Dome light oddity?

[BigKO]

What would cause dome lights not to open with the doors being opened? The other cabin lights turn on (like drivers foot well, door lights, etc) but the dome lights no longer turn on with the door. They do turn on if I press the button however. And the switch on the lights does not make any difference. Thanks for any info

 

[Chambers]

The dome lights in my car were very inconsistant, one day they would function and then for the next month they would not. I tracked it down to the rivets that goes between the male pins for the connector that goes to the body and the wires that feed the lights/switches on the dome assembly. I was only getting like 3.1v, then if I finagled it a certain way Id get 12v. So I drilled them out and put a small stainless steel metric machine screw in, its in my build thread but I will link it. Now they work every time and actually got brighter.

http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?92849-Chambers-Build-Thread-quot-Daily-Eighty-Seven-quot&p=1694846&viewfull=1#post1694846

 

[BigKO]

The dome lights in my car were very inconsistant, one day they would function and then for the next month they would not. I tracked it down to the rivets that goes between the male pins for the connector that goes to the body and the wires that feed the lights/switches on the dome assembly. I was only getting like 3.1v, then if I finagled it a certain way Id get 12v. So I drilled them out and put a small stainless steel metric machine screw in, its in my build thread but I will link it. Now they work every time and actually got brighter.

http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?92849-Chambers-Build-Thread-quot-Daily-Eighty-Seven-quot&p=1694846&viewfull=1#post1694846

Thats good to know! With these rivets causing this problem, did all the other lights still function, causing just the dome light to mess up? Or were all of them inconsistent? Thanks.

 

[IJ.]

Don't need to drill them out just use a bolt to punch them down some more and they'll be fine for another 20 years
(I found putting one bolt in a vice as an anvil and another as a punch worked the best so you don't damage the plastic)

The reason this happens is the aluminium rivet and brass terminal gets electrolysis and corrodes, the on/off button is a separate circuit.

 

[BigKO]

Thats good to know! With these rivets causing this problem, did all the other lights still function, causing just the dome light to mess up? Or were all of them inconsistent? Thanks.

Thanks actually, that was the problem. Didnt require me having to drill out the rivets, but I took it apart to look at them and there was a little corrosion, etc so I cleaned it up and they work well now. Thankss!

 

[OneJArpus]

i found my issue to be the driver side switch

 

[BigKO]

yeah i am pretty sure the switch is fine because all the other lights work just not the dome with the door.

 

[OneJArpus]

http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?111623-dome-lamps-dont-come-on&highlight=soldering

 

[BigKO]

Thanks! Like I said it seems to be working fairly well though since i cleaned up the mounts etc. If it starts giving me problems I'll "use the hammer" as IJ stated LOL.

 

[OneJArpus]

lol yea, i did the same thing and it worked, but found out the d/s switch was bad. They only come on with the passenger side door opening and i drive my car most of the time solo.... it would be nice to see them work so i ordered some switches but yet to put them in

 

[BigKO]

Yeah same situation here. Just got tired of em not working. Funny thing is now they are intermittently working. Like sometimes they work fine (buttons and with doors) and the other half just not working at all. Going to have to mess with it again.

 

[GrimJack]

I rewired mine so that the passenger switch turns on both lights and the driver switch turns on power for the radar detector.

Then I quit using the radar detector!

 

[BigKO]

I rewired mine so that the passenger switch turns on both lights and the driver switch turns on power for the radar detector.

Then I quit using the radar detector!

Why did you quit using it? Because no one can catch you anyway?

 

[GrimJack]

Well, there is that... but the reality is that I rarely drive far enough over the limit to get stopped. For the most part, I'm cruising with the rest of traffic. So the detector became more annoying than useful.

Hell, it's still in the old car, I didn't take it out of the glove box when I started driving the 2J car in Feb '10.

 

[BigKO]

Well, there is that... but the reality is that I rarely drive far enough over the limit to get stopped. For the most part, I'm cruising with the rest of traffic. So the detector became more annoying than useful.

Hell, it's still in the old car, I didn't take it out of the glove box when I started driving the 2J car in Feb '10.

Yeah tbh that is the same reason I never even looked into buying one. I usually stay within the flow of traffic, so it is unlikely that i will be singled out.