dome lights staying on..short?

I had a problem where the dome lights were staying on even when the doors were well and truely shut. A Jeep mechanic told me that was a common problem and he would help me fix it. Said that it was a short (due to a pinched wire or shorted component, he didn't say exactly). But as we were busy we weren't able to get together and fix it. Does this sound like something you've heard of? I've pulled all the lights out but the battery will run down in a few days leading me to think that there is a small electrical drain somewhere. TIA, Danno

Try pulling the fuse and see if the short is upstream from that.

Dan,

Shorts are a generic term. The circuit is grounded between the load and the switch allowing the current after the load to find a path to ground before the controlling switch, thus completing the circuit and energizing the bulb. The switches in the door jam complete or close the circuit on the ground side of the load (the lamp bulb). This was a common, as in 2-3 a week when I worked at a Buick dealer.

The only components that are on the circuit that could cause a problem are the headlamp switch and possibly the chime module. Unplug these independently and shut the door to determine if the lamps extinguish. If they do, there's your problem. If not it is then a circuitry problem.

Here is how we would trouble shoot the circuit wiring. Believe me it sounds ridiculous, an old mechanic taught me this when i was an apprentice and didn't believe it until I performed the test, but it works.

Remove all the door switches from the pillars and let dangle by the wire.
Using a circuit tester (fast setting circuit breaker) with a meter, put power to the circuit between the switch and the bulb, NOT the switch and ground.
Since the load side of the switch is grounded (20g black w/white tracer on an 89) causing the dome lamps to stay on, expect an immediate trigger of the breaker and fluctuation of the meter.
The tester breaker will reset, heat up trip and reset. While this is happening trace the route of the wire harness with the meter. The needle will continue to flucuate everytime the breaker trips. No need to remove trim pieces yet as the fields of magnetism will read on the meter if not too thick.
When the needle stops flucuating you are real close to where the wire is grounded, probably cuaght by a moving part & pinched by something.
Repair installation on wire and re-install the fuse.

Good Luck,
Tom

Just a thought, not sure if it applies to your rig, but my rear dome light has a switch that turns on both lights. When I first got my rig, I was cleaning out the rear of it and bumped that switch with my head and turned all the dome lights on... took me a bit to figure out why they wouldn't go out when I closed the doors.

Dunno... you didn't mention what year your rig was or whether you checked that or if you even had that switch or not, so it might be that, or it might not be.

Danno: do your lights dim slightly when closing the door? I only ask because that's what's happening with mine, and I'd wondered whether it was something to do with the headlight switch.

Just to add to the muddle; I had the same problem with a dome light always staying on and I couldn't find a short either. It turned out to be the rear passenger-side door switch, either the frame was tweaked or the switch was too short - I corrected it by permanently mounting a dime to the door where the switch hits.

Something that might be worth trying is replacing the wiring - I upgraded to an overhead console & wired it in yesterday. Hey presto: the dome lights now work! Go figure... I've yet to put the sound bar back. That'll probably open a whole new can of worms!

I had the exact problem a few days ago, and by taking out the interior light I got access to the light connector, unplugged that, blew out some dust in the connector, then re-plugged it in again, and it worked straight away.

IMO, it might be more complicated that than, but more than likely, it's just a bad connection due to the cable bouncing around over the years, and it just needs to be re-connected to get a better fit.

Best of luck with it.

1. turn of the back cargo area light
2. close all the door and then open them one by one and try pushing the switch in with your finger to find one that is not making the preoper contact (you might be unluicky and you mihht have two like that..

What I have found out in the 97 I bought, was that one of the door switches got pushed in and I had to pull it out (unthread it a turn or so) in order for it to make proper contact