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2015 Chevy Malibu LS Ambient Lighting

6.7K views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  DrivenDaily  
#1 ·
Ok so I have a specific question. I know that the upper trim levels with the mylink options have the ambient lighting strips in the dash and doors. The LS does not come with that, however I was able to obtain all of the lighting strips from my local salvage yard and was wondering if the LS trim levels were prewired for the ambient lighting. If not then I was just planning on tapping into the backlighting for the radio etc, can anybody tell me which wires power the backlighting?
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
It's not going to be easy. I don't have a diagram but here's a description of how it works.
With the headlamp switch in the PARK or HEAD position, the park lamp switch signal circuit provides an input to the body control module (BCM). The BCM responds by applying voltage to the park lamps as well as the backlight dimming control circuits illuminating all components with interior backlighting. All interior backlighting turns ON at the dimming level indicated by the instrument panel (I/P) dimmer switch. The instrument panel (I/P) dimmer switch is a momentary type switch and utilizes a resistor ladder to increase and decrease the brightness of the interior backlighting components. The I/P dimmer switch provides a voltage signal to the BCM that will increase as the brightness of the lights are increased and decrease as the brightness of the lights are decreased. The BCM provides a low reference signal and a B+ circuit to the I/P dimmer switch. When the I/P dimmer switch is held in the desired position, the dimmed voltage setting is applied from the I/P dimmer switch through the I/P dimmer switch signal circuit to the BCM. The BCM interprets the signal and applies a pulse width modulated (PWM) voltage through the backlighting control circuits illuminating the interior backlighting to the requested level of brightness.
Ok, thanks for that info but how does that help me in this case? The ambient lighting pieces all come with the plugs and everything. They are very similar to EL Wire with one LED powering a fiberoptic tube. So are you saying I wont be able to tap into the backlighting wires that power the radio or hvac controls? Because I was able to do install EL wire on my Volkswagen GTI by tapping into the window switch backlighting wires. So im also guessing that the LS models aren't prewired for the ambient light?