Electrical Dome Light Will Not Shut Off When Door Closed

GoldenEagle91 · Jan 22, 2014

Hi guys,

I just installed a new bulb in the dome light socket today because there previously wasnt one and I shut my door and look in the car and the light remained on for more than 30 seconds. Because I didn't want to go and try to start a car that had a dead battery tomorrow I opted to pull the bulb out so that it didn't sit on all night. I know that there is a switch that lets the dome light know when to be on versus when to be off. I suspect this could be my problem but wanted to see what you guys might know. Please drop me a line so I can move towards figuring this out.

Thanks
Andrew

89oem · Jan 22, 2014

Ive experienced this, it may be simple; the dimmer dial on the lower dash has an always on setting I believe if you roll it all the way to right it has a slight click which is always on try rolling it the other direction if its not that you may have a short somewhere...

GoldenEagle91 · Jan 22, 2014

89oem said:
Ive experienced this, it may be simple; the dimmer dial on the lower dash has an always on setting I believe if you roll it all the way to right it has a slight click which is always on try rolling it the other direction if its not that you may have a short somewhere...

I checked that and it still remained on after I turned it all the way to the right. The switch on the bottom in the door frame seems shot to me. Would replacing that be a good place to start and how often do those fail? Mind you this is a 79 that did have some saggy doors prior to me owning it so I don't know if that could have damaged it.

2000xp8 · Jan 22, 2014

I've had the plunger switch fail on the hatch, so i see no reason it wouldn't fail on the door.
Disconnect it and find out.

89oem · Jan 22, 2014

I think right turns it on... set it in the muddle.... try depressing each door switch with your finger may even be both... so try one at a time then wedge one depressed and press down the other one. once you find which make sure its
contacting the door "plate" right... after that its multi meter time... someone on here should have a wiring schematic they can share...

rbohm · Jan 22, 2014

definitely check the door switch, like anything mechanical they fail from time to time. also check the dome light fixture for a switch that might be in the wrong position. for instance my taurus the switch has three positions, on, off, and door.

GoldenEagle91 · Jan 22, 2014

89oem said:
I think right turns it on... set it in the muddle.... try depressing each door switch with your finger may even be both... so try one at a time then wedge one depressed and press down the other one. once you find which make sure its
contacting the door "plate" right... after that its multi meter time... someone on here should have a wiring schematic they can share...

Good point, I will definitely give that a go.

rbohm said:
definitely check the door switch, like anything mechanical they fail from time to time. also check the dome light fixture for a switch that might be in the wrong position. for instance my taurus the switch has three positions, on, off, and door.

And I didn't even think of that to be honest. Thank you for pointing that out. I will check all of these things when I have some good light tomorrow.

Thanks again guys!

Grabbin' Asphalt · Jan 22, 2014

Yup all the way right is ON for the light. When all the way right just turn it left until you feel the slight click, then the lighting is only keeping the dash lights on the highest setting.

GoldenEagle91 · Jan 24, 2014

Grabbin' Asphalt said:
Yup all the way right is ON for the light. When all the way right just turn it left until you feel the slight click, then the lighting is only keeping the dash lights on the highest setting.

You mean all the way to the left is ON for the light right?

Grabbin' Asphalt · Jan 24, 2014

GoldenEagle91 said:
You mean all the way to the left is ON for the light right?

No all the way left turns the dash lights off. All the way right after the click turns the dome on. So for best brightness of dash lights, turn it all the way right and turn the dome on. Then barely turn it left after the click it will turn the dome off and your dash will be at the highest setting. My car is a '90 lx btw.

Grabbin' Asphalt · Jan 24, 2014

Is is possible someone installed your dimmer switch upside down? I've never changed or replaced mine so it's as stock for '90 lx.

GoldenEagle91 · Jan 24, 2014

Grabbin' Asphalt said:
No all the way left turns the dash lights off. All the way right after the click turns the dome on. So for best brightness of dash lights, turn it all the way right and turn the dome on. Then barely turn it left after the click it will turn the dome off and your dash will be at the highest setting. My car is a '90 lx btw.

Grabbin' Asphalt said:
Is is possible someone installed your dimmer switch upside down? I've never changed or replaced mine so it's as stock for '90 lx.

That is very possible and I believe that is the case. The prior owner of this car had some things Jerry rigged and I still have yet to completely reverse engineer some of the goofy things such as the rats nest of wires underneath the hood among other things. But I do believe that as you have mentioned that that is in fact what has happened.

Grabbin' Asphalt · Jan 24, 2014

Well wherever the small click is that's to the dome light.

GoldenEagle91 · Jan 24, 2014

Okay, I have a feeling it is one of the switches in either the door or the trunk. I noticed a bottle cap with some tape over it on the hatch so that leads me to believe that something is off in there lol

89oem · Jan 24, 2014

LOL are you sure its not a budweiser cap... (no knock on bud)....
You gotta figure that hatch switch is most likely the cause then.... for the dimmer put it in the middle posn somewhere and you know the ON option wont be switched on....

GoldenEagle91 · Jan 24, 2014

89oem said:
LOL are you sure its not a budweiser cap... (no knock on bud)....
You gotta figure that hatch switch is most likely the cause then.... for the dimmer put it in the middle posn somewhere and you know the ON option wont be switched on....

Yeahhhh lol. Its either that one, the driver door, or both because they both appear to be in pretty rough condition haha.

RangerJoe · Jan 24, 2014

Try spraying them with some WD40 and let them soak for a bit, then work the door open and shut. I've had it work on other cars in the past, not every time, but it has worked.

Joe

GoldenEagle91 · Jan 24, 2014

RangerJoe said:
Try spraying them with some WD40 and let them soak for a bit, then work the door open and shut. I've had it work on other cars in the past, not every time, but it has worked.

Joe

Will PB Blaster work as well or must it be WD40? I can give this a shot as well. Thanks for the idea.

RangerJoe · Jan 25, 2014

I imagine so. I think the idea behind it is it helps loosen any corroded and stuck components, so its not guaranteed work, it just depends on what the problem is.

Joe

GoldenEagle91 · Jan 25, 2014

RangerJoe said:
I imagine so. I think the idea behind it is it helps loosen any corroded and stuck components, so its not guaranteed work, it just depends on what the problem is.

Joe

Got ya. Thats what I assumed the objective was.

Thanks again

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