DIY - Glove Box Light Wiring 2013-on - $32.73

Many of you have seen that GM was kind enough to leave the wiring behind in 2012 Cruzen so you can just plug-n-play a glovebox light.

All of this is explained in the HOW TO: Install A Glove Box Light in 2012 Cruze by silverram323.

Of course, GM being GM, the wiring was deleted on 2013 and subsequent Cruzen. :$#angry:

After subscribing to Alldata I was able to find the information needed to install AND wire a Glove Box Light in 2013 on Cruzen following the factory specifications in terms of what wires to tap and connector to use. Of course, GM being GM, made this little project tremendously more expensive than what it needs to be if you go with all "GM" parts.

For instance...

Glove Box Lamp: 13503057 $8.99, (eBay, free shipping) :th_dblthumb2:
PT2838 Cab Light Wire Connector OEM: 13580951 $61.25 (eBay, $3.17 shipping) :dizzy:

Since I had already bought the lamp, (before figuring out the connector number and cost of same), I decided to continue on my quest for the elusive shining beacon of glove box light.

With a little bit of digging, (and detective work of puzzling out the OEM nomenclature), I was able to find that the connector that GM is so proud of can be procured from their supplier, TE Connectivity, for a much more affordable price of $0.30. (Mouser Part Number 571-1563189-1; DESC: MT 2, REC HSG,CODA TE Connectivity Automotive Connectors)

No... That is not a misprint. The $61.25 OEM Connector from GM only costs THIRTY CENTS! mg:

The pins that you need for this connector are also a bit pricey at $0.22. You will need 2. (Mouser Part Number 571-964263-2; DESC: MICRO TIM2 CONTACT TE Connectivity Automotive Connectors)

If you do buy the pins be aware that you need the special AMP crimper to make sure and not screw them up. Regular crimpers are a pain in the a** and usually end up folding them into miniature pretzels. Since I am tool fanatic I went ahead and splurged and bought one of these on Amazon.

You could also try to find the correct connecter with a pigtail from some other source, (*cough VW cough*), but I didn't have the time nor the inclination to go figure out which ones I needed, (even though I do have ETKA electronics parts catalog), and the pigtail would probably be too short anyway so I just ordered what fit the connector according to Mouser.

So now on to the fun stuff.

I will not repeat the previous HOW TO in terms of the actual installation of the lamp. (besides to state that I really hate the soft, gummy plastic that GM uses for the glove box. Almost impossible to make a clean hole for the switch.)

The alldata wiring diagrams are fuzzy at best but if you look at E27 Instrument Panel Compartment Light you can see that it pulls power from pin 2 of the X7 block connector of the K9 BCM.

Pin 2 is identified as Inadvertent Power Control with a White/Brown wire.

The X7 connector is shown here, (the pinout numbering is after you unplug the connector and look at it straight on), and to avoid aggravation I can tell you that it is the GREY plug in the last right position of the K9 BCM box.

After unplugging the X7 Connector and verifying that Pin 2 does have power I used a wire tap and peeled back the wire sheath to install the power wire, (doesn't matter which wire you use on the connector to the lamp but if you want to be pedantic Pin 1 is power and Pin 2 is Ground), I had already prepared and run from the Glove Box Light down to the BCM, (that is located behind the passenger side kick panel).

Once the power was connected I installed a ring terminal to the ground wire and installed it on an instrument panel bolt to complete the circuit.

Plug every thing back in to the BCM and.....

Plug in the lamp.

Bob's you Uncle! :clap: