[TNT89Bronco]

I spent all day reupholstering the headliner and painting all the trim pieces black. (looks SHARP) The PO had removed the foam board and headliner and I was replacing it with one from a JY ($15).

Anyway, when I went to remove the dome light, the black connectors that are attached to the power wires fell apart when I touched them. Alll that is left is a threaded insert and a little bit of plastic holding it onto the wire.

I know that one of the three screws attaches to the roof, and is the ground. The other two screws on the dome light attach to the threaded connector and provide power to the map lights and dome light. I assume the part of the plastic piece that fell apart somehow mechanically attached to the roof and helped to hold the dome light to the roof securely. I can see two little square cutouts, where I assume the connectors must somehow lock into.

First- are my assumptions correct and do I understand the way it attaches to the roof?

Second - If so, where can I get the connectors?

Third- if I can't get the connectors, how should I go about securely attaching the dome light to the roof and getting power to map and dome lights?

Thanks!

 

[mickaila]

first: yep, horrible design IMO.
second: junk yard
third: rewire it

 

[SwJeff]

^THIS

A pretty crappy design.

 

[EzPc]

I just had this happen doing the interior dome light upgrade from a Super Duty. What I did was pre-thread the 2 connectors to the 2 screws, then attache the light with the third screw. That will hold it up in place for the next part. Now the tricky part is to old the connector from spinning while you tighten the screw. I did mine by applying upward pressure where the square connector, or what is left of it jammed into the cut outs in the roof. It is not pretty but when I was done the dome lights worked... good luck

 

[TNT89Bronco]

I am lucky enough to have a running and operational donar vehicle ('89 XLT 351W/C6) that I paid someone $500 for while on their way to taking it to Pick n Pull, and I checked for the black connectors that mount in the ceiling above the dome light. They are in real good condition and I want to move them into my DD. The only issue is that I do not know how to remove them from the ceiling. I am sure that there is some sort of locking plastic tab, but I can not seem to find it in the narrow space above the cab. I don't want to force them and break them, because now I am back in the same boat.....any advice on how to remove them?

Thanks!

 

[justin]

On the newer plastic dome lights (I'd recommend upgrading to one if you have not already), there is an option is power them using a harness, instead of powering through three mounting screws using the threaded wire ends.

I haven't noticed any pattern as to which vehicles use the mounting screws and which use the harness plug, but I'm fairly sure I have a few laying around and if I can find them, you can have one for the cost of putting it in a padded envelope and mailing it to you (about $2).


If you're interested in a newer style dome light, send me a PM of what color you want and I'll include a harness plug. I do them for $16 shipped.

 

[TNT89Bronco]

I tried to pull the fastener/wires from my donar vehicle, but it is impossible to remove them from the mounting spaces in the roof. I ended up breaking both of them. I even went to the JY and tried to get some from vehicles there. Those broke as well.

Getting the wires connected to the dome light isn't so much of a problem, but mechanically supporting it and attaching it firmly to the roof is an issue.

If anyone has faced this problem and conquered it, I would appreciate it. I don't want to have to have the light supported by just the one ground screw.

 

[justin]

No room anywhere for a self tapping screw. There is plenty of space in the actual roof for it.

 

[TNT89Bronco]

Here is how I ended up fixing my problem......I ended up by buying a $10 pair of metal snips and heading back to the pick-n-pull to get a couple of the connectors. I took the cutters and snipped on each side of the connector and then too a pair of pliers and bent the entire section down, so that I could get at all sides of the connector. Once I could reach and see all sides, it was pretty easy to take a small screw driver and depress the locking tab, thus allowing the connector to rotate down and out of the opening. Once both of these were free, I uncoupled the connector from the bundle of wires behind the driver's seat belt and pulled the entire assembly out of the opening in the roof.

Now all I have to do is splice the connectors or run the wires down to behind the seatbelt and insert the connectors into the openings and screw on the new dome light.

Whoever designed that connect ought to be taken out and ..... Well, you get the idea.