Rear dome light switch

So my interior lights have never come on when the liftgate was opened. They do come on when the doors are opened. So i searched here and checked all the connections and they are good. So I took the actual switch down and realized there is nothing plugged into the actual switch. So my question is could someone look at their's and tell what color wires should be plugged into the switch. Its a 98 sport by the way.

wow, that's strange. on my 2000 (and i think its the same 1997-2001) you can tap the dome light lens and that's got a switch in it, turning it on or off. thats so when you're carrying long stuff and have to leave the back door open, the dome light isnt on the whole time.
i'm going to go look at my XJ

edit:
i took a look. where is the switch? inside the latch or something? i didn't see a conventional plunger-style switch anywhere on the door or where it meets up to the vehicle.

If you drop the actual dome light in the rear and look at the back there should be two plugs. Mine only has the one. The one that plugs directly to the switch is missing. So I wanted to know what color wires are going directly to the switch. Hope that makes sense.

wait, there's gotta be a switch somewhere that tells the electrical system that the back door is open. how else would the light know when to come on?

On my 2000 the lights come just as soon as you pop the tail gate latch open, the secret switch must be connected to the handle or latch. The light itself gets power from one 3 wire plug , purple/yellow/pink. No other wires or plugs are needed or will fit. The other plug type looking thing is part of the on-off switch. The actual cargo area lamp is like a tap light, you push on the lens and it clicks on or off. This is so you can shut off the dome lamps if you want the tailgate open for a long period of time. My cargo lamp assembly at one point had a short circuit or overheated and stopped working at all. I just grabbed another one at the junkyard and it works now.

Not to drag up an old thread, but the dome doesn't come on, on my 97 SE when I open the lift gate. There appears to be a black button on the rear dome light, but it doesn't really move.

Both dome's come on when I open the front doors. Just nothing on the rear. Any suggestions?

dagr8tim said:

Not to drag up an old thread, but the dome doesn't come on, on my 97 SE when I open the lift gate. There appears to be a black button on the rear dome light, but it doesn't really move.

Both dome's come on when I open the front doors. Just nothing on the rear. Any suggestions?

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wow...I actually never thought about it, but I'm in the exact same boat.


so yea, what's the deal? :smsoap:

haha

easiest fix is to get another one at the junkyard

if you want to know wiring and what other people have done see http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=971921

After going through 3 factory switches on the rear dome light. They all just eventually jammed. So i just rewired that switch with a toggle from the hardware store. It has worked very well.

I believe the 98's had the concave plastic lens switch that is the dome light housing instead of a black button like dagr8tim was describing. This is really an interesting thread because I literally have the EXACT same problem. I have a 98 Limited and the dome light in the rear works then the doors are open or by using the headlight switch, but not when the hatch is opened. I found that the latch inside the liftgate was aftermarket and I suspect that's why it doesn't work correctly. If your latch has been replaced also this could be why you're having a problem.....just my $.02