Strange Problem... Dome Light

[georgethedog]

The dome light on my mirror will not go off (Gen 1). The only way it will turn off is if I unplug it, which I have. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks.

[KenH]

A dome light is typically activated by a switch in the door which may have failed so it thinks the door is always open. On my Gen2 it is part of the door latch mechanism. Could also be caused by a frayed wiring harness between the door and chassis.

[99 R/T 10]

I had the same problem in my old 96 and yeah it turned out to be a bad door latch where the switch is loca]]ted. It was so bad for me that the door would not open at all. I was hopping in Dukes of Hazzard style

[jasontiff]

I had the same problem and it's because I'm an idiot. You can turn on the dome light manually on the mirror, by opening the door, or by rotating the headlight switch. I was unplugging mine, trying to troubleshoot it, but it turns out when I was at the track and my knee had somehow rotated the headlight switch.

It's dumb/simple, but try that before diving in too much. Good luck!

[JonB - PartsRack]

While the above are true, there is also a tiny map-lite button switch on the underside of the mirror.....HARD to see. You can bump it and turn it on...and it STAYS on. It eats a LOT of volts/batteries as it goes unnoticed in daylight.............

Let us know??

[V10SpeedLuvr]

Originally Posted by JonB - PartsRack

While the above are true, there is also a tiny map-lite button switch on the underside of the mirror.....HARD to see. You can bump it and turn it on...and it STAYS on. It eats a LOT of volts/batteries as it goes unnoticed in daylight.............

Let us know??

I had my car over a year before I knew about that switch I was riding around with a friend one night and he asked how to turn on the dome light. I told him you couldn't unless the door was open. He said that was stupid and started looking under the mirror and found the switch. I was like "well, I guess you do learn something new everyday"

[georgethedog]

Originally Posted by jasontiff

I had the same problem and it's because I'm an idiot. You can turn on the dome light manually on the mirror, by opening the door, or by rotating the headlight switch. I was unplugging mine, trying to troubleshoot it, but it turns out when I was at the track and my knee had somehow rotated the headlight switch.

It's dumb/simple, but try that before diving in too much. Good luck!

YEA!!! I knew about the switch on the mirror, but I did not know about the switch on the headlight knob. I turned that, closed the door, and waalaa... the light turned off!!! Thanks guys! This board can be really helpful and I am glad I am a VCA member!

[jasontiff]

I called one of my friends with a 1994 when mine did that, just to make sure I had all angles covered before I posted. He told me about the headlight knob and I saved myself a lot of troubleshooting and time.

I'm glad it worked out!

[KenH]

Glad you found an easy fix, but this thread would have been a lot more fun if you had found that out 'after' you had the door and wiring gutted.

[ViperJay]

i was just going to post about the headlight switch. george, you pm'ed me about the dash painting. when i took the headlight switch out, i accidentally turned on the mirror light and killed the battery. if you pull the knob switch out when you take off the dash, make sure the dome light is off! if it is not, then unplug the mirror wires.

[georgethedog]

Originally Posted by KenH

Glad you found an easy fix, but this thread would have been a lot more fun if you had found that out 'after' you had the door and wiring gutted.

Well, I almost did because I put new speakers in the door recently and thought maybe I messed something up when I jammed them in and screwed them down. I was very close to taking the door panels off again. Sure glad for this board!!!! Thanks guys.