1987 Interior Lights Not Working???

[OldsBuickGuy82]

None of the interior lights come on anymore when the doors open, they all work if I turn them on from the inside, the over head and the ones in the back and under the dash too. Any idea what might cause that to happen?...It's not easy to deal with as I do a lot of night driving.

Any thoughts??

[yogi_123rd]

Your problem is likely that the door switches have burnt out. They are $2.00 parts available at a parts store. The switches are mounted on the door body frame, below the hinges and held on with a single retaining nut.
To test out if the switch is the problem, remove the retaining nut, gently pull out the switch to get at the two wires attached, and touch them together. If the lights light up, replace the switch.

[OldsBuickGuy82]

I haven't removed the switches yet, but they do still pop back again if I push on them, they LOOK like they work...Would that happen if they were burnt out?...Or is it just one of those problems that happens out of sight and you have to actually pull it apart to determind if indeed anything is wrong, from the inside???

Thanks

[yogi_123rd]

These door switches usually rust out or the contacts in them corrode/pit. Judging by the age of your car, this seems a very probable cause of what's happenning. When you remove the switch, there with be either 2 wires (passenger side) or 3 wires (drivers side). One of these wires is always hot and the one(s) on the other side of the switch go to the lights.

The wiring diagram I have shows that there is a 20Amp fuse in the circuit specifically for the dome lights thru the door switches. There is also a second 20Amp fuse in a secondary circuit that goes to the light switch which also turns on these lights. I have assumed in my replay that you have checked these fuses beforehand.

[sallisonbrown]

Originally Posted by OldsBuickGuy82

None of the interior lights come on anymore when the doors open, they all work if I turn them on from the inside, the over head and the ones in the back and under the dash too. Any idea what might cause that to happen?...It's not easy to deal with as I do a lot of night driving.

Any thoughts??

Hopefully you checked this, but some models have a on-off-door control switch for interior lights. Usually it is up near the dome light that allows you to override the door switch. Sometimes, if you don't realize it you push the switch too far and it keeps the interior lights off when you open the doors. What with the "light delay's" that are built in any more it is tough to see it unless you wait for the 30 seconds or so for them to go out once you close the door. Check it out.

[OldsBuickGuy82]

Thanks for all the information, I'll have to check all those things and see what I come up with.

Thanks again,

Happy Holidays!!!