Is it me, or does a 2012 XJL Supersport not have a light under the hood? Can one be easily added it not?

 

Gagman66, you are correct in there is no light under the hood. Granted, I can't think of a modern day car that has one from the factory. Most likely deemed a "no longer needed accessory" due to fewer and fewer people working on their own cars.

Can you add one after the fact. Of course. The big things to ponder is how big of a light do you need (how bright), how is it going to turn on, and where you are going to mount it. Might seem obvious questions, but some people don't think these out before taking on a job.

As for a mounting location, I would think something like this (2x Super Bright White Car COB LED Lights -DRL Fog Driving Lamp Waterproof DC 12V | eBay) could easily be mounted say a foot up from where the hood touches the cowl by the windshield. This should provide enough light and be far enough back that most of the engine bay will be lit up. The only negative I can see with this is because it is LED based, the longevity under the hood due to temperatures is questionable (LEDs do not like heat). This light pretty well answers the first and last questions asked above.

Now, for the part that is going to be very difficult to answer without some trial and error. Wiring it up to work is easy. there is a jump post under the hood/bonnet that you can obtain power from. Next you have to ask how you want it to turn on. You can make it simple and mount a toggle switch to flip it on and off and tuck that away somewhere, but the fear is that if the switch gets accidentally hit, you may not figure it out until you go to start the car and find the battery dead. Then you have a push style button that would actually be opened as you close the hood. That way, as you open the hood, this light would be switched on. The problem I see with this is most likely you would end up drilling a hole through the edge of the engine bay. Because you have an aluminum body but a steel case for the switch, in a few years you are going to have a corrosion issue due to dissimilar metals which is going to lead to a host of other issues.

The final thing that has to be pondered is I have found with my car that it gets fussy if you use the car with the engine not running and drain the battery even a little bit. I have seen it throw random codes (seems to like to throw up a "dynamic suspension fault" or a "P0101" code). So, if you power the light off of the car, how much work time do you really have? This would be affected by the power if the light and the age of the battery.

So, with all of this being said, while it is possible to do, I see some negatives that make it not as desireable to do. But, with that being said, I used something like this (2 Pack 24+3 LED Flashlight Work light Camping Outdoor Lamp Magnet Hook Bundle) at work and these work great, throw out a fair bit of light, and have a hook to them so you can attach them to the hood of the car to allow work. This is the best answer that I can really come up with. Then you simply need to keep the light in the glove box so when you need to work on the car, it is available.

 

So, with all of this being said, while it is possible to do, I see some negatives that make it not as desireable to do. But, with that being said, I used something like this (2 Pack 24+3 LED Flashlight Work light Camping Outdoor Lamp Magnet Hook Bundle) at work and these work great, throw out a fair bit of light, and have a hook to them so you can attach them to the hood of the car to allow work. This is the best answer that I can really come up with. Then you simply need to keep the light in the glove box so when you need to work on the car, it is available.[/QUOTE]



Thanks. I already have a couple of those....done!