Hey guys, I know this is a total NOOB question, but I just realized that my dome light isn't working when I open the doors. The lights work when I push their individual buttons, but the light that used to come on when I opened the door no longer works. I checked the fuse, and it seems to be ok. I also tried the OFF/ON switch and got nothing. Any advice?? Thanks again!

 

I am working from memory, but I think my car has 3 positions. Off, On and Door. So you say each light comes on individually but they do not both come on when you switch to ON? Also, they don't come on from the door switch when the switch on the light is set to Door?

 

EXACTLY. I get the dinging sound when the door is open and the key is in the ignition, but no lights.

 

I would say bad contact in the slide switch at the dome light or a disconnected wire there. Just a guess as I do not have a wiring diagram.

 

Do you have regular light bulbs or high-power lights or LED replacements in the ceiling light?

The ceiling light is not directly turned on by the door switches, rather by the Keyless Entry Module. The fact that it 'dings" means the switches are good and the Keyless Entry Module 'sees' the doors opening. But for some reason the ground output from the KEM is not getting to the ceiling light.

There are 2 reasons why that might be - 1) bad KEM or wire, or 2) bad diodes in the ceiling light.

If high power lights are used it might be possible to fry the diodes in the ceiling light fixure. The diodes are there so to isolate the lights so the push button switches can activate a single light. The push buttons put a ground directly on each bulb, bypassing the diodes. But both the KEM and the slide switch send the ground through the diodes, so bad diodes would keep both the slide switch and the KEM from activating the lights.

Also, installing LED bulbs backwards would allow them to work with the push buttons but not from the KEM or slide switch. If you have LED bulbs just reverse them and they'll work all 3 ways.

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I'm just using stock bulbs. I'll have to look into what you mentioned though. Thanks! Keep the helpful info coming!

 

Mine is touchy like that. The contact of the center switch is tempermental and wiggling it helps to find the sweet spot.

I've pulled it all apart and the wiring is attached just fine. Next step is to replace the entire assembly - not a cost I need right now.

My passenger's side door switch also died awhile back. Replaced it and now the driver's door is starting to go. Shoulda just ordered two.

-Hockey

 

That's what the girl at the picnic said!

 

Yeah, I was grinning when typing that one.

 

i dont know if the OP solved his problem by checking the door sensors.

but i solved this same exact issue and it wasnt the door sensors.

it was the contacts behind the 3 position switch that were corroded and thus not responding to any position. after reading the helms and playing with the maplight with my multimeter, i deduced that the switch had to be the problem, so then once i unscrewed it, i saw the contacts were kinda green (oxidized). not sure why. but once i cleaned it off, and pulled the springs out a bit for good measure, and put it back together, it all worked again.

the main thing that bugged me was that the cabin would not light up as i used the keyless entry or opened the doors. so it bothered me getting into a dark and unlit cabin. i thought it was my keyless entry module, so i took mine out and replaced iwth with a friends, and that didnt solve it. so it had to be somewhere with the wiring.

i hope this helps other ppl with the same problem. this was the only thread that seemed to ask the same issue in my various searches.

btw, to take off the map light, you first pry off the diffuser lens (carefully), then you unscrew the two bolts holding the rest of the maplight plastic housing. DONT TRY to pry off the maplight plastic housing, its soft plastic and will deeply score your maplight housing. yes, i know by idiots experience. so take off the lens FIRST.