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I've wanted (for a while now) to install puddle lights on my mazda3. I already have these on 2 of my other cars, but the only thing holding me back was the more "modern" way that the mazda 3 monitors the door latch to know if the doors are open or closed.
On my 2 other cars, the door latch is just a switch , which allows path to ground with the door open. It's easy to use this with an LED circuit. If the door is open, the latch will have a ground, so you can wire it hot all of the time, and it can be tapped into the door latch circuit for a ground only when the door is open.
On the mazda 3, it is opposite. The latch is constantly grounded when the door is closed, so this won't work.
I ended up using mosfet transistors that observe the voltage at the latch and allow current flow if the door latch trigger voltage is high (when a door gets opened).
Video here:
On my 2 other cars, the door latch is just a switch , which allows path to ground with the door open. It's easy to use this with an LED circuit. If the door is open, the latch will have a ground, so you can wire it hot all of the time, and it can be tapped into the door latch circuit for a ground only when the door is open.
On the mazda 3, it is opposite. The latch is constantly grounded when the door is closed, so this won't work.
I ended up using mosfet transistors that observe the voltage at the latch and allow current flow if the door latch trigger voltage is high (when a door gets opened).
Video here:
