Dome light stays on

[I stole grandma's cutty]

hi, for some reason my dome light stays on even after everything else shuts off. Is there some sort of instrument panel that im overlooking or is this a common electrical problem?

[CieraSL92]

There are switches inside each front door handle, actually on the handle itself. They do go bad, causing the passive seatbelt lock to stay unlocked, and the interior lights staying on.

Your dimmer control isn't all the way up is it? You can turn it all the way up, but stop when you feel it kinda click. After the click, that turns the interiors on.

Also, check rear door switches. There on the doorjamb.

[I stole grandma's cutty]

Switches on the door jamb... I never would have considered that, thanks SL92ciera :) Actually I should try to fix the power windows while Im at it anyway. The drivers window will go about halfway down and then stop getting it back up takes a considerable amount of time as it only goes up about a half inch every twenty minutes. I wonder now if this may be connected somehow to the dome light staying on through the switches on the door jamb. Oh and yes I have played around with that switch that, if pushed far enough up, it will turn on all the interiors. Seems not to be the problem, anyway thanks again for the advice.

[BBrip84Oatsie95]

The drivers window will go about halfway down and then stop getting it back up takes a considerable amount of time as it only goes up about a half inch every twenty minutes.

Mine do that too. Just slap your hand onto it and help it up... :eek:

[CieraSL92]

You do know that for the front doors, im talking about switches located INSIDE the door on the inside handle right? Rear doors are in the doorjamb-and least likely to cause the lights to stay on. It's one of the switches, or wiring. There is no module for the lights.


On second thought, perhaps there is, or atelast a time delay switch since they do stay lit for either 5 or 40 seconds, depending on wether or not the ignition has been in the ON position within the last 30 seconds. I.E if you park it tonight and go out tomorrow and hop in and close the door, the lights should stay on for 40 seconds. If you turn the key on, then off then hop out and shut the door, they should stay on for five seconds and go off. Atleast on my 92'

[I stole grandma's cutty]

Yes I assumed as much on the front switches when I looked at it and didn't see anything right away. Thats why I also thought maybe the window problem is related, maybe there is a loose ground or something messing both up... I've tried grabbing the window and helping it up but it didnt seem to work. Ah well maybe I'm not putting enough muscle into it, then again I've learned the hard way not to force so for now I will just make do. Hopefully taking apart the door is not too complicated, thank again for all the advice

[I stole grandma's cutty]

oh yeah I will definitely look into that issue with the time delay hopefully I am just too impatient

[Slacker]

. Ah well maybe I'm not putting enough muscle into it, then again I've learned the hard way not to force so for now I will just make do. Hopefully taking apart the door is not too complicated, thank again for all the advice

lol, me too. I managed to turn my Dodge Shadow's window into one large shark fin... (never fully got it back on by the time I junked the car.)

Taking the door apart isn't bad at all. There's just little fasteners that attach from the cardboard-like door part to the metal. You just have to be careful not to rip these things out of the door panel. (It's really easy to do). I think you can use a pry bar to pull them out safely.

Best of luck!

[I stole grandma's cutty]

You do know that for the front doors, im talking about switches located INSIDE the door on the inside handle right? Rear doors are in the doorjamb-and least likely to cause the lights to stay on. It's one of the switches, or wiring. There is no module for the lights.

ok so I've finally gotten around to pulling off the drivers side door panel and I dont see any switch behind the door handle that would control the dome light :confused: Is it perhaps embedded in with the actual latch unit that shuts the door? well in the meantime I'll keep looking

[86euro]

Unless I'm going nuts, there is no switch mounted the inside or outside door handle. I've had more of those doors apart than I can remember, and I don't even recall a switch made into the latch assembly. Like CieraSL92 asked, are you sure the dimmer knob isn't turned all the way up?

[Electra_T_Type]

Check the jamb switch, should be by the hinges.

[CieraSL92]

No jamb switch in the body! I can pull the handle without opening the door and I hear the passive restraint release and the lights come on. It will also do this if I try to open the door locked, it's intiated by pulling the handle inside or out. So check around down by the thingy that grabs the striker on the body. It's the same thing the lockrod goes down to.

It is in the latch itself. Look around. BUT.. I've never actually seen it, nor really looked around for it since mine work fine.

You could check out the rears.. But from what I've seen they just don't work as opposed to keeping the lights on. Unscrew it from the body and pull it away so it has no ground. If it is the switch, they will go off.

[CieraSL92]

Oh! do you hear the solenoids in the door click when you open and shut it? If you have door mounted belts, its the passive locking and unlocking, again by the 'thingy' I assume.

[I stole grandma's cutty]

ahh I see says the blind man, yes I will check around the seatbelt mechanisms now that you mention it... I usually dont hear any click when I open and close the door except when the auto door locks engage. lol I did hear a loud crack last time I pulled on the door handle when it was locked.....it was the sound of the door handle breaking :p stupidly i forgot that it was locked even though Ive been driving this car for some time now....anyway that was an easy replacement, i was able to just yank it out since the metal the door handle is riveted to is so thin it just stretched around the ball end to allow it to come out. then I just used a small bolt and nut to replace it with and the new door handle was on fine. not the prettiest way to replace the handle but it worked for me...