My roadster cargo area lamp does not work. I found the lamp in the right side of the cargo area but have not found where the switch is to turn the lamp on and off.

Can someone enlighten me?

Thanks

 

It turns on automatically when you open the door or trunk.... I believe that it also turns on when you manually turn on the map lights above the windshield....(I could be wrong)

 

trunk light switch i believe is located in the trunk latch area when you close the trunk light goes off

 

Sure we can enlighten you,
1, Is the bulb OK?
2, Any power at the socket?
3, Any power at the switch?
etc.

 

I'm changing my trunk light as well and my bulb is burnt out and I do have power to the socket. What I would like to check is if the switch is turning off the light when the trunk is closed. I don't think I can fit in the trunk. Some times the Germans over engineer things. I know you've heard that before, I didn't just make that up. I looked up the bulb on Osram Sylvania and the bulb number is 6418. The one I took out is a Phillips K25673. I know before I bought the car that it either had a dead battery or the battery was disconnected, so I would like to be able to check to see that the light is going off and not constantly draining the battery when not in use.

 

Well I guess you could put a multimeter (Amps) in line with the negative cable, engine off and see the drain when the trunk is open and if it goes down when the trunk is closed.

 

Roadster, huh ? Kinda hard to look thru the window then.
Here's an idea : put your cell in video mode - lay it on the trunk floor ( camera lens up ) and shut the lid.

 

I like that idea.

 

Yep, just because we're old, don't mean we're stupid

 

Speak for yourself.

 

I did think of the video idea and I think I will try it, but I have to buy a new bulb first. Talk about stupid. So what I just did was to open the trunk and with my finger tripped the latch as though it was closed and then I checked the socket and there was still power, so I waited a couple of minutes to see if it was on a delay like the dome lights (same fuse, same circuit) still power. I'll be buying a new bulb and a new 10A red fuse tomorrow. All this messing around I just blew my #9 10A fuse and I don't have a spare. When I bought the car there was a package of 15A fuses in the glove box, so I asked the seller what the fuses were for and he said he didn't know that they were there when he bought the car. I think the 15A fuses were bought by the original owner getting the car ready to sell and was trying to get the glove box light to light. At first I was chasing the glove box light but I did read in this forum that the glove box light only works when the key is ON. So anyway I checked that fuse and found that the glove box fuse was replaced and appears that it is the only one replaced.

 

First of all, the idea of putting your phone in the trunk to determine what the light is doing is brilliant. (But I already knew alaxfire was brilliant, he drives a RED XF.)

Second, I can't imagine the light is draining the battery, because the switch provides a signal to the BCM, same as the door switches, the BCM in turn turns the light on and off. Remember, the lights time out, and this is how it works - there is no direct connection between the switches and the lamps, it's all done by the BCM.

The dome and trunk lights (in a Roadster, anyway) go on and off together no matter WHAT door is opened, incluiding the trunk.

And I'll award my "Post of the Day" award for anyone who can find the damn swich in the trunk that turns the light on and indicates to the BCM that the top can be raised and lowered (it appears to be the same switch). I have NEVER found that damn switch.


EDIT: What I am saying (and I'm haveing a migraine attack so I can't see well) is that the switch in the trunk tells the BCM that the trunk in open, or partly open. It is this indication that causes the BCM to turn the lights on AND to prevent opening or closing of the top while the trunk is open or ajar.

 

RE: Pizzaguy

When I closed the latch with my finger, while the trunk was open, why didn't it trick the bcm into thinking the trunk was closed and I did wait a while to simulate a delay like the dome light?

 

[QUOTE=
And I'll award my "Post of the Day" award for anyone who can find the damn swich in the trunk that turns the light on and indicates to the BCM that the top can be raised and lowered (it appears to be the same switch). I have NEVER found that damn switch.
[/QUOTE]

OBOY, OBOY !!! I win the prize !!!
The switch is in the trunk latch.
1. open the trunk.
2. eyeball the light ( on, right ? )
3. push the little latchey thing till it clicks - light still on.
4. push on latchey thing again while also pulling up on the trunk release, it will then go to the 'locked' position, and the light will go out.
( pull the release and all will return to normal, shut the trunk )

 

RE: alaxfire

Good work, When I get my new fuse and bulb I'll test it out, not that I don't believe you. How did you find out, is it written in a service manual or something?

 

I found out the old fashioned way - I went to the garage, opened the trunk and figured it out.
It HAD to be in the latch - there were no other options, unless there were a mercury switch, and I thought that unlikely.
Also, the service manual mentions : "(TRUNK LATCH UNLOCK SIGNAL/TRUNK LATCH
LOCK SIGNAL)"

 

I told ya he was brilliant.

You will find that the service manual is very informative at times, and very FRUSTRATING at other times. I have printed out about 30% of it so far, amazing it's over 3800 pages long.



(And I'm taking your word for it, Alax - I don't have the emergency release anymore, I disabled it. But your post makes perfect sense, and I was suspecting such was the case, but had never proven it.)

 

CORRECTION!! I just bought the Sylvania 6418 bulb and it is to short. Most of the stuff I've been looking up on the internet crosses to the 6418 which is 41mm long and the Phillips bulb that came out of my trunk is 44mm long. The xf parts list says a C5W and when I look it up it references the 6418. So at the moment I don't know what the bulp number is.

 

Oh, the pain of keeping ones mouth firmly SHUT!!!

 

I finally got a bulb, it is a Wagner 17314, it was crossed with the Phillips 12866 number. It is about 1mm shorter than the Phillips I took out but it will work with a little bending, it flickered when I first put it in so I bent in the contacts a bit. The 6418 was actually about 37mm, way to short. I then did the video camera trick and it worked, the light goes out right-a-way.