Courtesy lights won't go off.

[jmelaragni]

I have a 1997 Bonneville SE. Normally when entering the car the courtesy lights stay on until you start the car...then they go out.
Now the courtesy lights remain on even on long drives which drives me nuts especially the overhead lights. They don't go out until 10 minutes after I turn off the ignition and lock the car. The system acts like one of the doors is open. I check the mechanical door closure and they all apppear to be ok.
Can somone out there help me....thanks

[judy321]

Hi,

Just wanted to know if you ever found a solution to your problem as my car is doing the same thing.

Thanks

[jmelaragni]

Originally Posted by judy321

Hi,

Just wanted to know if you ever found a solution to your problem as my car is doing the same thing.

Thanks

I haven't had a chance to really get into it yet. I think a diagnostic is going to be appropriate.
JMel

[randman1]

The Driver Information Center should indicate if there is a door opened or not. If it dosen't, I would suspect the dimmer switch. Try disconnecting the connector on the back of the headlight/dimmer/twilight switch and see if that corrects the problem.

[jmelaragni]

Originally Posted by randman1

The Driver Information Center should indicate if there is a door opened or not. If it dosen't, I would suspect the dimmer switch. Try disconnecting the connector on the back of the headlight/dimmer/twilight switch and see if that corrects the problem.

Thank you for your response. I did notice something different with the dimmer switch...for the high beam mode I now have to hold the dimmer switch on where before it used to switch and stay.
Can you tell me where the headlight/dimmer/twilight switch is located on the 1997 Bonneville?
Thanks again.

[randman1]

On the dash to the left of the instrument cluster. It's the switch you would pull out to turn yout headlights on. If you rotate this fully counterclockwise, it turns the dome lights on. Just for ha-ha's turn it clockwise and see if that fixes your problem.



Sometimes the switch goes bad and tells the Lighting Control Module to turn interior lights on. Other times, it's just turned too far.

[randman1]

Whooops! I have my rotates backwards.

You fully rotate clockwise to turn dome lights on. So try turing counterclockwise to turn off.

[dstrass]

I had the same problem and found that the headlight switch was worn out. When you turn the switch counterclockwise to turn on the interior lights, it pushes down on a copper conductor that is attached to an insulator in the switch. The conductor in mine was loose where it attaches to the insulator and stayed down all the time, making the interior lights stay on. A new switch is really expensive for the twighlight sentinel so I put a real small metal shim in between the conductor and the insulator to tighten and hold up the conductor and it has worked great ever since.