I recently made a mod to the interior lights in the back seat that I thought might be of help to some others. It seems my kids occasionally turn the switch to the "always on" position without my realizing it. Its very easy to not realize this in the daytime but I've luckily noticed it a few hours later before the battery has drained too far. When I set out to see how the "always on" position could be eliminated without affecting the "door open" setting I found it was surprisingly easy.

The rear lights have a single red wire (+12V) and a duplex connector with a black and a black/blue wire. The switch selects between two different grounds and the hot is always connected. The all black wire is always grounded and the black/blue wire is for all other functions. Disconnecting the all black wire will not allow the light to be turned on individually at any time. But, the black/blue wire will still allow the light to come on when a door is opened, or if the switch by the rearview mirror is used to turn on all lights.

The trick here is disconnecting only one wire of a duplex connector. The easy and dirty method is to cut the all black wire. I prefer to allow things to be reversible and there are two ways to go. The best way would be to use an extraction tool to bend the little locking lance back on the black wire contact allowing it to slide out of the housing. I don't know why but I couldn't get it to release so I made a very short jumper with crimp-on contacts to connect just the black/blue wire in the connector to its proper position in the light assembly. If I ever wanted to, I could restore the original light function in a couple minutes. Meanwhile, unless I use the switch up front and leave all the lights on, I know one of the rear lights cannot be left on to run down the battery. Switching the light to the former "always-on" position makes it an "always-off" position in case you don't want the light to shine when a door is opened.

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Mike H '93 854 '98V70

SHIT Howdy. THANKS!!! That is always happening to us.....but I notice with my Interstate battery it never drains down....but anyhow I think I'll do my car this weekend!! Thanks for the tip.
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Paul Seminara that Amsoil Guy