97chevycavgirl

I just bought my 1997 Chevy Cav Rs in November '03. I was a private sale, take as is. Which I might add was a steal at the price I got it for. It's in great condition. However, the interior light doesn't shut off. It was like that when I bought it and I can't figure out what's wrong. I replaced the door jamb switches thinking a switch may be bad. Wrong! Then I messed with the interior light/dimmer switch....nothing..... Now I've noticed that both the fuse under the hood, and the one in the interior side dash panel for the interior light have been removed. But the light is still on. What could be wrong? And how is it still working even with out the fuses??? HELP ME PLEASE! I need a light in my car cause of working late at night bartending so I can see. I have the bulb pulled for now..but I definitely need it fixed. I would greatly appreciate any help anyone may be able to give. Thanks.
Ps
I still love my car! hehe

Three_Fingers

Look for a common hot wire that runs near your interior light wiring...If somebody pulled the fuses, unless they pulled the wrong one-there must have been a problem with it previously.
If your light is like mine-it stays on for a bit after ya shut the door-the relay/timer is defective.
Either that's gone bad and won't go off or an adjoining hot wire in the circuit has shorted against the dome light wire-powering it all the time.
Places to look might be behind the fuse block where the dome light fuse was-or where any other accessory on that circuit splits off the dome light circuit.
More likely the ground side of the circuit is shorted somewhere..making the timer think the door's open all the time.
Unplug yer bulb and take a continuity tester or ohmmeter and ground the black lead to a good bare metal part on the car body and touch the ground side of the bulb socket using the other lead with the doors closed-if ya got a full scale reading-ya got something grounded that shouldn't be.
Look where the pin switches mount-take 'em out and look for a contact that might be touching bare metal behind it.
Check where the bulbs are, too for the same condition.