dennohue

I had a problem with my alarm recently - which was fully detailed on the thread Help Please, Alarm Keeps Going Off! - and, in the update, I detailed the work the call-out engineer carried out, which was to supply & fit a replacement circuit board in the main control unit, which is located under the carpet beneath the driver's seat. Access to this entailed removal of the driver's seat, and most of the cabin trim that side, so that the carpet could be lifted.

The first time I used the car after this work was carried out I found that the interior lights did not work. With the switch in the 'auto' central position they do not come on when the doors are opened, or when the key is removed from the ignition. They do not come on when the switch is moved to the 'on' position. The map lights do not work when the ignition is on. The interior light fuse has been checked and is OK. Curiously, the alarm works fine in all functions, even when the door is opened after unlocking with the key.

Has anyone experienced a similar problem? It is my contention that the removal of the trim and carpet has caused a disconnection of some sort, and that the problem should be sorted by the alarm engineer.

keith2.2

I have a similar one, Dennis; The interior light when set to the central "doors open" position illuminates one of the map reading lights all the time. When I open a door, the whole thing illuminates.

No idea what has caused it though I'm afraid!!

Wobbly

Have you checked the bulbs?

dennohue

No. Because I cannot accept that two led units and two filament bulbs would all fail at the same time!

loftust

I'd call him back to rectify the defect that was not present beforehand.

Doesn't sound like there's anything obvious to check tbh

dennohue

Does anyone have a workshop manual that shows the routing of the supply to the interior light?

Can you post a graphic?

loftust

Tried to find a diagram, but failed

From experience, the wiring will go down an A-pillar (probably N/S, behind the trim), then join up with the main car loom somewhere near the ECU.

Might be worth taking the trim off and following the wires to see where they lead. They will certainly be connected to the door switches (push thingies) via the sill kick plates.

Door switches on P22-130 of the service manual.

Madfish

It sounds like a dodgey earth in both cases. The interior light normally works off a switched earth and if theres a problem with this then all sorts of weird electrical faults can happen. This is something that should be rectified by the guy who repaired the alarm for you but worse case a multimeter and a bit of spare time should trace the fault...

Good luck,
Mark

gt750boy

I'd get the monkey that worked on the alarm out to rectify. Automotive electricals can drive you absolutely batty. That's why it's only nutters who work in that space.

keith2.2

Not very helpful, but I had an epiphanny last night - and gave it a gentle thump. All interior light functions have reverted to normal