanks for the great effort!

[86VickyLX]

I have a wire harness that doesn't attach to anything. Could there be some harness that attaches to that to make a light?

[86GmLsCoupe]

Glad I could help. 86VickyLX, are you talking about a harness in the door or somewhere under the dash? Likely you have some or maybe all the wires you need for the lighting, but that's just a guess. But it seems the Illuminated Entry system is fairly simple. For each door, there is a wire for the lock led, latch trigger switch (both near the back/latch area), and the armrest light socket (middle of door). Does your harness have one of those ID tags, like a white piece of tape with some numbers on it, that will help you identify it.